It's officially the holidays and I am SO excited. This time of year makes me warm and fuzzy inside... all the parties, the decorations, and the love get me every time! Our DIY Holiday Banner Craft will get you in the holiday spirit and ready for you to show off your crafting skills.
WHAT YOU NEED or Get the entire craft box sent to you HERE:
-
9 Wooden Rounds (these are the ones we got)
-
4 yards of each color fabric to braid your banner, cut to about 1" thick strips. (in our craft box we give you green, white, red, blue and twine to choose your combination)
-
Paints (in green, red, white, and blue)
- Apolistry Tacks (we like these)
- Paper Plate (or something to put your paint on)
- Piece of Sponge
- Hammer
- Ruler (optional)
Decide on the phrase for your banner. Some ideas are:
BELIEVE
LET IT SNOW
HANUKKAH
BE MERRY
CHRISTMAS
SANTA
Then lay out the number of wood rounds that equals the number of letters in your phrase (ex: BELIEVE, put out 7 wooden rounds). Place a small amount of white paint on your plate. Dampen the sponge with water, squeeze any remaining water out. Dab into the white paint on the plate and then dab the white paint onto the center of the wooden rounds creating a light layer. Let dry.
TIP: I like to fold my sponge in half and use the rounded folded area to paint. This avoids the sharper edges and corners of the sponge to show up on the wooden rounds. It helps make the paint have a softer appearance.
Next, it's time to add your letters. Place each letter stencil center on to the wooden round. Holding it down with one hand and then sponge paint your desired color with the other. When painting, dab your sponge into the paint and then onto the paper plate a few times so there is just a light amount of paint on your sponge otherwise there will be too much paint on the sponge and it will bleed past the stencil. Let Dry.
While the wooden rounds are drying let's work on the braided banner. Choose what color combination you want (choose 3 pieces). Gather the ends of your three fabrics, measure about 18" away from the ends and make one overhand knot with all three pieces together.
From the knot, you will start braiding the longer ends.
TIPS:
- Secure the top end (that you are not braiding) to something so that it does not move while you braid.
- It's a long way to braid so I like to stand and do it.
- Your loose ends will get tangled as you braid. After every few braids untangle the ends so it doesn't turn into a big knot.
- If you don't know how to braid, watch this video HERE.
Braid your fabrics until you reach approximately 18" of loose fabric left. You will want to leave that loose so it matches the other end. Finish and secure with an overhand knot right at the end of your braid.
It will look something like this.
Next, prep your wooden letter rounds. If there are loose pieces of bark around the side go ahead and pick those off. The nails will not be secure in loose wood.
Now it's time to attach your letters. We will start with the center letter (in this case it is "I"). Fold your braided fabric in half to find the center of the fabric. Line that fold up with the top of your center letter.
At the fold wiggle the tack through a layer if the fabric. If you can only wiggle it through a little bit that is fine. If you can get the tip through you can hammer the tack through the rest of the way in the next step.
Line up the point of the tack to the top of your center letter. I found it helpful to drill a small hole where you want to put the tack in. I used a 1/16 drill bit. Lightly hammer it in.
Wa-lah! You have attached your first letter. From that tack, I measure about 4 inches away and that is where you will place your next tack/letter. Keep repeating until all letters are attached with tacks about 4 inches apart.
If you are using a phrase that has spaces (i.e. Let It Snow) I count each of the spaces that are between the words as if it was a letter, therefore if there is a space in the phrase I usually measure about 8 inches from one tack to the next where the space is supposed to be placed.
And there you have it! Your banner is done!
If you enjoyed this, comment below. If you want to continue your DIY journey check out our crafts kits HERE. You can buy one for yourself or a bunch to have a craft party (the more you buy the less it is per person). Also, check out our next subscription craft box HERE!
Post and tag us in your finished craft
@socialcrafts
#yayforcrafts
#socialcrafts
Join and follow us:
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Social Crafts/Casey Lum is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.