Letter Banner

What celebration doesn't need a letter banner? That's about all of the introduction I have. Full tutorial after the jump!

What you'll need:

Illustrator and a few Illustrator skills -
Using Illustrator, I picked a typeface I liked and typed each letter for Holly's name 5" tall. I then converted each letter to outlines. Next, I created the tabs. Create a 1.5" diameter circle, cut it in half and join it with a 1.5" x 2" rectangle. Join them with sides of letters.

Without Illustrator -
You could technically draw the tabs in Word, too, if you wanted. Another way: use Word to print letters that are 5" high. Cut out tab template (below) and use it to trace onto your letter print outs. For letters with straight sides, line them up with the dotted line. For letters like Y you'll have to adjust, just make sure you have the tabs equal on each side.

Supplies:

• Exacto knife
• Scissors
• Card stock
• Printer/paper
• Eyelets
• Hole punch & eyelet setter
• Glue stick or spray glue
• Decorative paper

Tab template (above): Print this, do not scale. It should be about 3" wide.

If you're creating tabs in Illustrator: Here are the dimensions I used. Sorry they are so funky - I eyeballed and measured later.

Holly has a perfect name for banner making: lots of straight sides and a repeated letter! The box around the L is the 5" box I used to scale the letters.

Cut out your letter print-outs and glue to card stock (I bought blue file folders) with the printed face out. Use a credit card to get a nice, flat attachment. Give the glue a few minutes to set before you cut out the card stock.

Cut out letters. With a pin, poked a hole in the center of the printed black dot so that you can know where to punch your larger hole later.

Glue your letters printed-face to decorative-paper-back. Let glue have a few minutes to set. Using the edges of the card stock as a guide, cut out the letters.

I bought teal glitter paper. I love it. I absolutely want to cover everything in it. Glitter. Glitter. Glitter.

Keep on going.

Once all of your letters are cut, use your hole punch to punch holes in each tab. Next, use an eyelet for each hole. Starting with the first letter, attach an eyelet to the left hole. Place the second letter's tab on top of first letter's right tab. Secure together with an eyelet. Be sure not completely hammer the eyelet into place - you want the letters to be able to pivot, so just enough that they move, but do not come apart. Repeat for all of the letters and add an eyelet to the right tab of the last letter.

You're done! Attach ribbon or string to the outer eyelets and celebrate with your friends! Take a candid photo and surprise them by putting it online.

Happy Birthday, Holly! xojlord