twelveOeight: Easy Summer Banner

It's been a while since I made a new banner, and I have a little spot in my kitchen that could really use a pop of happy. Since free is my favorite price, I dug in the craft room and found a piece of wood that had previously been a truly horrible lacquered print. I have a little stash of paper and with a little digging found the right papers to make this little board come to life. I also included the very first rose of the year from my garden. Oh my goodness, it smells wonderful and I cannot wait to bring more of them inside!

I cut about two feet of jute twine to begin with, then cut an 8 1/2" by 11" brown card stock paper into eight rectangles. One down the middle length-wise, then each side into four pieces. I used a hole punch on each of the six squares at the top of each corner so I could thread the twine thru the holes as in the picture above. I also used a pair of decorative siccors across the bottom of each square to give the banner a litte somthing fancy, without being too fancy.

I recently bought this Martha Stewart punch, which makes a wonderful flower shape and it has been fantastic to use. Not only are the edges all very clean, but it is nice and sturdy. The possibilities of how much I could use this one stamp are endless...I am sure she will be saying hello again :)

I punched a few flowers out in a complimentary scrapbooking paper. And I used pre-cut glitter chipboard letters to spell out "summer" on the bunting. I used a little bit of acid-free glue to keep the flowers and letters in place, and tied a bow out of the remaining jute on each end.

Easy right?

I am sorry to report that I did not take a before picture of the truly hideous lacquered picture. But it was something that probably would have been pretty bad even in the 70's. But I loved the shape when I saw it at a thrift store, and it was only $1.99. I painted the wood with three coats of Krylon satin spray paint in Bright White. I then used some masking tape to make a few stripes on the board, and did a couple coats of aqua on the exposed areas. I allowed the paint to dry completely. After distressing the wood with fine sandpaper, it needed something. So, the banner and the cast off shabby piece of wood are now together, and bringing some beachy fun to my kitchen.

All the spring rain is paying off, the roses are in bloom!

After putting it all together,I like the background for a simple summer banner.

Happy DIY'ing, I am pouring some iced tea as I press the publish button. I think it's time to relax in the sun with some iced tea next to those roses.