Hello all! Ive gotten a lot of questions about my "Just Married" and fun Christmas banners that have been popping up in my latest sessions. I do sell them in my Etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Whimseyshop But for those of you out there that are crafty, here are all the steps to make your very own banners. Now please bare in mind I am no Martha Stewart, and I kind of made this up as I went along. So if you have any awesome suggestions/tips please share! I made this "Be Merry" banner using fabric for the letters but it is A WHOLE LOT easier to just stencil on the letters using 2"-3" inch letters with acrylic paint. Apply the paint with a foam brush for easiest transfer. I just personally love how the fabric looks. Its a little bit more unique.
I hope this adds some Christmas cheer to your home this holiday season! Also, I am just throwing you the basics so take what you learn and get as creative as possible. With the right fabric/paint colors, the possibilities are endless! Try out new holiday words and phrases. Id love to see what you come up with so please send me some pictures with any helpful tips you pick up along the way (on this post or at whimseyphotography@gmail.com) and maybe Ill blog a collage of all your work!. Now go turn on some christmas music, grab a cup of hot coca and HAVE FUN!!
What you will need to get started:
- Burlap (or fabric of your choice. The most inexpensive burlap I found was at Hancock Fabrics)
- Fabric squares of Holiday patterns (again, your choice. I found these at A.C. Moore)
You will also need:
- 3"-4" Stencils
- Cutting Mat
- Razor Cutter
- Chalk or A sharpie pen (to trace)
- Mod Podge- For Fabric
- Paint brush (to apply Mod Podge)
- Scissors
- Jute Twine
- Fray Check (optional)
- Jewelry wire or wire hanger to thread twine
Start by tracing out all of your letters. Take note of the letters that will have to traced backwards, to be facing the right way once you flip the fabric over. 
Then once you have all of your letters traced you are going to use the razor cutter to cut out your letters. I found it easiest to cut from left to right. It took me a while to get used to working with the razor cutter but its so much easier than trying to cut with scissors. MAKE SURE YOU USE IT ON TOP OF A CUTTING MAT.
Dont worry if it frays a little, the mod podge will take care of that later. Once you have all of your letters cut out, you will then want to make a stencil for the burlap rectangles. 
I cut mine 5 inches wide and 7 inches long. Use your own discretion, depending on what size stencil you are using for your letters. 
After you have a good size stencil (you might want to lay one of your previously cut letters out on top of the rectangle to make sure the dimensions look good. Then Pin your stencil to your burlap fabric and cut out enough for all of your letters. Also to make the chevron style at the bottom make a circle 2.5" in the middle of your rectangle, about a half inch up and cut an a diagonal line coming from each corner. I kind of just cut it until i thought it looked okay. theres no real science to it.
Next, grab your mod podge and a paint brush and apply a thing coat over the back of your entire letter. As shown below-
Then flip you letter over and place it in the center of your burlap piece. Make sure you are leaving enough room at the top of the burlap to fold over and sew 
Now fold over the top of the remaining burlap and sew, leaving enough room between the letter & the sew line to look ascetically pleasing. Once you get the tops all sewn, take your scissors and clean up around the edges and nip off all excess thread.
Another step you can take if you find it necessary is to run some "Fray Check" across the edges of the burlap, since it has a tendency to fray. Afterwards do one last check over with the scissors and clean up the lines. I also ran over the letters and burlap with an iron on a low setting because I have been storing my burlap and it had become somewhat wrinkled.
The last step is to thread the twine. I used some jewelry wire to help me thread the twine. I tied the twine in a knot around the wire then twisted the wire around to make it a little thicker. Be creative and use what you have. Wire hangers work great as well. Then you are finished!!!!
Here is my final result. Takes some time, but its worth it!
Now if this just seems like too much, but you would still really like a banner, id love to make one for you! Visit my shop and let me know what ideas you have. The link is: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Whimseyshop
Thank you for reading and Id love any comments/feedback you may have. You can also share this on FaceBook or Pinterest if you think you know someone that would be interested in learning.
Cheers!!
Cana
whimseyphotographybycana.com