Hoppy Birthday Banner

Materials:

• card stock in your choice of colours (2-4 colours)
• letters (stickers, scrapbooking or cut your own)
• ribbon
• glue stick
• pencil and ruler
• scissors

I used pre-cut card stock for this project, which makes it easier and faster than a circular garland. I bought a package of pre-cut cardstock in four colours at the dollarstore. Each piece is 61/2 inches by 41/2 inches.
First decide on what you want the banner to say, as well as any additional decorative pieces. Lay out your pieces so you can see how it looks before you start. Once you are happy with the colours combinations, cut our all your letters I used a combination of white, off-white and two shades of  brown. I drew the letters freehand, but feel free to use a template or pre-cut scrapbooking letters or stickers. Lots of options available at dollar and craftstores. Once you like what you see, glue on your letters and embellishments-lining them up all the bottom edge will help it look even.

 

I added a silhouette of a bunny wearing a party hat to each end of the "hoppy" banner. I cut out the bunny, the triangle and the pom pom from paper and drew the details with a pencil.

Next I made a "pocket" for the ribbon by measuring out an one inch fold and gluing it to the back side. I applied just a thin strip of glue-don't glue the pocket shut. Think of a curtain panel, the ribbon will be like the rod. I used the side of the glue stick to get a very thin line.

Once all the glue is dry, slide your ribbon through each letter, making sure the letters spell out the word correctly and knot the ribbon on each side. I did the banner this way because I wanted to be able to re-use parts of it. I can keep the "birthday" as is, and take out the bunnies and the "o" from "hoppy" to change it to a standard birthday banner instead. Just un-tie the knot and slip off the letters.

It's actually really easy to make a custom banner, they look great and can be customized. Much better than the tin foil ones at party stores. For the instructions on how to make a circular banner, check out the "sweet pea" banner here

 

I am thinking about making some felt garlands and pennant banners, they'll be longer lasting and can be used in various ways for lots of different kinds of events.