Sunday, May 15, 2011

1st Birthday Banner Tutorial

The fun thing about this banner is I can use it for so many birthday parties all I have to do is change the year!

But do you want to know the best thing about this banner
It was Free
I had all the supplies on hand and did it all in one night
It is easy and you can totally make it your own 
So shall we get started?
I think so

These are the supplies you will need:
-Card stock in the colors you would like (I already had all of mine in my stash)
-Silhouette machine (if you don't have one this is all do able with tracing and scissors)
-Long string
-clothes pins (I had a huge pack I got at the dollar store a while back)
-Distressed Ink
-Scissors
-Hot glue or glue dots...or both
-hot glue gun
-glue stick
-rick rack (in your color choice)
-Ribbon (in your color choice)
-Rope
-Buttons
-Burlap
-Sticker dots
-Sand paper

And anything else your creative self wants to use to make this personalized banner your own
and special for your occasion

...And here is what I did:

First things first I picked out my color scheme....I decided on Red, Dark Blue, Light blue and yellow
I wanted something that would be perfect for 
Little M's First Birthday Elmo Party
I loved the way these looked together 
After I chose the colors I laid them out in the order I wanted them


Then it was time to cut the triangles on my lovely silhouette
She makes stuff like this so much faster and easier
I used the triangle from the "6 Banner flag set" shape that I had in my library
The perfect sized triangle was 9.450 inches tall and 7.3 inches wide


After all the triangles were cut out it was time to
cut the Happy birthday!
I used the "A Truer Blue" font
at 222.6 pt. size

I wanted the 1st on the banner to stand out
So I used a different font
I used the "Cry Kitty" font 
The number "one" was size 206.8 pt.
and the "st" was size 43.7 pt.

All of these sizes fit perfectly in my triangles
And it looked so cute All laid out like this but....

for me this just wasn't enough they needed some pizazz

So what I did next is wear them down a little
I felt like they were too clean cut
and I love the older worn look
So I took my distressed ink that I already had and inked it all up
I did this to every triangle before I went on to decorating them each individually


Then I knew on a few of them I wanted some cute pinwheels
So first you cut a strip of paper as thick as you want 
Then you fold it according style all the way down the strip


Then I formed it into a flower shape and stapled the two pieces on each end together
I love the look it gives 
and they are so fast and easy
You can make them different looks
by doing the crimps closer together or further apart
I got the look I was going for perfectly

Now we are ready to decorate each triangle
This is the part where your creativity and personalization comes into play
Have fun there is no right or wrong
Just whatever YOU come up with

But for fun here is how I decorated them
Some are simple some are more creative
Its a good mix


I cut out a burlap rectangle to start out with
Then I glued a cute bumpy circle that I cut from my silhouette right on top
Then to finish it off 
I bent a piece of ric rac in half and fanned it out into a triangle and stapled it to secure it
And added a couple buttons to give it its finished look
Lastly I added on my H with some double sided tape
(You could glue on the letters but I didn't know how permanent I wanted those to be yet)


I started out my A with some white ric rac down the right side
Adding some Chevron cut card stock on top
Then I used another bumpy circle cut from my silhouette 
And just taped the A right on top of it all

I LOVE the white letters with all the color
It really made them stand out 
And it was easier to read


Remember we are making this our own
Doing whatever your creative hands are doing
Don't stop them
You just might like what they whip up

I cut a strip of burlap and layered some Chevron cut card stock on top
Put some fun sticker dots I had on hand on the bottom corner
I pinwheel in the middle and 
the P right on top

Don't ya love this?!


Again I used the Burlap (I am loving the burlap lately if you cant tell) and cut it into a triangle
I layered on top some Chevron cut card stock in diagonal rows
I overlapped some bumped silhouette cut circle and Added a button on top
Lastly the Letter P

Oh so little BOY don't ya think?!


This simple one is quite possibly my favorite
I used some rope that I had left over from 
Little M's adorable dresser handles
All I did is cut it into strips starting small and getting bigger and 
secured them with hot glue
Then just added the Y on top



I for sure wanted this one to stand out a little
It is his special first birthday after all
I cut a piece of sand paper into a rectangle 
Roughed it up a bit (I love the look of this)
Added some ric rac diagonal lines 
Secured the 1st on top and 
Wala!


Lastly we are onto the Birthday
I wanted the B to be more simple next to the 1st (again I wanted it to stand out)
I just cut some cardstock into That shape and secured them on with glue
Then just added that amazing B
I love this font


Another one of my Favs
It reminds me of the beach
Oh man I want to go to the beach
Anyone want to come with us
Let plan a summer trip
Ok...Ok...back to the banner

First I cut out some cut patterned paper in a rectangle and glued it on
I added a couple triangles of burlap
glued a pinwheel on 
And Secured the I right on top


With this one I found some cut pattern paper and cut it into strips
Then I glued it onto the back of the triangle so It looked like a border around the flag
Then I added some brass, gold, silver and black brads
and taped the R on


Another fun one that matches the boys room perfect :)
I just cut the ric rac and overlapped it into a triangle shape
bordering the flag
And added the T


Use your imagination
Use inspiration
And don't be afraid to try something new
This reminds me of a shirt
I would love a striped shirt that color

I just cut some card stock into strips and glued them down
And just added the H right on top

Simple...but not PLAIN!


