GRADUATION BANNER and TUTORIAL!

Do YOU have a party coming up that you want to decorate for but you want to decorate with something easy and affordable?

How bout a custom made banner!!

With discounts and deals from craft store I got a great deal on all of my paper and decal. 

My husband was graduating college and I knew I wanted to do something fun with a hint of shabby chic but I needed to make sure it was a little manly at least...

so I did the banner in BLUE, BROWN, BLACK and WHITE!

That's manly enough right!?!

I know that most of you aren't going to celebrate a graduation anytime soon but the great thing about this tutorial is it works with any color and ANY KIND of banner!

SO let's get started!

You will need

A long light colored string or rope {mine is CANVAS CORP and is roughly 6 ft long}

Different colored card stock paper {scrapbook sized paper can fit 3 triangle cut outs and regular paper can fit 2}

Cloth pins

scissors

glue

hot glue/gun

Glue dots

Stamp pads

Ribbon {of your choice}

Ric rac {of your choice}

Decorative paper {courtesy of Canvas Corp and Joann's}

Cork board paper {courtesy of Canvas Corp}

Canvas triangle cut-outs {courtesy of Canvas Corp}

Buttons

AND anything your little heart desires to make your dream banner!

I really wanted to use lots of fun fabrics but with my budget I didn't have the money to buy fun blue, white and grey fabrics so I worked with what I had...

First things first!

I want to show you how to make the pinwheels that are on my banner!!

The great thing about these...they can be as big or small as you want.

To make them small enough for my banner I used a normal sized piece of paper and cut it right down the middle...hot dog ways!

Then I fanned the strip of paper back and forth.

After I crimp the paper, gather the paper at the middle and press it against the other crimped paper.

Then tie a tight knot with a piece of string.

After you do that you can fan your crimped paper out and staple the two edges together.

SOOO easy and the look is whimsical and fun.

Next,

Trace your triangle banner piece onto the paper {I just free handed mine, just make it the desired size you want!}

Cut that piece out and use it as your template for the other triangles!

Trace until you have the desired amount of triangles you want.

CUT away.

OH, don't forget to share your craft time with the kids!

They will love to play and draw and 'craft' with mommy!

It may take you longer but...

They will thank you!

Lay out your triangle pieces to see exactly what you want your pattern to look like.

You better believe those are Starburst jelly beans!

Candy is REQUIRED during craft time.

With the next step make sure you do ALL your triangles at the same time or you will forget!

After this do each triangle individually so you can focus on each creation separately.

I love doing this to ALL my paper crafts.

It helps give the paper a finished, shabby chic look!

All you do is take your stamp pad and rub it against the edges of your triangles.

With the dark blue I used WHITE ink...

and with the light blue I used BROWN ink...

Once you've done that you're ready to start decorating each triangle.

DO WHATEVER YOUR LITTLE HEART DESIRES!

BE as CREATIVE or SIMPLY as you want.

A banner is a great way to show off a little piece of you!

I used ric rac to start off my triangle.

With a thin strip of hot glue on the back of my triangle and placed the ric rac on the back.

Then I added a transparent smaller triangle right on top.

So...I don't have a Silhouette machine!! Although I WISH I did...

and our printer was out of ink!!

So I CUT out my letters...

Yep, traced and cut...GOING OLD SCHOOL YO!!

I cut up a canvas triangle to make it more of a square and placed it onto top of my pinwheel.

There you have it!

LETTER 'C' DONE!

NOW 10 more LETTERS to GO!!

With a touch of Mod Podge I started my next triangle.

Remember make it your own!

I noticed the hot glue worked better than Mod Podge for some of the ric rac

 but make sure you glue and place really fast!

That glue dries quick.

I simply cut 3 circles in different sizes to place below the buttons.

I also used CANVAS CORP chalk paper pieces {I don't know what it's called}

I used Glue Dots for some of my layers.

It gives it more of a 3 dimensional look!

Letter 'O' DONE

More mod podge and ric rac.

Cut out some circles and finish off the edges with some stamp ink...

Use your imagination!

The SKY is the limit.

I ran out of the glue dots pretty quick so to make a more 3 dimensional look I used LOTS of hot glue.

I even gave my banner a little chevron LOVE!

Some different designs.

These last letters I used to same techniques just in different ways!

AND there you have it!

It was easy and fun to make.

It took some time but it was worth it...

To be honest I'm not sure when I'll use it again.

Maybe I'll sell it!:) 

If you have any questions feel free to email me!

I'll be linking up my banner to the awesome linky parties on the left side of my blog.

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

{HERE}

XOXO

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