Maya Road Design Team: ~Fall Banner Tutorial~ as promised!

So this is part 2 of my Shabby Chippy Paint Tutorial. Once the pumpkins were completed I had to do something cute with them, right? I love banners, I mean I really love banners. I have so much stuff already on my mantle, my tables etc...that there isn't a whole lot of extra room to decorate for a season or holiday. But, a banner can make the mood change in a room so fast and it's so easy to find a place for one. You can hang it across a fireplace mantle, a window, a staircase banner, the side of a decorative table, over a door...the list goes on and on.
The one thing I love about Maya Road chipboard albums is that you can make them into an album OR you can make them into a banner, which I often do.

Go HERE to learn how to create the pumpkins and for a supply list for the pumpkins.

So for this Fall Banner there are a few supplies that you will need. They are listed below.

Supplies-Maya Road

Maya Road Pumpkin Coaster
1 set of Chipboard Leaves
Green Maya Mist

Brown Maya Mist
Orange Maya Mist
Calendar Sheers-Brown and Cream
Ticket Sheers-Brown and Cream
Green and Black gingham ribbon
Black, Sand, Earth and Forest Trinket Ribbons
Journey East Twill Ribbons in Brown
Blessing Ribbon- any pattern
Double Stitched Velvet Ribbon in Green, Orange or Cream.

Other Supplies needed-
Fabri-Tac by Beacon Adhesives
Tombo Mono Vellum Adhesive (I keep this on hand to use for my sheers)
Cropadile
Brown Distress Ink
Black Permanent Pen
White Pen
Gaffer Tape
Black 19 Gauge wire-hardware store
Razor Knife
various scraps of patterned paper in Fall Colors

1. Go through your scraps drawer and pull out various pieces of paper in different patterns and different Fall colors. Adhere paper to 3/4 of the chipboard leaves using the Fabri-Tac. Once the glue has dried, use a craft knife and cut around the edge.

tip- make sure that your glue is dry before you start to cut or else you will pull and tear your paper.

2. Maya Mist the other 1/4 leaves in the Brown, Orange and Green. Set aside to dry. Ignore the pumpkin, I just wanted to show you my setup for misting. You can see where I misted my leaves.

3. Once the leaves are all cut out and the mist is dry, lightly sand the edges of the cut out leaves to make them smooth. Then ink the edges with Brown ink. Using your black pen, outline the edges of the leaves and then give the leaf a line down the middle with the black and the white pen. (the first picture doesn't have the center line, I added that after I took the picture)

4. Next group sets of 3 leaves together. Make sure to balance them by size, shape and color. Secure them into their group by gluing the small leaves onto the big leaf (Use Fabri-Tac).

5. Grab the Sheer ticket or calendar piece that you want to use and hold the leave group onto it. We are going to be marking a spot to punch 2 holes around the stem of the leaves to tie a bow on. This will help to make the leaves more secure on the sheer surface and add a decorative touch. Mark where your two holes are going to be with your Permanent marker.

6. Punch the holes out using your Cropadile.

7. Now we need to adhere the leaves to the sheer. Fabri-Tac won't work well for this. Here is the reason. The sheers are a slick surface and the Fabri-Tac will create a slick surface when dried. Now if the Fabri-Tac is adhered to a porous surface, it creates a great bond but when slick is on slick, it will pop off. So this is where the Tombo Mono Vellum Adhesive comes in. (You may substitute another adhesive as long as it is a very sticky one). So we are going to put some of the Tombo on the back of the big leaf.

and then adhere it to the sheer making sure to place it with the stem between our two holes.

8. Next, thread the green gingham ribbon through one of the front holes, to the back and then back out the other back hole through to the front.

9. Tie the ribbon into a bow and trim the edges of the ribbon at an angle. Do this to all the sheers and leaf sets.

10. Now we are ready to assemble the banner. Lay all your pieces (excluding ribbon ties, that is the last step) on the ground in the order you want to hang them on the wire. Try to balance them the best you can. You don't want one side of the banner to have all long ticket sheers and the other to have all short sheers...it would be off balance and not pleasing to the eye at all.

It's at this point when I cut my wire because once I have them laid out, I know that the wire will be long enough. Leave room at the end to curl a bit and to have room to hang it.

Once you have them laid out, punch a hole in the top of the sheer so that we can tie it to the wire. Then tie the sheers to the wire using a piece of ribbon, cord or bakers twine. (I used a hemp cord).

11. Next, attach the pumpkins to the wire. You can punch holes through the edges of the pumpkins and thread the wire across the back of them but this time I did it different. This time I used gaffer tape. I added a little bit of Fabri-Tac underneath it for added strength. I just taped the wire right to the back of the pumpkin.

Make sure that you attach the wire closer to the top so that it is bottom heavy, so that it doesn't tip when it's hanging.

12. Once you have all your pumpkins and your leaf sheers hanging on the wire, then start tying ribbon on the wire to fill the empty space. You can use torn fabric strips also for an added homespun feel. Just be sure to balance your colors and your widths of ribbons.

The nice thing about chipboard unlike wood, is that it is so lightweight. You can put a little push pin or tack into the top of your mantle (where the hole will be unseen) or into your wall and hang your banner. It doesn't take much at all. Also the wire can act as a hanger, you just need to curl it and wrap it around whatever you need to...a curtain rod, the back edges of a frame etc...

That's it, pretty easy, cheap and makes such a pretty decoration. We have one for Birthdays, Fall, Christmas and I'm working on some other seasons and Holidays as well!

Thanks for you time and I hope you have a Happy Fall!

~Katie Watson