Halloween Banner – How To For A Scary Mantle Display

Halloween Banner Idea

A Halloween banner for a scary mantle display?  Yes, as I studied the 5 Little Pumpkins mantle display, it just seemed something was missing.   Doesn’t it seem to need a little more weight at the bottom?  A Halloween banner is the perfect solution.

Realizing that we have no decorative Halloween paper, a shopping trip is necessary.  I stop at Michael’s and Joann’s and find some Halloween sheets and pads but they are not exactly what I had in mind.  You see, since the pumpkin mantle display is essentially in more subdued colors, the bright orange, yellow, and black colored papers just didn’t seem quite right.  Bright colors will make the banner the focal point and that is not what I want.

[ctt template=”8″ link=”62Puf” via=”no” ]A Halloween banner for a scary mantle display?  If it seems something is missing, a Halloween banner may be the perfect solution.[/ctt]

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Do you have a ‘Tuesday Morning’ nearby?  That is my next stop and, incredibly,  I find this ‘Happy Haunting’ paper pad for under $6.00.  You can find many different Halloween paper pads on Amazon, too. 

 

Halloween Banner Dummy

I wanted to create pennants with the phrase, “5 Little Pumpkins.”  Not knowing for sure how big the pennants should be, I pulled out a brochure from the local grocery and tore pages out to create some pennants for a test.

To create some test pennants, just fold a page in half and cut a triangle.  In this case, it was necessary to cut down the original triangle a couple of times and the size ultimately settled upon is 6″ at the base.  When folded in half, the point to the center base measures 7-3/4 inches.  Opened up, the sides each measure 8-1/4 inches.

 

Make several of these and tape the edges together.  Tape the dummy Halloween banner to the fireplace mantle to get an idea of the size and how it will fit.  How easy is this?  You can make your own template easily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween Banner Triangles

 

When you finally have the seemingly appropriate size, begin by measuring, marking, and drawing the triangle with a pencil and ruler.  Then, cut out the triangle.

The paper used for this is 12″ x 12″.  First, I cut each of the papers in half because the base of the triangle is 6-inches wide.   Quickly, I figured out it is easiest to do this like an assembly line.

But first, I cut out this first triangle and used it to mark the points of all the triangles, then, used the ruler to draw both of the lines on the sides.

Cut Letters For The Halloween Banner

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Using a Cricut, (Mine is one of the older models.) cut out the 4-inch letters.  Feeling that the letters should be a little playful, I chose the Don Juan font.  Fourteen letters and a number might be a little much…  You might want to make yours shorter!  Lol!

If you don’t have a Cricut, you can make the letters using your favorite photo editing tool and then, print them.  Cutting them out would be a little tedious but still doable.

Circle Shapes For The Halloween Banner

Once I placed the letters on the designed pages, I felt maybe a shape needed to be behind the letters.   Some of the black pages didn’t allow the letters to show up so well.  Circular shapes seemed to be the best idea.  For a moment, I considered orange paper, then realized the orange I have would be too bright!

The 'M' seemed too large, so I cut another one 3-1/2".  Since it was so much wider, it just didn't show up as well. It is larger than the circular shapes.

 

Plan 2, maybe a better idea is cutting circles from the same pages as the pennants and coordinating those with the triangles.

 

Before cutting the triangles out, place the 12″ x 6″ on the Cricut mat and cut out 3-5/8″ circles on the bottom edge of each of the sheets.  Make sure you consider any writing or obvious right side up patterns before placing the paper on the mat.  Of course, you should have drawn the triangles on the right end already.  The circles won’t matter but you want the pennants to be right side up.  Using the sizes I did, a triangle and the circle can both be cut from one 12″ x 6″ piece of paper.

Cut Out The Triangles For The Halloween Banner

 

You can cut the triangles with scissors, an X-Acto knife, or a paper cutter.  I finally broke down and bought a Fiskars SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer.  Wow, this is so much better than my old trimmer!

 

 

The SureCut wire cut-line makes it easy to see exactly where the blade will cut for unmatched accuracy!  Yes, I recommend buying one of these if you have been holding out, too.

 

 

Layout For The Halloween Banner

Lay the triangular shapes out on a table or work surface, make sure you don’t have two exactly alike or too closely similar next to each other.  

Lay coordinating circular shapes on top of the triangles.  Tweak until you have a pleasing combination.

Then, place the letters in order on top of the circular shapes.

Adding A Background Layer To the Pennants

 

At this point, it seems the triangular shapes need an edge, a frame, or something to set them off better.  Right?

Laying a couple on a sheet of black card stock, it is evident that this adds interest to the shapes.  So, with Tacky Glue, glue two triangle shapes to each 8″ x 10″ sheet of black card stock, as shown.  Don’t overdo it with the glue.  Just dab glue around the edges.

After gluing the triangular shapes to the card stock, one by one, dab glue around the edges of a circular shape and place the circular shape toward the top centering it.  Then, center and glue the letter on top of the circular shape.

 

To make it easier, cut the card stock in half at an angle between the triangles.  Then, leaving a border, cut around the triangular shapes. 

Using the leftover scraps, I added a 1″ band at the top of the back of the pennants, thinking it will give a little bit of support when the strings are laced through the holes.

 

 

Punching The Holes In The Halloween Banner

Using a 1/8-inch hole punch, make a template with one of the dummy triangles.  Use this to line up on both corners at the top of the triangle and punch holes.  The holes will all be uniform.

Adding The Twine To The Halloween Banner

The twine used on this banner is 1/8″, which fits perfectly in the holes made with the 1/8″ hole punch.  In order to keep you from going mad, first, squeeze a line of Tacky glue on the end of the twine, twirl it with your fingers, compressing it slightly, and allow it to dry.  This will create a hardened end that will slip through the holes effortlessly.

 

Not wanting the twine to show that much, thread the hole from the front left to the back, across the back, and then, through the back and to the front on the right side.  Then, repeat that step on each of the little pennants.  Since I had a lot of these, I overlapped the corners slightly. 

There you go!  Tie the finished banner across the mantle.  Doesn’t the mantle display look finished now?

 

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