Burlap again!
I just cut it in a fun shape and made it work
Creativity is the key
Added some stickers and buttons 
Put the D right on there and done!


This one is so fun it reminds me of super heroes
This color scheme could work for a super hero party too 
ooo I just thought of that 
yay me haha

I just cute three triangles and positioned them and so
slapped a bumpy silhouette cut circle on top 
And tape the A on

Super A
All I have to do is exchange that for an M for my little man :)
and I could put it in his room
He is my super hero


Last but not least we have the Y
I just used another pinwheel 
Put the Y on top and added some more ric rac 
above and below the pinwheel


Then I just attached the banner to a string
with clothes pins
And it was just perfect for his fun Birthday Party

It was so easy 
and I really did have fun doing it
I love to be creative
Especially when you cant go wrong
And when its free it is even better

I have a few ideas to do with it now that the party is over 
First I am going to keep it and just switch out the year 
I think I will use it for a superhero party for his second birthday
Oh what do you think?

Second I am going to Make another one with the same colors 
that says MADDUX for his cute bedroom!
Do you like that idea?
Now go and make one for yourself
Birthdays, Graduations, baby showers, summer parties, 
the sky is the limit
Ready set go...create!

And if you have any questions at all remember you can always email me or leave a comment 
I will answer them all

This banner is linked to all the linky parties in my parties tab
and
Todays Creative Blog


Lastly I have another question for all you lovely people visiting here 
My cute friend is doing a fun 30 day challenge of different hair styles for 30 days
She has long beautiful hair
well my hair is far from long 
and I know a lot of people with short hair
So what do you think about me doing a 2 week challenge
of 14 different short hair styles
Would you guys like that
Would you follow to see what I come up with?
I need some input before I do it for sure
So please give me some advice about this
Thank you

20 comments:

  1. I love the banner. You should do the hair series. You always come up with the cutest hair styles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome job! What a special thing to do for your son's first birthday! Thank you for sharing.

    Ps--I had my versatile blogger award post done & when blogger got messed up, it got erased! I was so bugged. Now I have to write it again. Thanks for awarding it to me. That was so sweet of you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Really pretty banner! Thanks for pinning my photograph!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a great banner! I love it. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am off to explore yours more. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Whitney,
    Thanks for stopping at my blog. Hoot-n-Nanny. The brownies are delicious. You have a cute blog and I am your newest follower. My mom lives in American Fork, a sister in Orem, and a sister in Lindon. We drive through Cedar City often. The banner looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What an adorable banner! Thanks for inviting me to your blog!

    Jill of oursevendwarfs.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. That banner is so cute! I'm just beginning to use my Silhouette...it's quite intimidating! I would love to see a 2 week version of short hair-dos! Thanks for your comment on my post! Your blog is very cute!

    Caley
    www.howdoesshe.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your banner is SO CUTE! I was wondering how you made it! All the sista's are following your blog! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. please do the hair challenge. i have short hair and need ideas! :)

    p.s. super cute banner

    ReplyDelete
  10. That is so cute! I love it--what a perfect boy banner! It's so tough to come up with boy crafts, don't you think? I don't think I've ever made a single thing for my little guy, but all my friends with daughters have plenty of gifts I've made for them :-/ This is adorable!

    Rachel @ Maybe Matilda

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very cute. I love your writing style. Thanks for stopping by A Little Nosh!

    http://www.alittlenosh.net

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great banner! I'm bummed that I didn't find your post in time to make one for my son's 1st birthday!

    Love your blog-I'm one of your newest followers!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great banner! Awe 1st birthday - what a great memory!!! Have fun! Followed your link from WhipperBerry. Hugs, antonella :-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. So cute!! And happy 1st Birthday! ;) Great memory!
    Thank you so much for sharing this @ {nifty thrifty sunday} last week!
    Hope to see you again tomorrow! :)
    xoxo from Germany,
    Vanessa @ {nifty thrifty things}

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love what you said about just let your creative hands do what they do...sometimes I just have to let go and accept what's happening with my project and not get stressed that it's not perfect or just like the inspiration!

    Thanks for the reminder :) And the banner turned out SO cute!

    ReplyDelete
  16. The banner is amazing and perfect for such a special birthday! You did an awesome job. Thanks for linking up!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Pin It button on image hover