One of my professors has a child who just turned one. She wanted to have a monkey themed party, but did not want to pay through the nose for the decorations. They can get to be upwards of forty bucks, even on Etsy! So she enlisted my help. Now I can share the tips and tricks with you that I learned by helping her. First, let's go through the banner making process. Here is what it looked like when I finished it.
First, you will want to choose a theme and colors. Of course, this one was monkey themed, so yellow, green, and brown seemed appropriate. Gather a mixture of scrapbook papers and card stock. Cut them to the size desired, matching prints with solids to create a "framed" look around each banner piece. I used stencils I already had to create and cut out the letters and then began to find the best arrangement by laying it all out on the floor.
After I found the right look, it was time to adhere it piece by piece. I used Mod Podge for every part of this. It works great as adhesive, as well as a final coat to glaze it over and seal the look. I first put the paper and card stock together, and then put the letters on top. For the monkey faces, I found the most frugal thing to do, instead of buying stickers or prints, was to find what I wanted through Google images, print it out, and trim it to fit. Here is the image if you would like to use it as well!
After each piece was complete, I went over the entire surface with a final coat of Mod Podge matte. This ensures that it looks polished, and papers do not separate from each other.
Once it all is all dry, use a hole punch to punch holes in the upper corners of each piece. Cut equal lengths of ribbon to go between each piece. You will tie knots in the ribbon behind the hole, on the back side of each piece. The knots will help to make sure the ribbon does not slip through the hole. Depending on the size and material of your ribbon, you may need to tie more multiple knots on top of each other for added security. For the end pieces, use a long piece of ribbon to make sure it can be easily hung. You may want to use books to flatten it over night, as the Mod Podge may tend to make thinner papers curl slightly. Now you have a custom banner for a fraction of the online cost!
Paper and card stock: $2.00
Ribbon: $1.00
Mod Podge, stencils: on hand
Total cost: $3.00
Online custom banner: average of $20.00