Yankee Doodle Banner

My facebook friend posted this banner the weekend before the 4th and I thought I'd make something similar for our BBQ party.

I wanted something cute and playful without harsh patriotism attached to it.

So, I headed to home depot and took a paint sample of EVERY color (I'm going to make a banner for Cupcake's birthday too).

I got home, picked my favorite reds and blues and went to writing.  On the back of each sample, I wrote a letter backwards.  So, when viewed from the front it would read correctly.  Then, I trimmed each letter using scissors.  No fancy tools needed!

After cutting out each letter, I laid them out flat and measured how much ribbon I needed I added a few feet on each end because of the knotting method I used and for hanging.

Simple stars since the white samples were so small.

For knotting, I punched holes at the top of each letter.  The wide letters got two holes.  The ones like "A" and "L" got one hole.  I threaded the ribbon through the first letter's hole, leaving about a foot on the end, I tied it into a knot and pushed it BACK through the hole, this would NOT work with a thin ribbon.  I repeated this with each hole, starting from behind, tying a knot in the front and pushing it back through the hole.  This process worked really well for keeping the letters in place.  If these directions are confusing try it with a test letter and practice it once.

Happy Banner Making!