Make a Banner With the Cricut - P.S. I Love You Crafts

I’ve had my Cricut Explore for over a year, and I LOVE it! I had a Cricut Expressions first and loved it too, so I wasn’t sure that I was going to enjoy the Explore as much.

I have found that the Explore is AWESOME for designing projects! It really takes the guess work out of what sizes to use for your die cuts. If you have an Expression Machine, I’m sure you know what I mean. You cut something a 3″ and it’s too small, so you cut it at 3 1/2″. Then it’s too big, so you cut it one more time at 3 1/4″!

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If you read last week’s post showing you how to make Bridal Shower Invitations, you will know that we recently had a shower for my daughter. I knew the Cricut would come in handy for making shower decorations.

I knew that I wanted to make a banner for the shower, but I didn’t really know what kind. With just a search for “banner” in Cricut Design Space™, I was able to design something perfect for my daughter!

Banners and pennants are so popular right now for decorations and parties. The Inspiration Vault has great tutorials for a Jingle Bells Christmas Banner, a Mexican Fiesta Banner, and a Patriotic 4th of July Banner.

Keys to Inspiration has a great post showing you How To Make Gorgeous Banners With the Cricut Explore.

I wanted to spell out Bride To Be, with each letter on a pennant or flag. Pennants can be any shape. There are alphabet letters, circles, ovals, rectangles, labels, stars, hearts, crescents, and shields. Then each shape can have an outline that’s straight, zig zagged, scalloped, or fancy. The choices were mind boggling.

I know that banners and pennants are popular right now, but I didn’t realize how many choices I would have.

The paper that I was using was thin, so I wanted to do more than one layer. The wedding colors are gray or silver and Malibu Blue. I only had a little bit of silver paper, so I chose to use blue and white.

I was going to attach the letters directly to the banner, but then I had an idea….AHA! (My ideas often get me in trouble.) I can put the letters on a scalloped oval with pop dots under it to give it some dimension. This idea didn’t get me in trouble this time, but it did create more work. However, I love how it turned out!

Supplies I Used to Make a Banner

Cardstock or patterned papers
Silver glitter paper
Baker’s twine
Dimensional tape or pop dots
Scrapbook adhesive
Stickles Glitter Glue
Crop A Dile to punch holes

Here is a list of the Cricut Cartridges that have pennants and banners on them.

Instructions

Design one pennant of your banner. Do this, choosing all of your colors before you cut all of them out. I tried a few different color and shape combinations before I decided which I liked best.
Between the words, I used a silver glitter heart shape as a separator.
Cut all of your pieces.
Assemble the layers using scrapbook adhesive and dimensional tape. If you look at the photos, you will see that I put dimensional tape under the scalloped circle.
I wanted a little bit of sparkle on this banner, so I added silver Stickles glitter glue at the scallops on each pennant.
Punch holes in the tops of the pennants.
Use baker’s twine to string your pennants together. Leave a good length on each end so that you can hand your banner.

Tips for Making a Banner

If you have the Cricut Explore, design your pennants for the size of the paper you’re going to use. 95% of the time, I use 12″x12″ paper. The blue paper was 8 1/2″ x 11″ though. By designing it in Cricut Design Space, I was able position and size the shapes so I didn’t waste much paper.
All of my pennants were the same size and shape, but you can mix and match for a different look.
Know how long you want your banner before you start. Keep in mind that the more words you have, the longer it will be.
Use dimensional tape or pop dots to add dimension to your banner.
Choose a BOLD font. A thin decorative font might be pretty, but it may also be difficult to read.