Super Easy Paper Banner

Remember this banner from yesterday? Now you can make one, too!

don't forget! You can click on these pictures to see a zoomed-in view.

What You Need:

• Paper and color printer (no need for anything special paper, just use what you normally would in your printer)
• Needle and thread -or- a sewing machine
• Scissors
• Glue Stick

Step 1 : Head over to Babalisme and grab a copy this adorable and *free* Reindeer Tag Download and print out 4 copies. While you are there, check out the rest of her awesome blog and be sure to say hi!

Step 2: Cut each tag out. This process is even quicker if you bribe your 10-year-old with a mini-bounty bar left over from Halloween to do it for you. Or you can use one of those fancy-schmancy circle/tag cutters scrapbookers have.

Step 3: Pair up the tags. You will have 2 sets of 2 each reindeer and 2 sets of happy thoughts (Joy, Ho Ho Ho, etc). This process takes longer if you first flip them all upside down, scramble them up, and play a spur-of-the-moment memory game with the aforementioned 10-year-old, but sometimes the long way is the fun way.

Step 4: Glue stick the backs of one of the pairs of tags together. Be sure that the tops of the two sides match up as close as possible. If you are like me and are saddened to discover you beloved glue stick was not recapped after the last use and therefore little more than a whiteish-yellowish brick, you can use regular white glue (also called school, Elmer's, or PVA glue) and either a small paint brush or q-tip (cotton bud for those outside the USA) to apply a thin layer. If you get a bit over zealous with the glue, like I did, they will warp and look like mini soft tacos. Just put a heavy book on them for about 5 minutes to flatten them back out.

Glue all the other pairs of tags in the same way.

Step 5: Time to sew! Thread up your needle or machine. I used plain, normal thread in white. If you are doing this by hand, here's an easy method: don't measure off a bit of thread like you normally do- just thread the needle and leave it attached to the spool. You don't need to knot the banner at any time, so as you sew the tags you simply unwind the spool as you go, gently sliding the sewn tags down the thread as you do.

Step 6: You need a piece of thread a few inches (6-8 is good) long to start. This is the "extra" thread at the end of the banner and helps keep the first (or last) tag from falling off. Stitch a straight line across the very top of the tag, being sure to start and stop at the edges. You will probably sew through a bit of the antlers but we are just going to live with that. There is no need to back-stitch or otherwise knot the thread.

Step 7: If you are sewing by machine, lift the foot and pull the tags out a few inches. You decide how many, but make sure you are consistent and the gap is always the same.

If you are sewing by hand, just slide the tag down to make room for the other tags. You will sort out the gap later.

Step 8: Sew the second tag the same way as the first. Keep repeating steps 6 and 7 until all tags are sewn. I like to mix-up the pattern a bit and not keep it red-green-red-green.

Step 9: If you are sewing by machine, pull off a final section of thread, the same length you did at the start of the banner, and cut the thread.

If you are sewing by hand, unwind the spool of thread a significant amount (about 4-6 feet), and slide the tags down gently. It's good to start at the "free end" of the thread with a gap and then the first tag, leave another gap of your choice (about 4-6" inches is good), then the second tag, gap, third tag, gap, and so on, working your way along the thread towards the spool pushing the extra tags farther along- until you need them. Once all tags are evenly spaced, leave another bit of thread equal in length to the one at the start, and cut the thread.

Your banner should be sewn to look something like this:

-----X-----X-----X-----X-----X-----X-----X-----

Step 10: Hang your banner! We attached ours to our light fixture, but you could also swag in a window or wrap around a tree. If you do hang yours near lights, be careful there is enough distance between the banner and the actual light source- paper near hot bulbs can spell fire! And none of us want that!