“Celebrate Spring!”
spring banner tutorial from Vintage Mama’s Cottage
There is always something to celebrate with every season of the year, but SPRING really gives us hope for warmer days, more sunshine, new life, and family fun. So it just seems like a good idea to welcome spring with a Celebrate Spring banner.
This banner is so much fun to make, and it would be a perfect project to make with the kids or grandkids. You can make it any color combination you want, whatever coordinates with your home décor, and then mix and match all kinds of bits and pieces of leftover scrap book paper, ribbons, buttons, lace, and any other embellishments you have on hand.
If you are looking for a simple, inexpensive, yet absolutely adorable way to brighten up your home and celebrate the arrival of spring, why not make your own Celebrate Spring banner? Come on, let’s make it!
Supplies:
* Scrapbook papers in various colors and designs
* Card stock
* Craft glue
* Scissors
* Round hole punch
* Scraps of fabric, ribbon, lace, and braid
* Vintage buttons, beads, and charms
* Glitter
* Variety of scrapbook ephemera such as paper flowers, chipboard shapes and letters, etc.
* Strip of ribbon for hanging banner
* OPTIONAL: paper or fabric flowers, small clothes pins to attach banner cards to ribbon
************************************************
STEP #1: Cut individual banner tags from card stock in the shape of your choice. Some banners are made with triangle tags; others are rectangular with a “V” shape cut in the bottom. I chose to make mine shaped like luggage tags, so I simply cut seven tags 3 ½” wide by 6 ½” long. Then, I just cut the top two corners off of each tag and punched a hole in the top. Glue the scrap book papers (cut the same size and shape) to each card stock tag.
This is also a fun craft project to make to celebrate every new season, using seasonal colors and embellishments; it would also be a great way to send a personalized birthday greeting. You can make a banner with any word or name you would like to use!
STEP #2: Once you have all of your tags cut to the size and shape you want, the fun begins! You can use chipboard letters, or sticker letters, or you can go online and print out free alphabet letters from lots of different sources.
If you print out your letters on card stock, they will be stiffer and hold up better than if you print them out on regular copy paper. I found these beautiful letters on a great blog with lots of free scrapbook printouts, created by Granny Enchanted. Please visit her blog and let her know you heard about her at Vintage Mama’s Cottage!
Step #3: Begin planning each tag for your banner. Try different combinations of papers, lace, buttons, embellishments, fibers, ribbons, or charms. If you have any little scraps of fabric, lace, ribbons, braids, or any paper ephemera, bring it all out onto your craft table and begin to plan your tags.
For the Bright Spring banner I chose scrapbook papers in prints with bright green, fuscia, black, and white. For the Vintage Spring banner I used softer pastel colors: sage green, ivory, and rose with just a tiny bit of blue.
Once you have your color scheme determined, you can gather the embellishments that might include fabric or paper flowers, a bit of white or ivory lace, ribbons, and even scraps of fabric that coordinate with your scrap book papers and other embellishments.
After trying out various embellishments to decide what combinations you like best, you can begin gluing it all together. If you want a ribbon or lace strip on the side or bottom of one of your tags, you might want to glue that on before you glue on the letter. Most embellishments can be added after you glue on the letter.
You can make simple paper flowers by cutting two or three circles of paper and then snip into the edges about every ¼” all around the outside of the circles. Lay them on top of one another and adjust them so that the cuts are staggered. Glue them together with a few simple paper leaves, add a pretty button in the center, and there you have it!
OPTIONAL: For some of the banner cards, I chose to use my sewing machine to add the texture of stitching. It was super simple and quick! Remember, these are fun and don’t need to be perfectly straight, so add a little angle to your letters, and either glue them in place or just for fun, go ahead and stitch some of your letters on the tags.
STEP #4: Use your imagination and be creative! Add little bows or streamers of yarn or ribbon; pom poms are cute all along the bottom of one of your tags; use your decorative scissors to cut an edge of one of the tags and glue a strip of coordinating colored paper underneath.
Vintage buttons always add charm and whimsy to any craft project (in my opinion!) so let your imagination run wild!
STEP #5: As you complete decorating each tag, you will want to let the glue dry completely; some of the embellishments can be weighted down with heavy glass jars or cans (so that they won’t stick in case some of the glue escapes!).
Also, when you glue on strips of ribbon, lace, or braids, be sure to leave a bit extra at either end and trim it off after it is thoroughly dry. This will make sure that it all stays where you want it and doesn’t slip or shrink as it is drying.
STEP #6: When all of your tags are completely decorated and the glue has had time to dry thoroughly (overnight is best), you can begin to create your finished banner. For the Bright Spring banner simply thread a length of narrow ribbon in a coordinating color through the hole at the top of each tag, and then tie it on to the ribbon that you have for hanging your banner.
For the Vintage Spring banner, you might want to use tiny clothes pins (available at any craft store) and clip each tag on to the ribbon used for hanging the banner. You could also glue each tag to the hanging ribbon, so you have lots of options for displaying your spring banner.
Bright Spring Banner
Vintage Spring Banner
