Rounded Pennant Birthday Garland

I often get asked by friends to help with party decor and love to help.  This one was actually for a friend of a friend.  She gave me this invitation as a jumping off point.  It was a La-La-Loopsy party.  (Picture a big pink button where the yellow yard is cut.  I had to use it for one of the tissue paper flowers. ;)

Sadly, I did not have to purchase a single thing for this project.  I say sadly, because it means that my craft supply hoarding tendencies are getting a bit out of control. :)

I ended up putting a spacer pennant between the words with tissue paper.  I cut 8 layers (4 in blue and 4 in white) with my 4" scallop circle die.  Then crinkled them all up in my hand, opened them up and stacked them up.  A quick staple in the middle to hold them while I sewed on the button and voila!   

To tie in the button theme, I added a button for the "i" in both. 

I purposely strung the ribbon with more of the color showing (usually I put the ribbon in back of the pennant) because I wanted to bring out more of the pink.

I wish I could have gotten a picture of the pennant at the party, but I didn't know the party thrower.

Fall Burlap Pennant Banner {quick tutorial}

A quick and easy fall banner.

Supplies:

Burlap

Acrylic Paint and brush

Permanent marker (to match paint)

Jute

Sewing machine and matching thread or hot glue

How to:

I die cut my burlap, but you can easily cut the shape with scissors.  I used my computer to write "fall" then sized it to what I needed.  Print the letters in outline.  Using either a lightbox or your window, put the burlap over the paper and trace the outline with a permanent marker.  Paint in your outline.  Be sure to put a scrap piece of paper under your work, so it doesn't bleed through on your desk/counter.  Let dry.  (Crucial step.  Trust me.  I had paint all over my sewing machine because I was too impatient.)  Line up your pennants in order and sew the burlap onto the back of the pennant using a zig zag stitch.  (This would have been a bit easier if I had used a cording foot, but once again...too lazy/impatient to get it out.)  Optionally, hot glue or fabric glue the jute to the back.  Or hand stitch.

Here it is on my (undecorated) mantle.  Hey, its still September....for one more day.  

It was 90 here yesterday.  Not feeling too fallish yet.  

Tomorrow.  Tomorrow I'll decorate.  Then it will at least be October!

"DREAM" Paper Pennant Garland (quick tutorial)

 

The hardest part of this little project...picking out the font! ;)  I LOVE fonts!!!  My favorite site lately is scrapnfonts  Cute stuff and super cheap!

Supplies:

Printer

Jute twine

Paper

How to:

Choose your font and increase the font size until it fits your size of pennant.

My pennants are 4" wide by 6" tall, so I re-sized my page to those dimensions and blew up the font.

Cut the paper.

Put it in the printer and hit print.

Punches holes and strung it up.

Easy Peasy.

Fabric Pennant Garlad {tutorial}

I whipped this up for a baby shower decoration that can then be used in baby's room.  I'm making the bedding as a gift to my friend, so snagged some scraps for this.  (This is also sewing challenge #14.)

Supplies:

Fabric

1/2" double fold bias tape (or you can make your own)

How to:

Decide how long you want your garland and make (or cut bias tape) to that length.  I made my bias tape since I had white fabric and it was late at night when I decided to do this (which is pretty much normal for me!) so didn't have the option of running to the store.  I used a manual bias tape maker (first time) and it was kinda fun.  I made single fold, then folded/ironed in half to make double fold bias tape.  Then ending width is 1/2" and its perfect for this size pennant.

I didn't start taking pictures until half way through the project....sorry!

Cut your pennant shapes.  I used this die and love it so much!!!  I made 8, but you can make as many or few as you'd like.  They are 4" across by about 6" high, with tails cut on both ends.

I sewed the bottoms of my pennants together, but you can just as easily leave them be.  Fold your pennant in half then sew a straight stitch down one side, up then down the tail, then back up the other side.  I left the top just folded and didn't stitch it.

An option is to leave a large seam allowance and use your pinking shears on the edges, but I kind of like the shabbyness of the slightly frayed edges.

Once they are all sewn (or not if you choose), then pick your pattern.

Mark the center of your bias tape.

Start pinning the pennants in following your pattern.

I spaced mine 2" apart, but play around with it until its to your liking.  I left about 18" at each end of the bias tape for tying.

Sew it up and tie a knot in each end of the tape.  

Here is it hanging at the shower.

