Looking for unique Christmas decor this year? I’ve seen the cutest little vintage look Christmas pennants made in Russia on Pinterest. These mini banners are typically made using unfinished blank wood signs.
Swallowtail Banner Cutouts
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Although I found wooden blanks on Amazon, they measure 6 x 4 – inches. That is larger than what I want. So, I pulled out a piece of mat board left over from a project. The mat board is thicker and heavier than the poster board. Amazon has a package of mat boards ◄ here. You can also find mat board at your local craft store and anywhere picture framing is done.
Not sure if the Cricut would cut through the cardboard, I forged ahead.
To create the swallowtail pennants that measure 4-1/2 x 3 inches, I found a pennant under images on Cricut Design Space. I used my Cricut to cut the mat and placed the front-colored side of the mat board facing down. Just search for a pennant template, choose your favorite, and resize it to the size you want.
I set the control knob to ‘poster board.’ However, the machine didn’t cut all the way through, so I used a metal ruler and an X-Acto knife to finish cutting.
The Cricut didn’t cut the holes all the way through either, but a 1/8-inch hole punch works perfectly to finish the job.
Although the Cricut didn’t cut the pennants out completely, it makes it very easy to just follow the lines and cut through the rest of the mat board to have perfectly matching cutouts.
If you don't have a Cricut, you can draw and cut the shapes with an X-Acto or mat knife and use a hole punch. It's a little more tedious, but doable.
Clear Polyurethane Spray
Click here for one free Vintage Graphics download page.
Use polyurethane spray to apply a couple of light coats on the front and the back of the graphics. This helps in two ways. The Tacky glue won’t permeate the layers of polyurethane on the printer paper and cause wrinkles or raised areas and it will help keep the ink colors from bleeding, too.
Choose Which Side You Want for the Back and the Front
I struggled to decide which side of the mat to use as the front. Remember, I love the color red! Ultimately, I decided to glue the pictures to the white back, use it as the front, and allow the red to show on the back.
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Supplies Needed for the Mini Pennants
- Cricut
- Mat board
- X-Acto knife
- Vintage Graphics
- Tacky glue
- Krylon Clear polyurethane spray
- Faux Snow *see DIY recipe below
- 1/8-inch Hole punch
- Snowflake stencils
- Tim Holtz Distress Ink Stamp Pads
- Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Spray – Vintage Photo
- Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Spray – Walnut
- Butcher’s String or Jute twine
- Beads
- Clear Glitter
Directions for Unique Christmas Decor:
- First, cut out as many swallowtail flags as you want from the mat board for your pennant garland.
- Use Tim Holtz’s distress ink to antique the flags.
If the flag begins to buckle or arch in the middle from the damp paper towel, place it under your cutting mat and place something heavy on it. As it dries, it will flatten.
Apply antique linen Distress Ink to edges.
Apply Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
Next, apply walnut stain Distress Ink. Spray on Walnut Distress Oxide and gently wipe with a damp paper towel. Spray on Vintage Photo Distress Oxide. Wet ink and Dry ink. - Go to The Graphics Fairy and download some of their multitude of free graphics.
- Resize the graphics to fit your flags on your favorite photo editing software or site. Print your pictures.
- Spray a couple of light coats of polyurethane on the front and the back of the graphics.
- Cut out the picture graphics, lightly distress the edges, and glue them to the flags.
Cut out the graphics with an X-Acto knife and metal ruler. - Next, cut off any excess paper from the graphics and punch the holes if needed. I used the little metal ruler along the edge to keep from accidentally cutting into the mat.
Cut off any excess paper. - Distress the edges of the back of the flag if you like.
- Stencil snowflakes onto the front, allow the faux snow to dry, then, stencil the back. I used faux snow, but you could use white acrylic paint instead.
Stencil faux snow onto flags. Use a flat plastic scraper to apply the faux snow. - Use a mandala dotting tool or the end of a small paintbrush to paint dots of white paint or faux snow on the front and back.
- Apply glue dots to the centers of the snowflakes. Then, dot in strategic spots and apply clear glitter.
Dot glue onto snowflakes. Sprinkle glitter onto glue. Shake off excess glitter.
- To make them more festive, I spray painted a little red spray paint onto the plain wooden beads in the supply list above. With paint, you can make them whatever color you wish.
- Thread the twine through the holes on one of the flags, threading beads onto the twine as desired. Then, repeat until all flags are strung onto the twine.
Vintage Victorian Pennant I love this little banner! What do you think?
*Faux Snow Recipe:
- 3 Tablespoons Baking Soda
- 1 Tablespoon White acrylic paint
- 1 Tablespoon Mod Podge
- Sealable container
Measure the baking soda, paint, and Mod-Podge into a small container. Stir thoroughly. I use a little Oui yogurt jar for this purpose. It’s the perfect size for the faux snow. You can find lids for Oui jars ◄ here.
If you want the faux snow a little thicker for your purposes, you can add a little extra baking soda until you get the desired thickness.
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MiloTree
Love it, so unique and pretty!! Thanks so much for linking up at #IMadeItMondayLinkParty 31. Pinned.
Thank you, Dee! Thanks for visiting, too.