While browsing fall wreath ideas on Pinterest, I saw a picture of a black and white fall banner with gold sparkly letters on this blog.
I thought the banner was so cute and decided that it wouldn’t be that difficult to recreate it. Here are the supplies/tools you will need to complete the project:
-
Card Stock (or scrapbook paper) in a variety of patterns
-
Construction paper in coordinating colour (unless you use card stock to begin with)
-
Block letters (I used wood ones from Michaels. Cardboard would work too.)
-
Spray Paint
-
Glitter
-
Ribbon or twine
-
Glue (spray adhesive and regular glue)
-
Scissors
-
Ruler
-
Pencil
-
Glue Gun
-
X-acto knife or hole punch
The Letters
Choose the message for your banner. I went with “Thankful.” I also made one for my mom and she chose “Give Thanks.” Tip: I would go with a shorter message because it’s less work!
Spray paint your letters outside or in well ventilated area in your desired colour of choice. I placed an old sheet underneath the letters and painted in my garage with the door open. I sprayed two coats and waited about 15 minutes between the coats (*read the directions on your can of spray paint to see what it recommends about multiple coats). Wait 15 minutes after the last coat of spray paint.
Spray the painted letters with an adhesive spray. I used Elmer’s Adhesive Spray. Pour a generous amount of glitter over each letter. I chose glitter the same colour of my spray paint. You do what you want though. I did this over looseleaf paper so that I could roll up the paper and pour the leftover glitter back into the container. I poured A LOT of glitter on each letter to make sure they were adequately covered. Let the glitter dry for at least 15 minutes. I also did this step out in my garage so I didn’t have a glittery mess in my house.
The Banner
While the glitter is drying, begin your banner. Draw your banner shape on the construction paper or cardstock using a ruler and cut out to the shape to create the banner template.
Using your template, trace the shape onto your patterned paper and cut it out. Draw and cut out enough “flags” for each letter of your message, taking care to alternate the patterned paper. I also had to cut out a flag for each letter onto the construction paper. My patterned paper was scrapbook and it was too flimsy to support the wooden letters. If you are using cardstock or a sturdier paper, you probably don’t need to do this. I then glued the construction paper to the patterned paper using a few dollops of Mod Podge.
Cut two slits in the top corners of each flag. For my first banner, I used an X-acto knife and, I’m not gonna lie, it was painful. This was the most tedious part of the project. For my mom’s banner, I bought a rectangular hole punch which made the job marginally easier. The easiet thing would be to use a regular hole punch with a thinner ribbon or twine. BUT, I liked the asthetic of the slits with thicker ribbon better.
Putting It All Together
Bring your letters in on a paper plate until they are ready to be used because they will shed glitter….everywhere!
Using a glue gun, glue each letter to a flag.
Thread the ribbon through each slit of the flags. I used black grosgrain ribbon – 5/8″ for my banner and cream satin ribbon – 5/8″ for my mom’s.
