It’s January so a perfect time to think about Valentine’s Day and also St Patrick’s Day. The thing I love about banners is that they’re lightweight, cute, inexpensive to make, and take very little room to store. I got my ideas from Pinterest and tweaked them a little. I was sharing with my craft group so had to think about something that 12 women could easily do in 2 hours.
Valentine Banner
I got my original idea from an Etsy banner that’s no longer available. It had alternating red and white hearts sewn on a natural color banner. I decided I wanted red burlap and did smaller hearts, glued on. I got the burlap from Hobby Lobby for $3.99 a yd and used my 40% off. They had cute red print calicos so I picked out one that was red based and one that was white based. You’ll need approximately a ¼ yd of burlap, scraps of the calico (I only used about a ¼ yd for 12 people), Aleene’s Tacky glue worked great for it, white yarn (I used some that was probably for crochet), and a needle is optional.
Cut out 8 triangles whatever size you want. Experiment with paper first and then use it to cut a template out of cardboard (cereal box thickness). Just know that cutting burlap is messy and you don’t want to use your best scissors for it. I used a rotary cutter on a cutting mat because I had so many to cut. I made a heart template using a cookie cutter but you could print one out from online or draw it freehand. Cut out 4 red and 4 white hearts. Use a fairly thin layer of glue on the back side and then place on banner where you prefer. I did the middle and used a piece of cardboard as a guide to put them all at the same height. When they’re all done, let them dry.
Once they’re ready you can thread the yard through. If you have a large enough needle then use that. I didn’t have them and wanted to keep this inexpensive so I just rolled some tape on one end to make it easier to put through the holes. I just used the existing holes because the red burlap is fairly loose. Start around 1/2-3/4” from the top and left edge, inserting from the back and then take 3-4 stiches (I used 4). It’s not necessary for them to be the same size although you want them to be fairly straight across. Alternate colors as you continue threading the triangles on your yarn. I put my banners on my fireplace so measured to fit that using my completed banner. I tied a small loop in one side and attached to a clear mini Command Hook that I keep attached to the top left & right edge of the fireplace mantel. You could also attach to your wall or even tie on a curtain rod although this looks better in front of something solid.
St Patrick’s Day Banner
I found a cute banner on Pinterest and tweaked it also. She used a burlap that comes with gold hearts but I couldn’t get it in my area plus it’s $13.99 a yd so decided to make it myself. The gold didn’t show up on regular burlap so I got a sparkly jute at Hobby Lobby that was $6.99 a yd (used another 40% coupon). ¼ yard should work for this also and you’ll also need a small green paint (I used Anita’s Acrylic Shamrock), a gold metallic craft paint (I used FolkArt Pure Gold), some green yarn, and an inexpensive shamrock to glue on. I got mine from Big Lots but the Dollar Tree had them also. They were a $1 for 12.
Use something to protect your table like plastic, parchment, or wax paper. You can follow the instructions for everything except the dots and shamrock here. http://www.landeeseelandeedo.com/2014/02/painted-burlap-banner-st-patricks-day-decor.html I reused my tape and just moved it from one to the next one. Take care that your finger is clear of paint when pulling the tape off. Paint quickly and don’t saturate with paint because it can bleed through.
The gold dots were pretty easy. I decided to use glue sticks instead of buying daubers. Have a Q-tip handy in case you need to fill something in. To do a dot, put the end in some gold paint (you don’t need too much) and then apply by stamping it on. I twirled my glue stick in place. Place it in a random fashion and have some go off the edge. Don’t over-think or try to make it too perfect. Crafts aren’t supposed to be perfect. Once you’re done with them all you can just clean off the edge with a damp paper towel and reuse the glue stick later. Someone in my group did gold and green dots on her center triangle and then glued on the shamrock. It looked really cute and I’m tempted to change mine. You can also leave it plain and then glue the Shamrock in the middle, making sure you’re leaving to top part uncovered so your yarn won’t go over it.
Instead of using a hole punch, I used my small craft scissors to snip a small hole 1/2-3/4” away from the top and side on the left and right only. Thread in from the back and then through the right side. That leaves a nice shot of green at the top which is why you don’t paint it.
These were very simple banners to make and cost effective also. Just fold the triangles back and forth on themselves and store flat when you’re done with them. Have fun with it and change things up if you want. Creativity is whatever you want it to be.