Not sure how to decorate that empty wall in your home? How about a banner? Banners are easy and fun to make and can be customized in lots and lots of different ways. Moreover, they can be displayed on all sorts of surfaces, not just on walls. A popular practice is decorating the fireplace mantel with festive banners on occasions such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter or Valentine’s Day. Today we’ll show you a few DIY banner projects which will hopefully inspire you to craft your own special version.

Let’s start with a simple design idea: a quote banner. Think of a phrase or a quote that inspires you and make it the theme of your new banner. For the actual crafting phase you’ll need to have a few things ready such as a piece of canvas, some black felt, scissors, a rotary cutter, a dowel rod, some fabric glue, fabric fuse and a print out of the phrase you want to use. A bold font with capital letters would be preferred.

If you have a mantel it would be a shame to pass the opportunity to decorate it with cute, festive banners. You can make banners for every occasion. For Valentine’s Day, for example, you could make a burlap and felt banner decorated with polka dots and hearts. You could use burlap, twine, felt decorations and acrylic paint to personalize the banner in a way that suits your home and style.

For Christmas you have several interesting options when it comes to customizing a DIY banner. However, if you’d like to distance yourself a little bit from all the traditional ornaments, you could make something simple, a banner that’s suggestive not through color or pattern but through the message it sends. This simple holiday banner is a perfect example. To make it, you only need a few things like a dowel rod, some canvas or neutral-colored fabric, black fabric paint, black yarn and a print out of the message in a fun font.

Thanksgiving Day is another holiday which you can celebrate with banners. Once again, we suggesting keeping the design simple. Find yourself some printable iron transfers, some canvas fabric, iron-on hem tape, transfer paper, a wooden dowel per banner and some leather string. With these things you’ll be able to make modern Thanksgiving banners which you can hang on doors or walls.

A banner doesn’t necessarily have to contrast with the surface you display it on in order to look beautiful or to complement the space. Take this lovely star banner for instance. It’s white, just like the brick wall behind it but that doesn’t stop it from looking charming. In fact, that’s the thing that makes it so cute in the first place.

Felt banners are among the most versatile ones. Felt is really easy to work with and you can do a lot of cool and fun stuff with it, like a heart banner for Valentine’s Day. We came across a tutorial for this project on clubcrafted and we had to share the inspiration with you. We love those colorful hearts and we can’t wait to explore more ideas related to felt banners.

When we think of banners two images pop into our minds first: that of a dowel rod canvas banner and that of a string banner with ornaments evenly distributed on it. But these aren’t the only options you can choose from. A cool option, for instance, is to use embroidery hoops instead of dowel rods. Check out these hoop banners featured on thecraftpatchblog if you need a bit of inspiration.

Let’s not forget about birthday banners. They make birthday banners feel more festive and they can be customized in tons of different ways. Out suggestion: pick a party theme and design the banners, the favors, the snacks and everything else to match it. Of course, there’s no point in overthinking all the details. At the end of the day, a simple banner like the one showed on clubcrafted is more than suitable.

If you’re planning on doing something special for St. Patrick’s Day, perhaps you’d like to start off with a cute shamrock and pom-pom banner, like the one we found on craftingafamily. It’s quite easy to make so start by gathering the supplies: some green yarn, twine, green card stock, scissors, a single hole punch and a shamrock paper template. Mix and match various shades of green for a fun look.

Some banners don’t exactly follow a theme. Take this scalloped DIY banner that we found on linesacross. It’s stylish and versatile and it would look great in a lot of different settings and decors, whatever the occasion may be. If you like the way it looks, make your own version using crepe paper, jute cord, glue dots and gold sequin ribbon.

Celebrate the 4th of July with a simple but still festive banner. We like the rusticity of this patriotic banner very much and you’ll also enjoy knowing that crafting something like it is easy too. Get your tools and supplies ready. You’ll need scissors, lace, red, white and blue ribbon, twine and burlap. If you want you can also use letter stencils to paint the banner but that’s really not necessary, especially if you enjoy a simple decor. {found on livelaughrowe}.

Not in the mood to have several different banners, one for each special occasion? Here’s a cool idea: make a single flip banner. It’s an idea that comes from awonderfulthought. To make a flip banner you’ll need the following: 1” book rings, wooden beads of different sizes, white and colored card stock, a hole punch, command hooks, twine and a banner template. We’re calling it a flop banner because it’s inspired by flip calendars where you reveal a new page at the start of each month. This concept allows you to have a single banner for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day and even for your birthday.

Let’s ignore a bit the theme of the DIY banner and focus on the techniques and design options. You can find some inspiration in the design of this “best day ever” from somethingturquoise. Check out those glittered tips? Aren’t they glamorous. You can make your own festive banner look just as chic and all you’d need is some glue and glitter.

A banner doesn’t necessarily have to be festive or to match a certain theme. Sometimes it’s just nice to craft a banner just so you can have something to display on an empty wall. Check out this hanging banner for example. It’s really simple and it’s also very versatile. We can picture it in a home office, a living room, an entryway but also in a bedroom or even in a kitchen. Check out the tutorial on thewonderforest to find out more details.

Another idea to keep in mind is that you can use iron-on letters to create your own inspiring phrase and that can really make your new banner stand out. As far as the banner itself goes, keep the design simple. Use some cloth and fabric glue to make this a no-sew project. Hang the banner with twine, cord or a shoelace. {found on makercrate}.