DIY Vellum "Fall" Banner with Printable

One of my favorite places in our apartment to decorate seasonally is our living room window.  It is really a main feature of the room, and really I find myself looking out the window more than anywhere else in the room.  I thought this would be a nice place to hang a seasonal banner.

Since a lot of light comes through the window, I decided to try using vellum - a semi translucent paper - to print a banner on.  I wasn't sure what effect this would have on the colors at first, but I think the light made them seem even more vivid, as well as the banner as a whole becoming more noticeable as a result of the back light from the window.

Oh, did I forget to mention that the weather in Oklahoma this past week has been unbelievably cool and Fall-ish?  It has been GREAT!  

To make your own banner, let's start off with the essential supplies.

You'll need 8.5 x 11 sheets of vellum paper, a single hole punch, a pair of scissors, one roll of ribbon in your choice of color, and optionally a paper cutter.  Of course, you can always use scissors and a straight edge in lieu of that.

If you want to print the same banner I used, click here for download.

First, print out the "Fall" Banner that I've uploaded to google drive for you to use.

If you want to make your own, my tips are to use a thick font and add a medium to thick outline on the edge of the letters in a slightly darker color.  It is super easy to do in Microsoft Word, and you can just center your letters and make the size so that there is one letter per page.  I made the letters around 400-500 points, depending on font.

After you've printed your banner, the first step is to cut an 1.5 inches from the top of each page.

Next, fold the page in half, only creasing from about half an inch below the letter and downward. 

If you feel uncertain of your straight cutting abilities, draw a line from the top of the crease toward the bottom corner.  Then cut along that line so that when you open the page back up you have created an upside-down 'v.'

Cut all your letters and put them in a single (or multiple) stacks - depending on the sharpness of your hole punch and the thickness of your stack of papers.

 My hole punch is pretty new and didn't have a problem cutting through four pages at once.

Almost done!

Now lay the letters out in order, and grab your ribbon!

Thread the ribbon through the holes on the pages. 

I personally think it looks best to thread it from the back so the majority of the ribbon is in front of the paper.

Center and space all your letters on the ribbon, and its almost ready to be hung!

Just tie your banner up somewhere or use thumbtacks to hang it!

(Just a hint, this vellum looks great in a window!)

 Loving my 'happy' banner by Oh Joy from Target!  

Love that she is a blogger too - and seriously she has the cutest kid.

HAPPY FALL!

Like what you see?  One more time I'll post the LINK for you!

The download is via google drive, but I set it so that anyone can view, you shouldn't have to have an account.  Let me know if you have any problems!

In regard to this wonderful season, I have a question that I often wonder that I'd like to ask: In your everyday speech, do you refer to the season that precedes winter as "autumn" or "fall?"