How To Make An Easy DIY Halloween Pennant

How about you?  When I think of Fall, Halloween is uppermost in my mind.  Only trumped by Christmas, Halloween is definitely my next favorite holiday.  Since this week of the Autumn Blog Hop features crafts, I decided to make a Halloween pennant with paper rosettes on it.

 

You won't want to miss out on this week's “There’s No Place Like Home” Autumn Blog Hop.  This week features autumn crafts. Several bloggers including our host Rachelle of My Hubbard Home and Jenna at The Painted Apron are sharing their fall crafts. This group of ladies will be getting together another time in the coming week to share tablescapes. Links for all the posts are at the bottom of this page.  Be sure to check out all of their great ideas!

Inspiration For The Halloween Pennant

 

Remember the 4th of July firecracker and patriotic rosette centerpiece I made a while back?  The rosettes crafted for the display turned out so stinking cute, some other ideas for them have been floating around in my mind.  One involves a project for my granddaughter.

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Can you believe these are just folded paper?  So simple, isn’t it?  Yet, I love these!

Well, I broke down and bought a Bira Craft 12 X 12-inch Multi-Purpose Scoring Board & Score and Fold Tool.  While it is easy to make the rosettes, making a number of them will be much easier for me and, especially, for Sophie!  You don’t have to have one of these.  Click on the 4th of July link above and you’ll find step-by-step directions for cutting and folding them by hand.

Supplies Needed for Halloween Pennant

• 12-inch x 12-inch Halloween paper pad
• Paper cutter 
• X-Acto knife
• Straight edge
• Cutting Mat
• Tacky Glue
• Jolee’s Boutique Funny Pumpkins
• Low Melt Glue Gun
• Bira Craft 12 X 12-inch Multi-Purpose Scoring Board & Score and Fold Tool

 

I found this ‘Happy Haunting’ paper pad for under $6.00 at the local Tuesday Morning.  You can find many different Halloween paper pads on Amazon, too.   I love the vintage look but you can use vibrant fall colors just the same.

Cutting out the pennant is so very simple if you have a Cricut.  If you don’t have one, you can download the pennant base and the top layer ◄ here.  Then, you can print them out on white cardstock, cut them out, and use the two as templates.  It may take a little longer, but it is perfectly doable.

Directions for Halloween Pennant

Cut Out The Pennants

First, cut the pennants from your decorative cardstock with your Cricut or download the templates onto cardstock, cut, then, trace, and cut around each one.

I love the 12″ x 12″ pads of paper like the Halloween paper pad. All of the papers coordinate with each other.  You can’t go wrong with them.  After you cut the pennants, lay them out and mix and match patterns until you have them the way you want.

You can center the smaller pennants on top of the larger pennants, which was my initial plan.  As I laid the pennants out and accidentally slightly jarred one stack with another, I liked the slightly wonky look!

Make The Rosettes for the Halloween Pennant

Decide how wide you want your rosettes.  I’ve made a variety of sizes.  Remember that when you cut the strip, the diameter of the rosette will be twice the width of the strips of paper.  The rosettes I used underneath the letters measure 4 and 4- 1/2 -inches across.

*A little tip for scoring glitter paper or embossed paper, place the paper design side down. 

After scoring, fold into accordion pleats along the score lines.

Most of these are creased at 1/2-inch intervals but the smallest rosettes are creased at 1/4-inch intervals.  (The scoring board makes this quick and easy.  I’m a fan.)  If you don’t have a scoring board, click here ►for step-by-step directions to make them by hand. ◄Click here for how to glue and shape the rosettes.  (The pictures below are from that post.)

The small rosettes are made with a full 12 inches of cardstock cut to 1 inch wide.   One whole strip is used for each.

I’ve found that using 3 of the 12-inch strips works nicely for the larger rosettes.  Using 4 strips for the 5-inch rosettes is a little more tricky, but you can do it. 

Assemble the Halloween Pennants

After you have each pennant the way you want it, use Tacky glue to attach the smaller pennants to the large pennants. 

The paper pad I used has the letters for the words spooky and scary, along with a skull, which you can see below.  If your pad doesn’t have letters, you can create letters with your photo editing and design program.  The bat cutouts are cut with the Cricut but you can find all kinds of cutouts in the paper crafting section at the craft store. 

 

Punch Two Holes In Each Of The Pennants

Before adhering rosettes and decorations, use a 1/8″ hole punch to punch 2 holes in the pennants for threading a 1/8″ ribbon.  It’s a good idea to make a template out of scrap paper so the holes are uniform on all of the pennants.  Measure 1″ from each edge and 1/2″ from the top and punch a hole centered on each spot.   I chose a 1/8″ wide black satin ribbon but you could use cording, string, or twine. 

It’s probably easiest to thread the ribbon through the holes at the top of the pennants on the floor.

Then, glue the letters, the cutouts, and decorations to the medallions.  Decide how you want them placed on the medallions.  I went with the wonky look.  After those are dry, use Tacky Glue to adhere the rosettes to the pennants.  To make it easier, be sure you glue a punched or cut medallion to the back of the rosette first.  Then, squeeze Tacky Glue onto the medallion and around it.  Place on the top layer of the pennant.  I set the glue bottle on top of the rosette to hold it firmly in place.

 

Inspiration for the Halloween Pennant and Bead Garland

The inspiration for this pennant and garland is a Pinterest pin by kimborup.blogspot.com.  I love the idea of strands of decoration and the pennant being draped 2/3 of the way across the mantel instead of across the whole mantel.

Paint The Beads Silver

As I was making the pennant, the thought of a bin filled with wooden beads from macrame projects ages ago came to mind.  The silver paint used for spraying the skeleton gives them shimmer and shine and stringing them on a ribbon makes a perfect garland to add to the banner!

Just put the beads in a box, spray, allow to dry, shuffle the box, and spray again until the beads are covered with the paint.  I’m not sure all spray paints can be used in this way but the (Krylon Color Blast in Silver Metallic) dries so quickly, it works perfectly.  Most of the beads are covered but there were a few that needed another coat.  Just take those beads outside again and spray another light coat or two.

 

String the Silver Beads on the Black Ribbon

Then, string the beads on a ribbon.  I used more of the same 1/8-inch black satin ribbon.  First, drape the ribbon across the fireplace to determine the length needed and then begin stringing beads for that length.  When I had it the length I thought I needed, I draped it over the hooks on the mantel.  I tied off the end bead, leaving a length of ribbon.  To each end of the ribbon tail, I attached one of the leftover silver beads.

I love this silver bead garland!  Maybe this garland can be used for Christmas, too!