Our Expert Craft Thrifter – Meet Annie!!!

Hi guys! My name is Annie — through some crafting assistance for the { lovely } maven dinner party, I was somehow recruited to be the resident diy/craft contributor. So happy to be here and (hopefully) bring you some cute, simple, user-friendly, thrifty, vintage-inspired ideas for your home, closet and gifting.

Let’s start with the holiday banner I put together for the dinner party using only materials I already had in the apartment. (I admit to being a rather last-minute crafter and tend to work with on-hand or re-purposed materials when possible).

Banners like these are all over pinterest and etsy and craft blogs and so on, but who knew they could actually add such charm when hung on a wall or over a window? I actually made my first one for a friends bachelorette party with the phrase “Drink and Be Marry” – I admit to being a little proud of that one. That ended up being a pretty long banner…I recommend starting with a shorter word for your first one, especially in the interest of saving time. For our Christmas-themed dinner party, I went with “Merry”. It’s a shame we don’t use this cute word enough outside of December, right?
Materials needed:
Brown, recycled paper – – you can buy this in rolls in the shipping materials aisle at Target, or recycle old grocery store bags (see Laura’s earlier gift-wrapping post!)
Fabric of choice – – this can come from anywhere (old clothes, curtains, fabric scraps, etc.) I cut up a vintage, plaid button-up shirt
Fabric scissors
Needle & Thread
Cranberries
Sewing machine – – adds cute stitches to the paper, but you could do this by hand or use glue/tape.
Cut out triangles from the brown paper (2 per letter in your chosen banner word/phrase). I doubled up the paper and sewed the triangles together to add nice white stitches to the edge and cover up the grocery bag design from both sides.
Cut out triangles from the brown paper (2 per letter in your chosen banner word/phrase). I doubled up the paper and sewed the triangles together to add nice white stitches to the edge and cover up the grocery bag design from both sides.
Cut out letters from your fabric. *TIP: using plaid ended up being super helpful, since there was a built-in grid for following to make sure the letters were uniform in size. Also, if you find it difficult to have control with the fabric when cutting (mine kept slipping), pin the fabric to leftover paper scraps to provide some stability and more precision.
Cut out letters from your fabric. *TIP: using plaid ended up being super helpful, since there was a built-in grid for following to make sure the letters were uniform in size. Also, if you find it difficult to have control with the fabric when cutting (mine kept slipping), pin the fabric to leftover paper scraps to provide some stability and more precision.
photo - 3
Sew (or glue) fabric letters to paper triangles.
Using a needle and thread (choose a heavier thread if you have it), alternate between 4-5 cranberries and your finished triangles to assemble the banner. One either end of the thread I tied a piece of twine to make for sturdier hanging.
Using a needle and thread (choose a heavier thread if you have it), alternate between 4-5 cranberries and your finished triangles to assemble the banner. One either end of the thread I tied a piece of twine to make for sturdier hanging.
Hang banner! You can choose an open wall, doorway, window, mantle, or buffet/hutch. We hung ours on a birch branch suspended in front of a bay window and accentuated it with hanging sparkly ornaments.
Hang banner! You can choose an open wall, doorway, window, mantle, or buffet/hutch. We hung ours on a birch branch suspended in front of a bay window and accentuated it with hanging sparkly ornaments.
Bask in your crafty success! My crafting partner, Florence:)
Bask in your crafty success! My crafting partner, Florence:)

Thanks for reading and see you next week!

– Annie

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