Dragonfly Banner

Hey, here's a thing!

I love the trend right now on banners!  It's not one I have been sick of, and don't expect to be.  They can be simple, or complex...colorful or low key (I prefer simple and colorful...).  They can be temporary decoration for a party, or a permanent part of the decor of a room.  They can be used in art, as a photo prop, or in sewing.  They can be hearts or triangles or squares or circles or paper or fabric or sewn or glued or long or short or strewn about or carefully placed or PURPLE PEOPLE EATERS FOR ALL ANYONE CARES!  *pant pant*

If you're still not convinced, I compiled a picture of what I think are some great examples of banners.

(And then, when I had finished this collage, I came across this banner,  from "a bit of sunshine" which I felt was also noteworthy.)


I do love all these banners, but for the girl's room I wanted something a little more unique from anything else I had found, so I made a "dragonfly banner" for the girl's room.  Although I made these for the girl's room, I also think they would be great just by themselves as a toy, a party favor, or even a bookmark. 

Here's how it was done:

 

 Supplies:

• Vintage Clothespins (I used to be able to get these of the same shape at Wal-Mart, but I couldn't find them there recently.  You may try Wal-Mart first, but THESE I ordered on e-bay, and I like the aged feel they have from real vintage clothespins that you wouldn't be able to get from new ones at a craft or department store.)
• Scrapbook Paper (this particular collection I got from JoAnn's, and I think it's sweeeeet.)
• Hot glue gun, scissors, and twine, rope or ribbon.

How to:

• Cut out as many wings as you need, as large or small as you please.  One bottom shape for each top shape.
• Glue the wings together
• Once dry, hot glue the top of the wings.  Before the hot glue dries, gently slide the wings up the slit of the clothespin and press them into the top part of the slit.  Attaching the wings to the top of the slit allows for room behind the wings where the ribbon or string will go.  It looks weird if the string sits on top...trust me on this one -  I trialed and errored it for you. 

Here's the end result in the girl's room:

 I know you can't see the banner that well in this picture, I used the banner as a sort of photo prop so you could see it up closer.