Hey friends! Today I’m back with another project using the beautiful Willow Lane collection* by Maggie Holmes. Today’s project was inspired by the “Love You” stickers in the Wonderful Thickers set. For some reason they made me think of a banner, since the words have a great length, the letters are colorful and have the perfect size.
Crate Paper / Maggie Homes | 2 in 1 DIY Banner Mini Album | Willow Lane
So.. that’s what I made 😉 But there’s a little twist to this banner, and I will show you at the end of this blog post what else you could use it for other than home decoration.
I cut out the individual banners using this die set from different patterned papers that would match the colors in the letters. I made sure that the patterns are more of a solid, so that the banner wouldn’t end up being too busy and the letters and embellishments would still stand out. The 6×8 Basics Paper Pad has lots of great solid/neutral papers in it, but I also used some from the regular 6×8 Paper Pad and the 12×12 Pad.
For the first and last banner I recycled the packaging from some of the Willow Lane embellishments. The wood grain pattern is the perfect neutral and since the packaging is a little bit thicker, it is also perfect for the second use of this banner 😉
To make the letters pop off the banners a little bit more, I also die cut some scalloped circles from a sheet of vellum and layered those beneath the letters. This adds some more texture and interest to the banners, but also mutes the pattern and color beneath a little bit.
For some more added texture and another pop of color I machine stitched a line along the top of all the banners in coordinating colors.
For the embellishing I decided to keep it rather simple, since the whole thing was already quite colorful and bright. I wanted to use lots of the many cute critters that are included in the different embellishment packs, so I used the bird and swan from the Chipboard Stickers, some of the cute animal heads from the Puffy Stickers and, of course, some fussy cut butterflies from the Flutter paper.
And you know me, I love me some gold! So obviously I had to add some shiny golden accents, too. On the top edge of the first and last “page” of the banner I stitched the beautiful Decorative Trim, and I also scattered some more gold glitter stickers from the Thickers set around.
So here is what else you can do with this banner: turn it into a mini album! You only need to take out the ribbon or twine you used to hang the banner and put in some book binding rings. Let’s say you made a banner for a birthday party, for example, you could then use that to turn it into a mini album documenting said birthday party!
That way you can preserve the decoration and give it a new life. Because, let’s be honest, keeping every single home decor item is too much but throwing it away also isn’t an option; especially when it was handmade!
I hope you like this project and may give it a try, too! Of course you can switch it up to whatever you need it for: a birthday, anniversary, etc. Or maybe make one for Christmas and then, when you take it down after Christmas, add some of your favorite photos from this holiday season to it.
Thanks a lot for stopping by! Have a great day!
Kathleen
*This blogpost contains affiliate links for products I use and love. Compensated affiliate links present no additional cost to you. If you buy sth. through my affiliate link, I’ll earn some coffee money which will help keep me going and create more projects for you Thank you for your support!Â
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Crate Paper Willow Lane 6x8 Paper Pad Basic Shop at: SB | BL |
Crate Paper Willow Lane 12x12 Chipboard Stickers Shop at: SB | BL |
Crate Paper Willow Lane Ephemera Shop at: SB | BL |
Crate Paper Willow Lane Thickers Wonderful Shop at: SB | BL |
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Crate Paper Willow Lane Puffy Stickers Shop at: SB | BL |
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Crate Paper Willow Lane Happy Times Shop at: SB |
Spellbinders Platinum 6 Die Cutting Embossing Machine Shop at: SB | BL | AZ | SP |
Crop-a-Dile with Case Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares White Shop at: SB | BL | AZ |
Sizzix Framelits Dies Scallop Circles Shop at: SB | AZ |
Scrapbook.com Jumbo Die Set Nested Flag Banners Shop at: SB |