Text help?, I'm so slow.. x__x; Options

[gigglez]

Alright, all I want to do is make a simple banner like this:



The problem is that I'm using GIMP and I don't know how to make the text like that. Everytime I try to add the text there, the white part of the text is transparent. I also would like to know how I might get a border around the words as well.
And how can you write in alternating colors for every letter?

*is a newbie at art stuff* x___x;