DIY Vintage-Like Easter Banner

{DIY Vintage-Like Easter Banner}

DIY Glitter Banner for Valentines Day

I am the type of gal who likes to decorate my whole downstairs floor according to the season/holiday we are in. We have been in our home about a year and a half  and this is the first year I have been going all out as far as decorating! Because we are one one income and I stay at home with the boys I DIY pretty much all of my seasonal decor! With Easter soon approaching I knew it was time to get started on some cute decor that would match with the rest of the colors and styles in my home. I have made two glitter banners for Christmas, and Valentines Day (See photo on right) which turned out fabulous but I wanted something with a little more color and texture this time around. While I love cute holiday and seasonal decor at the stores I also like to customize and DIY things for the least amount of $$$ possible! So when Hobby Lobby had 50% off of all scrapbook paper I scooped up a handful to make my banner! One sheet of paper will make two folded circles, so to spell out Easter I needed 3 sheets of each paper. Choose one paper as your larger background circle and another for the small circle you will place your letters on. I decided to do a solid for the back since I have TONS of teal in my home and I wanted it to be the primary color for this banner. I found a awesome chevron pattern with great Easter colors I chose are my smaller circle! I think I spent $3 on all six sheets of paper! Score! This project is super easy, but a bit time consuming!

Here is what you will need:

-3* 12" x 12" Paper for the larger circles (1 sheet makes 2 circles)

-3* 12" x 12" Paper for the smaller circles (1 sheet makes 2 circles)

-Glue Gun

-Scissors

-Ruler

-Glittered Letters

-String or Clear Fishing Wire
-3/8" Ribbon

Start by measuring and cutting all of your paper. I used the teal paper for my larger circle and the sheets were 12" x 12", so I simply folded them down the middle and cut them in half- 6" x 12". Your second set of circles need to be smaller to allow your other to show so I cut the paper to about 4.5" x 12". Once all your paper is cut it is time to fold! This process was time consuming but easy! Fold your paper in an accordion like manner using 1/2" folds as best you can until you reach the end. Then find the center and use string or clear fishing wire to tightly tie in the center.

 

 Begin on the end making 1/2" folds

Use a string or clear fishing wire to tightly tie in the center

Tie in the center!

Now you are ready to start gluing! Fire up your hot glue gun and run a line down the right of side of one of the ends of your folded paper (see below). Carefully using your hands, attach the glued side to the un glued left side of the paper and firmly press down making sure the ends meet and are lined up. Press down ensure that the two sides are attached to one another making a half circle form! Do the same to the other side and a circle is born!

Run hot glue down the right half of the paper!

  

       Firmly attach side together allowing glue to dry before releasing!

                           

Go through the same process until all your solid and patterned circles are complete. Use hot glue to attach your smaller circle to the larger and then get ready to begin lettering each circle! There are a couple of different routes you can go for lettering depending on your time and budget. There are ready made cardboard cut out glittered letters available at craft stores but they run around $7 and may not include enough of the letters you need. You could also purchase wooden letters and used glue to glitter them, but that is costly as well) I have experience creating glittered letters for my holiday banners in the past and I had everything on hand so I went that route again. This is time consuming but very low cost if you have the supplies on hand. I went on to the computer and chose a chunky font and spelled out "EASTER" and printed it on to some card stock! I used scissors to cut out each letter by hand, (this was the time consuming part) and used some basic Elmer's glue and glitter to cover each letter completely. After drying I use my BFF for this project, hot glue to attach the letters to the center of each patterned circle! I was debating on whether I should attack the circles to clear fishing wire like I have to banners in the past and opted for something a littler nicer this time around! I picked up a couple of coordinating shades of 3/8" organza ribbon and threaded them through the back so I was able to move and space each circle when it was hung on the mantel! To do so, I poked through holes through the back of the teal ( be sure to do this close to the center in a area that will be covered by the patterned smaller circle), larger circles making sure the placement of my holes would allow the lettering to remain as level as possible. I threaded the two ribbons together through the backs of each circle and voila! If you look super close up you can see the seams of the paper but it is hardly noticeable. All in all this project cost me around $6, because I had  some of my items on hand. I love the vintage like look of the banner and you can create the same look for any occasion! There are so many great scrap booking papers readily available at craft stores the possibilities are endless!!

{QoK}