A Paper Banner Tutorial and Giveaway Preparations

While spending my stay-at-home-Mom year in Texas chasing my toddler and attending military functions, I had time to try out some new crafts. Though there are plenty of oilcloth and fabric banner/pennant/flag garland tutorials offered on blogs, my luck with fabric and sewing isn't good when it comes to feeling successful at trying something "new." Consequently, my first banner was made of paper, and I made it for Dear Daughter as she graduated from junior high. Though pretty (she still insists that it hang above her bed in her room), it was a first attempt, large, bulky, difficult to fold up... so I decided to work *smaller* on later projects.

I've had fun making banners for work and home lately, and yesterday got carried away with preparing pennants for future holiday projects. I completed a Christmas banner too- would you like to follow along and make one?

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Gather your supplies! Three sheets of 12X12 paper can make a banner about six feet long (the pennants will extend a little over five feet, but the tying ribbon on each end is included in the final length) if you cut them and glue them back to back the way I did (that way the banner is reversible). Don't forget a hot glue gun (glue stick would work well for the paper, but the ribbon and any extra doo dads like buttons, letter tiles, etc. adhere better with hot glue), scissors (a paper cutter works nicely too), paper punches (I ended up using a heart shaped one), a ruler, two six-foot-long lengths of ribbon (a solid half-inch wide grosgrain works best for mounting the pennants, though thinner grosgrain or even sheer wire ribbon works well tied between each pennant) and medium or small sized fluffy pom poms (two per pennant). I tend to keep embellishments pretty simple at this point: buttons, letter tiles, die cuts, glittered chip board letters...



Select three sheets of paper- I chose three different patterns in Christmas colors, a stripe, an argyle, and a block print:



(Remember, each sheet is 12X12)

Cut each sheet of paper in half, flip over to the "wrong" side and measure/mark points at 3, 6, and 9 inches on both of the long sides. Then go back and mark the halfway points between those marks, 1 and 1/2 inches, 4 and a half inches, 7 and a half inches, and 10 and a half inches:







Use a straight edge to mark triangles (I only mark one sheet of paper and then stack them for cutting):





Cut out paper (remember, how you orient your patterns prior to cutting will determine how they "run" once they're cut out- see the striped paper below? If I had turned the paper the stripes would have run up and down instead of side to side) and sort triangle pennants into piles:



Glue pennants back to back (this makes the pennant sturdier and the entire banner reversible):





Lay out your pattern:



Choose and cut your ribbon (I used a roll of green ribbon twelve feet long, and cut the length in half, making two six-foot-long pieces) but remember, don't use sheer ribbon for this part- the hot glue will seep right through and burn, burn, BURN your fingers:





Lay out your pennants before gluing them, allowing some space between each flag (and making sure that there is extra ribbon on either end of the banner). Five or six inches IN (you're keeping ribbon "free" on each end for tying), run a small line of hot glue along the ribbon, carefully placing a pennant so it lies slightly below the ribbon's edge:



Leave a space between each pennant (this makes it easier to fold the pennant for storage, gift giving or mailing) and remember you should have a length of ribbon left over at the end about five or six inches long:





Match up your ribbon lengths, and carefully glue the second ribbon on top, making sure it matches up with the "back" ribbon (this should hide the top edge of the pennants completely):





If you'd like to add lettering to your banner, make sure you spell out your text and add a space (a pennant without a letter) between words. Count how many letters and spaces are needed, and center them on the banner (I spelled out "Merry Christmas" which is fourteen letters long PLUS one space= 15 pennants needed: centering them resulted in me having one "empty" pennant on either end of the banner):



I thought some red polka dot heart paper would help the letter tiles "pop:"





I used thirty white pom poms only on the tips of the pennants that held letters and the single space between words (though you could use them along the entire length of the banner if you so choose). Not only are the pom poms cute and offer a textural and dimensional element to the banner, but they seal together the points of each pennant protecting them from breaking or ripping):



(I glued two pom poms back to back at the tip of each pennant.)

I used black buttons to help accent the lettering on the alphabet tiles:





I then cut "dovestails" into the ends of the ties:





...and knotted white ribbon between each pennant, cutting dovestails into each tip as well:





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With this tutorial, I'm only twenty three posts away from my

400th Blog Post!

To celebrate, I'll be giving away the Christmas banner above to a random reader who posts a comment on my 400th blog post, several weeks away- don't worry, I'll be counting down for you so you can check back in! If you link back to this tutorial and mention my giveaway, I'll enter your name twice (just let me know in the comment section when you've linked back)!

Happy Holidays, and thank you so much for reading!

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