I found cute birthday garland on Etsy.com after seeing some displayed on another blog. I thought I could make it cheaper. It turned out it cost me about the same as it was being sold for, but I did get to personalize it. Here are the directions to make your own....
These are the supplies you need- chipboard (found at any scrapbook store), decorative paper to cover the chipboard, sponge of ink (I used color box brand), solid paper, ribbon, a hole punch, scissors and glue. I bought all of these at Archiver's scrapbook store for just under $30.
The chipboard came in a 6x6 size and already had 2 holes punched in it. It's original purpose is a scrapbook refill packet. You could find chipboard in any shape and would need 1 piece for each of your letters. I took the sponged pink ink and ran it along the chipboard edges. This ensures that your trim is pink and not the grey brown color.
The next step is to glue your decorative paper onto one side of each of the 13 chipboard squares.
Next, turn the board upside down and hole punch the paper to match the holes in the chipboard.
Next, you want to make your letters. I went into Microsoft Word and picked a bunch of different fonts. I then blew them up and changed the font to a shadow to save ink. Print out the letters and cut them out.
The chipboard came in a 6x6 size and already had 2 holes punched in it. It's original purpose is a scrapbook refill packet. You could find chipboard in any shape and would need 1 piece for each of your letters. I took the sponged pink ink and ran it along the chipboard edges. This ensures that your trim is pink and not the grey brown color.
The next step is to glue your decorative paper onto one side of each of the 13 chipboard squares.
Next, turn the board upside down and hole punch the paper to match the holes in the chipboard.
Next, you want to make your letters. I went into Microsoft Word and picked a bunch of different fonts. I then blew them up and changed the font to a shadow to save ink. Print out the letters and cut them out.
You then want to cut the letters out on your colored paper. I am a sloppy tracer, so I turned the white paper backward and then traced it onto the turquoise paper. That means that any pencil marks will be on the backside of the letter and not seen on the finished product.
Glue the colored letters onto the chipboard squares. Make them straight or crooked! Now you need to string them onto your ribbon. I used 5 yards of ribbon for my 13 6x6 squares.
I tied knots on the backside of each hole as I strung them to ensure the letters stay put and then you are done!
Voila! You have fun and personal garland for your next party or home decor project.
A couple of things to note:
Glue the colored letters onto the chipboard squares. Make them straight or crooked! Now you need to string them onto your ribbon. I used 5 yards of ribbon for my 13 6x6 squares.
I tied knots on the backside of each hole as I strung them to ensure the letters stay put and then you are done!
Voila! You have fun and personal garland for your next party or home decor project.
A couple of things to note:
- Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas have the same number of letters.... you could make one garland and make it 2 sided.
- This could easily display a child's name and hang year round in their room or be used as "Congratulations" or "Welcome" as party decor.
- You could save money by using 12x12 paper and cutting it to size or cutting cardboard from old boxes instead of chipboard from the scrapbook store.
Have fun creating your garland!
