JULY BANNER {Tutorial}

Well it is here again one of my very favorite times of year. If you follow my blog it is no secret how much I love summer, the forth of July and this beautiful country. And I like to celebrate by decorating my home in red, white and blue decor. I also love banners, so of course I had to combine the two and it turned out so cute I had to share it with you all so you can make one too. It is so easy and it will only take an afternoon. Here is how to make your own Patriotic banner.

{Materials I Used}

-Wood Banner Pieces- The Wood Connection 
-Wood Letters and stars- The Wood connection
-Paint
-Wood Glue
-Sponge brush
-Paper
-Bakers Twine
-Sand paper

{How I made it}

First I cut out the paper I wanted to use on the banner piece to a smaller section.

Use your wood glue or mod podge to adhere the paper to the banner piece

Place something heavy on top to let it dry so that it doesn't bubble and dries evenly. Then I painted the edges of the banner white. After it was all dry I took the sand paper and sanded off the extra paper around the edges so all that was left was a perfectly fit paper to banner. Then I mod podged over the top of the paper then let it completely dry until it was clear and glossy. This is to help protect the paper and it will last longer.

While the banner pieces were drying I broke out the red, white and blue paint and painted the letters red, the small banner pieces blue and the stars white. I did two coats on all of them letting them completely dry between each coat.

Once everything was dry and all the paper was on the banners I glued the letters onto the large banner pieces and the stars to the smaller pieces. Then I strung it all together with some red and white bakers twine.

This is the perfect banner that will last year after year for the patriotic holidays and will go great with your summer home decor. This was such a simple project that only took an afternoon. Now go make one for your home! Make it your own change up the colors, the paper and make it fit you. Get creative and have fun doing it.

Make sure to check out my other patriotic projects 

Wreath 

Flag Blocks 

Silhouette Slate 

Framed Flag 

Utah Love

Stars and Stripes Wooden Flag 

HAPPY FRIDAY

HAPPY WEEKEND

HAPPY CRAFTING

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Fabric Scrap Garland {Christmas} TUTORIAL

Staring off some holiday lovin with a fun garland tutorial that will take you less than a half hour to make, will make a statement and keep your home festive and cheerful this season.  The possibilities are endless, there are the cutest fabric patterns and color you will have a hard time choosing. You can make it from scraps you have for buy the cheap fat quarters from anywhere that sells fabric.So lets get to it so you can have a new garland up in your home in no time.

 {Supplies Needed}

-Fabric Scraps {I used some fat quarters just from my local fabric store}
-Fabric scissors
-twine or string of some sort

 {What I did}

First this is a scrap garland and there is no need to make it perfect so there was no measuring and no marking, I simply took my fabric scissors and cut about 10 strips that were roughly 2 inches wide. Again no need to make them perfect. 

Do this to all your fabric choices. I did 4 different patterns and colors. and I cut about 40 strips total but for the size of my garland I only used 28 strips. You can make the garland as small or large as you are wanting for the space it is going.

 Now that all your strips are cut you are going to start tying them to your twine.

1. Fold your strip in half
2. turn it on its side and hold it in front of the string
3. take the bottom and bring it behind the string, then loop it through the hole
4. pull it tight

Then it will look like this.

Continue repeating these steps with all of your strips until you get it the length you want. I did 4 patterns alternating red and green and patterns as I went.

Hang it up and enjoy. It is cheap, fun, festive, easy and it only took me about 20 minutes from start to finish.

I had one in orange and brown for thanksgiving, you could totally make these for any season or holiday, or even above a crib in your baby blue or pink. Think of all the possibilities with all the fun fabric patterns out there.

Like this fun garland? Well there is much more Christmas and Holiday goodness and tutorials coming up for the next couple of posts! Think glitter, twinkling lights, gold, greenery, pom poms, burlap and so much more.

