Will you be mine?

Officially Tuesday

Project #13
"Be Mine" Valentine's Day Pennant Banner

Our inspiration:
Images courtesy of Moda Bakeshop and Martha Stewart

The triangle pockets, the darling yo-yo's, the eclectic mix of fabrics, the super sweet paper medallions all inspired me to make a...

"Be Mine" paper flag and medallion pennant banner

(Who doesn't love a pennant banner?)

This was to be a:

no cost (times are tight, you know - use our stash)
no sew (babies are sleeping in sewing room)
actually finish it on one Tuesday (because sometimes these drag on...)
before the holiday is over (yup - it happens...life gets in the way)

Project.

We are again using our silver glittery letters from Wal-Mart. For those of you keeping count, we have used 3 packs (about $4 each) of glitter letters between the two of us and made:
2 Tis The Season banners/garlands
2 Happy Birthday! banners/garlands
and today, 2 "Be Mine" banners

(and have lots of leftovers)

We had to get a little creative and do some delicate micro surgery on the letters...
(F + L = E and K was chopped to become an I)


Sort through your mountainous stash of scrapbook and craft papers. You know you have one. Pull anything that may work in your color scheme. Not everything will make the cut but it's nice to have options!

To make the medallions:
(Molly said she would rather me teach her the medallions than watch the Martha Stewart tutorial on the website from her show. Last year Molly got to attend a taping of her show - she said she was , well, a little Martha. So, here is your tutorial. )

Trim a piece of 12x12 paper to strips of 1.5" x 12" I used a scallop rotary cutting tool on one edge, straight trim on other edge. (From the Martha line at Michael's - the irony...) Not necessary but creates a darling edge and makes the folding easier.

Accordion fold and make into a tiny "lampshade." Secure ends with glue.

Flatten the "lampshade" and dot the center with a (generous) dot of glue. Weigh it down a bit while it dries. We started with Elmer's but moved on to Elaine's quick grab tacky glue. The Elmer's would work fine but needed to be held a little longer while it dries.

At this point embellish as you wish. We added a 1" circle to the center - this is where we would eventually add the glittery letters - the letters needed something to help them pop.

For our flags:
We cut triangle banner flags 6" wide by 8" tall/long. Does that make sense?
Cut 3/4" strips of paper for tails to hang below the medallion and pieces to embellish your flags - we cut a 2" strips of our pattern papers with the scallop cutter and 1" strips of glitter paper to layer on the flag.

Now comes the fun (or sometimes nerve racking part) of mixing and matching medallions, flags, and layering strips of paper to create the perfect "imperfect" randomness.

Assemble and trim all the final pieces. We used an adhesive runner thingy for the layered papers and a hot glue gun for the medallion pieces and letters.


String together and hang where all your special Valentines will see and know they are loved! I used a slot punch and 1/2 inch twill tape (any ribbon or cord will do) to string my flags.

I just love to imagine the possibilities with this cute pennant banner and sweet medallions. Birthday banner? Child's name? Classroom? Center embellishments - buttons, flowers, seasonal iconic images. And the tails - you could add names or sentiments or holiday phrases. Go nuts!

And you know we need to show you what we ate for lunch today:

Fried eggs on wheat toast, oranges and tangeloes, and orange juice.

PS: We had hoped to have this be a totally one day project but it took a little longer than we planned, of course, life got in the way again! (a very sick baby K...urgent care, sleepless night, all that fun stuff) But, here it is on Wednesday and it is done!

(Does the sometimes seem strange and small, like not on purpose? I cannot correct it. Oh well...)