Star Spangled “Banner”

Oh boy, do I love to decorate for the holidays! It doesn’t much matter to me which one, because I love them all. Hi, it’s Maureen today and I’ve got a mini banner that is spectacular for decorating. It’s especially cute to hang over letter boards, buffet tables or in my case, a red tree! When you pair this with all the red, white and blue-tiful papers at CutCardStock, you will be so very pleased.

I’m starting with the Stardream Metallic Vista Blue papers because it’s soooo beautiful. This shine is like a firework without the fire! I’ve cut three squares at 3.5″ by 4.25″. Then, take the square and mark the halfway point at the bottom, and cut at the diagonal on both sides to form a pennant.

Cut little stars at the bottom of your pennants with a small die cut. Next, run the Stardream Metallic Vista Blue pennants through a machine with an embossing folder. You will love the dimension this gives the paper! Set these aside.

I’ve cut two sets of layered daisies from die cuts in Pop Tone Sweet Tooth white, then curled the ends of the smaller daisies up slightly. These are then dusted with a blue ink, both in the middle and on the tips, and glued together.

It’s time to add dimension to the centers of your flowers. With the Stardream Metallic Jupiter Red paper, cut 2 – 1/2″ strips, then trim them with a shredding scissors. Don’t go all the way through the strip – you are trying to create a fringe. After this is complete, curl the strip around a tweezers to make a firework fringe for the middle of your flowers. Glue these in place.

In the same Stardream Metallic Jupiter Red, cut small letters out for your banner. If you have a die cut set with an offset lettering, add the background in Stardream Metallic Silver. Cut three small stars from the Stardream Silver also.

It’s time to use those scraps! I had an adorable scrap of blue gingham, so I die cut three stitched hearts for my banner. I glued the U-S-A to the hearts and added them to the pennants with pop dots.

To string the banner, use twine and create a small tube for the twine to feed through on the back of the flower using a strip of Pop Tone Sweet Tooth White. Punch holes in the pennants to string the remaining banner pieces.

Time to decorate! Banners look so cute on mini trees or even displayed across a picnic table. Where would you hang a mini banner?

Love how this turned out! I usually keep my banners for many years – when you are finished with patriotic holidays, simply pack these away between 2 pieces of stiff CutCardStock paper to keep them flat and you’ll enjoy them again next year!

I hope you give this project a try – and you still have time before the end of June to take advantage of the red, white and blue paper sale this month too. Enjoy, and happy crafting!