Happy Birthday November! A Paper Bunting Tutorial.

November is a wonderful month in our house, so much to be thankful for and celebrate. Both of my beautiful daughters were born this month. Mackenzie will be 6 on the 10th, and Coeli will be 4 on the 22nd.

This year we have decided to have a small surprise birthday party, to celebrate their special days. And I have decorations on the brain. And my to-do list is getting long. Full of little projects to create a fun, vibrant atmosphere. So, all week long I'll be sharing those projects with you!

Projects will include:

1. Paper bunting (today)
2. Paper pinwheels
3. party favors
4. Sweater stuffies
5. Birthday girl skirts

Each of the projects can be done in one evening, with things that are easy to find, or already on hand. We'll just say I like it cheap and easy ;)  So, with out further delay........

Vibrant Paper Bunting Tutorial!

First gather your supplies. You'll need:

• Square paper (I used scrapbook paper 10 x10)
• ruler
• pencil
• scissors
• ribbon
• hole punch
• sewing machine (optional)

Step 1: fold a square piece of paper in half, then in half again then in quarters. when you do this only lightly score the edges, this serves as a guide for the next step. When you are finished it should look something like this...

Step 2: Using a straight edge draw a line from the bottom left corner to the top of the first line. Continue connecting the lines on the diagonal,  top to bottom until you have all your triangles. I found that doing it this way you get the most out of your paper. When you are finished it should look like this...

Once you have your first sheet of triangles cut out, you can now use one as a template for the rest.

 Step 3: Start cutting! Th only took me about an hour. When you are finished You'll be left with a lovely pile of colorful triangles.

Step 4:  This step has two options. Option 1: you can hole punch the top two corners of every triangle and lace with ribbon or string. Option 2: Or you can do what I did, and sew them together. I was a little nervous at first, having never sewn paper. But, It proved to be pretty easy, and I think much faster than the first option. I also think they will hang better when sewn. If you chose to sew them together, use some scraps first and test the tension and stitch length. When you are almost finished one triangle, lift the presser foot, and just slightly overlap the top of the next triangle. It's really that easy.

Step 5: Once you have sewn all your triangles to the desired length, punch a hole in each end.

 Then loop ribbon, like so...

Now they are ready to hang!

 

Make sure to check back tomorrow for another Birthday party tutorial! Happy Bunting! ~ Katrina