Felt Dot Garland {tutorial} {SC#9}

Need a super cheap decoration for the latest holiday?  This felt dot garland is just the thing.  It measures about 6 1/2 feet long for less than $1 for the whole thing.

Supplies:

Felt, 3 sheets (one in each color)

Die or scissors

Sewing machine and thread

How to:

I ran my felt through my die cut machine with my circle die.  There are 4 different circles ranging in size from 1" to 2 1/2" in diameter.  You can easily cut these out, it'll just take a little longer.  Make a template out of paper, pin the template to the felt and cut.

(Pardon the Valentine's colors.  I was planning on writing the tutorial for that holiday, but life happens and *Heart* Day is over. )

I cut 4 circles of each size in each color, so ended up with 48 circles.  You can do as many or as few as you'd like.

I piled all mine up then arranged them in color and size.  Mine's a pattern, but hey, throw caution to the wind and just put them together as you grab them in a random way.  (The Type-A-obsessive-compulsive side of me will not allow that....)

My pattern went (in size) large, med-large, med-small, small, repeat.  The color pattern went pink, white red, repeat. (Or, dark green, light green, white for St. Patty's day.)  Once again, you could just lay them out however looks good to you.

Thread your machine in a matching color (I went white) and pull about 8" of both the top thread and bobbin thread.  Set your machine to about 3.5 stitch length and start stitching away.  I ran my edges together with no spacing in between.  I got in quite a little rhythm and this sewed up in a snap!

Pull about 8" of thread at the end, and cut.  Voila.  

Walk around your house decide which shelf or cupboard or mantle you're going to hang it on.

If you don't feel like making them...I'm selling them in my etsy shop....

Ragamuffin Garland Tutorial

Got a lot of fabric scraps and want to use them up???  This is perfect!!

Supplies:

Jute (or ribbon)

Ring clips

Fabric

Ribbon (optional)

Scissors

A good movie (optional, but will make the process more fun)

How to:

Cut your jute/ribbon 6 inches longer than desired finished length.  Tie each end to a ring clip.

Cut/rip fabric in roughly 1" by 8-12" strips.  I took my fabric and cut it to about 10" (some were more, some were less), then snipped the edge every 3/4"-1" and ripped each strip off.  I like the frayed looked of the ripped fabric.  (I have no idea how many strips, cut I cut and tied, cut and tied, cut and tied...until it was as full as I wanted.)

I also cut extra jute and ribbons that I had in my ribbon jars.  For that matter, I dug through all my fabric and used some warm and soft batting that was too small for any thing else, extra fleece...pretty much anything that was white, cream, red, or green was fair game!

Put your movie in and start tying.  And keep tying.  And tie some more.  You might actually have to get a second movie going...that how long it takes!  I actually separated my piles into like colors and prints.  (Yes, I'm like that.)  I tied in patterns first.  For example...starting on the left hand side, red plaid every 4 inches across the jute...then green solid...then white, etc.  I wanted it too look random, but also not lopsided with color.  At the end, I filled in where needed.

This one is was for sale here.

All that work and you'd think I'd keep it, right?  Nope.

You can do these on wreath forms, too.  In fact, I picked up some at local garage sales and antique stores this summer with plans to make one from extra drop cloth material.

Boating Flag Paper Garland

G's room is decorated in sailboats.  I don't know why I was set on boats, but I was.  I had his room all finished about 2 months before he was born and poof...2 weeks later, we found out we were moving across the country.  So...I got to decorate another room.  I loved what I did the first time, so I did it again, but added a few more details, like this flag garland.

(In this picture it looks as if the garland is actually painted on the wall, but its not.)

 I had die cut most of the shapes at my local scrapbook store (before we left), then sat down one afternoon during nap time to put it all together.

Supplies:

Jute or string

Paper

Scissors, die cuts, or punches

Glue

  I measured his wall, and cut some jute about 2 feet longer (to account for the arc).  I decided what order I wanted my made up boating signs to go and laid them out.  Found the center of the jute and started folding and gluing.  The squares are really rectangles which I folded the end over the jute and glue.  The triangles have 2 tabs on them (its the small pennant die from Accucut) which I folded and glued.  I spaced them evenly apart, but glued the paper to paper and not paper to jute.  This way when we move again, I can lengthen or shorted if needed.

To hang it, I just put a cup hook in each corner and tied the jute to them.