extra credit: make your own christmas pennant

Ok, I know so far I’ve tried to convince you to eat fantastically on a budget…

Now let’s talk crafts.

Don’t panic.  I’m not a big craft person either but trust me when I say anyone can do this one.  Even your kiddos.

Actually I’m probably the very last person who should be giving any kind of craft advice; let’s just say in this arena I’m pretty much totally inept.  And don’t even get me started on my handwriting which looks like I am a reformed graffiti artist.  Anyway, at Thanksgiving we put together this banner and it was not only absolutely adorable but also so inexpensive to make!  I’d say each one we made cost less than $5 – far less than you’d find them for on Etsy where I’ve seen them go for $10 to $50.

So here’s how we did it:

1.  Find some Christmas-inspired fabric as well as burlap (we used red) at your local fabric store.  Typically you can find these for about $5-7 per yard.

2.  Pick up some of those 8 1/2″ x 11″ pieces of felt-like fabric that have adhesive on the back (it’s like a sticker, you just peel off the back).

3.  Cut the fabric and burlap into triangles.  Once you decide which triangle will be on the top, cut those triangles a bit smaller.

4.  Trace your letters on top of the felt and cut with sharp scissors.

5.  Using craft glue or a glue gun, glue the smaller triangle to the large triangle and press down gently.

6.  Place one letter on each triangle and press firmly.

7.  Cut twine as long as you’d like your banner.

8.  Cut small slits on the top corners of each larger triangle and “string” the triangles onto the twine.

9.  If you would like, cut small pieces of Christmasy ribbon and tie each piece to the corner of each triangle, securing it to the twine.

And in case you need a few ideas for words you can use:

• JOY
• BELIEVE
• LOVE
• PEACE
• MERRY CHRISTMAS
• NOEL
• WISH
• MIRACLE
• LET IT SNOW
• FAMILY
• CELEBRATE
• SILENT NIGHT
• HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS

Think you’ll give it a try?  Send me pics of your pennant at Facebook so we can all be inspired to get creative!