Also coming up the next couple of weeks are some AMAZING giveaways! Like some of my very favorite shops around. I am going to be doing a little series featuring some of my favorite shops and items for some amazing gift ideas and giveaways you do not want to miss. Ya know just a heads up ;)

 Don't forget to follow me on Instagram

@WHITNEYULRICH

to see all my fun pics, my real life, fitness, fashion ideas

and sneak peaks of what I've been working on

Thank you for your support, for reading and for following

Make sure to check out my other social media sites and follow along

{Links below}

Wood Chalkboard Banner {The Wood Connection} & a GIVEAWAY

Happy Monday friends I am excited to be starting out the week with a fun tutorial that I think anyone can make and anyone will love in their home. It can go with just about any style, holiday or occasion. Have you heard of the Wood Connection?  I love it , the cutest store, the fun little play house for the kids, the projects and supplies, and all the cute girls that work there, it is the best and you have to go! I am there often and especially love all of their holiday goodness. You can check out my other guest posts that I have done for them HERE and HERE.

As you can tell from my other posts I am kinda obsessed with banners, so yes today it is another banner but this one is my favorite because it is so easy and you can keep it up all year round and use it anywhere and for all sorts of occasions. It is a Wood chalkboard scalloped banner! Make as many or as little as you want, add and take pieces away depending on what you want it to say and dress it up for each holiday or party. The best part is it is so easy, cheap and FAST!!!

{Supplies I Used}

-Any amount of scalloped wood banner pieces {Wood connection}- I painted 12 so I can use as any or as little as I want depending on the holiday or occasion.
-Primer
-Chalkboard paint {They sell this at the wood connection}
-Sponge brush
-Bakers twine
-Chalk
-Rag

 {How I made it}

First I primed the banner pieces with a light coat of the spray primer this is so the chalk paint bonds better to the wood and you don't have to use as much of the chalk paint. A little goes a longer way. Let that dry completely. It only takes about 30  minutes to dry.

Once dry, next comes the chalkboard paint. First paint all the edges and then go back and paint the surface.

I did four coats of the chalk paint just to make sure it will with hold any bumps or moving it around or my boys little hands, letting it dry completely between each coat. 

Next before you can write on the surfaces you are going to want to prep the new chalkboards. This technique is so that when you write on the surface it will not leave a ghost or shadow behind when you erase. Do not skip this step, it is important to keep the chalkboard looking nice and reusable. Take a piece of chalk, turn it on its side and rub down the whole thing with the chalk until it is completely covered. Then you will just simply wipe it off with a rag and then you are ready to write on it.

Once all of your banner pieces are prepped it is time to string them together. First, ask yourself,  where are you putting it? what do you want it to say? I was putting mine in my front room and I wanted it to say Gobble for thanksgiving so I used 6 of my 12 pieces for this month. Then I strung them together with some yellow and white bakers twine {Also available at the Wood connection}. For Christmas I will simply exchange out the number that I need for the Christmas word I choose to use, then for winter, valentines day, birthdays and so on. I am going to keep this up all year round and I am so excited about it.

Lastly you are going to write your saying. I wanted to keep this first one simple because my thanksgiving decor is very simple, clean and fresh and this just fits right in.

You can dress it up with some different handwriting styles {I like to look on pinterest for inspiration on their fonts pages}, you can add borders, drawings, doodles and even use some fun colored chalk. I am excited to try something new each month and share it with you all.

Fun right! Now go make yourself one in time to decorate for all the Christmas decor bliss!!! And now my friends from the wood connection are giving away a $25 gift certificate to use at their store!!! So now you have no excuse to go and make your own. Hello it is Chalkboard that is a good enough reason right there. They also have the CUTEST holiday stuff out right now you will die!  Simply fill out the rafflecopter below to enter. GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Happy Crafting 

and 

Happy Thanksgiving

 Don't forget to follow me on Instagram

@WHITNEYULRICH

to see all my fun pics, my real life, fitness, fashion ideas

and sneak peaks of what I've been working on

Thank you for your support, for reading and for following

Make sure to check out my other social media sites and follow along

{Links below}