Cute and Simple Spring (or any occassion!) Burlap Banner

I'm always looking for cute and simple ways to accent my spaces and I have a fondness for banners - especially those made out of burlap.  Well, a fondness for almost anything burlap!  I've made several of these for different occassions, but this time I found a really simple way to put it all together. 

 

 

 Now, I know my mixed-media friends are thinking "that is way too plain!".   Possibly so, but I really love simple and this is so easy!

 

First, choose a size and shape that you want for the letters.  There are SO many resources on Pinterest filled with ideas.  I chose to just go with triangles.  Once you cut one to your liking, take that and use it as a guide for the rest.  Of course, you could also create a pattern out of cardstock, but I really didn't need to with this. 

 

Cut the number of shapes needed.  For this project, I cut twelve for two banners. I then iron them (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) with a little steam.

 

Lay them all out on freezer paper, but wax paper will also work. This is necessary because you'll want to coat them with decoupage and the waxiness (is that a word?) prevents them from sticking to the work surface.

 

 

 

 

 Pay special attention to the edges, but slather and dab all over. This will give a nice stiffness to them. You'll only need to do this only on one side, then let them dry for at least 2-3 hours.

 

 

 

 

   I have found that when they dry, they may pull out of shape a bit. Just trim until you get the edges to the way you want. If it looks too straight and clean compared to the other sides, you can pull out the outer thread to give it more of an unfinished look.

 

While the burlap was drying, I created little flowers with twine for accents. 

 

 

 

 

Start with making the circles.  Since I have lots of Modge Podge around, I just used that as the bonding glue - but if you can use others if you have a favorite. Just roll into the form below, using glue along the way.

 

 

 

 

Lay to dry on the wax paper.  For the flower petals, take more of the twine and loop back and forth, pinching the middle with your fingers.  Make it whatever size you want.

 

 

 

 

Take another short piece of twine and tie the center.

 

 

 

 

Pull the "petals" around to form a flower.  I secured the center with some glue to help hold the shape.

 

 

 

 

Once the round centers are dry, secure to the flower with HOT GLUE. Flowers are ready for your project!

 

 

 

 

After the banner pieces are dry, stencil away!  There are so many possibilities for these...birthdays, weddings, showers, welcome home...etc!

 

 

 

 

I used these handy little ink pads that I picked up from JoAnne's.  The stencils are from WalMart.

 

 

I attached the flowers and added these sweet paper butterflies from Hobby Lobby using hot glue.

 

 

 

 

To secured the banner pieces to a piece twine, I used these ADORABLE miniature clothespins that I found at WalMart in the Office Supplies section!

 

The cool thing about the clothespins is that you can actually leave the twine hanging and change the words!  Have a stash of letters around and make a new message whenever you like!

 

 

 

That's it!  Easy Peasy!! 

 

 



 

Susan