Make: Tuppertoy-Inspired Birthday Bunting Printable

Next weekend we'll be celebrating Gates' first birthday with family and friends. While she probably won't remember the party, I wanted to choose a theme that fits what she's into. For the decorations, I got inspiration from her Tuppertoys.
 

 

When I started designing the bunting for Gates' birthday, I didn't like the look of the letters with animal cutouts that I'd originally considered. Instead, I chose one of my favorite fonts, Rockwell, "a geometric slab serif design, a strong display face for headlines and posters." As I was going to hang the banner from the railing above our staircase, the letters needed to be legible from a distance of about three feet.
 

 

Supplies and Tools

I wanted the overall project to be inexpensive and relatively simple to create. If you want to give your banner a little sparkle, you can use glitter glue to add a little glitz.
 
I had all of the supplies for this project on hand:

• 18 sheets of card stock (9 if you're printing double-sided)
• glue
• 11 feet of raffia
• optional glitter glue

The only tools required are a bunting template (blue or tricolor), a computer, a printer, scissors, and a paper punch.
 

 

Instructions

1. Download the bunting template (blue or tricolor) and print.
2. If you've printed the front and the back of each panel on separate sheets, glue them together.
3. Punch two holes in each panel about a quarter of an inch from the edge.
4. Cut out the panels.
5. Stack all cut out letters front sides up with the first letter at the bottom of the stack.
6. Thread the raffia through each letter one at a time.

 

Where the making of my bunting got tricky was aligning the front and the back panels. While each letter uses the same template, my printer, an HP Photosmart C6400, didn't print them the same. Two copies of the same letter weren't printed the same on a sheet of paper.
 

 

Because my ECO-Paper Tree-Free Coffee Stock has a strong pattern and wasn't as thick as I wanted the bunting to be, I decided to print my banner single-sided and then glue the fronts and backs together. If you're using thicker card stock and have a better printer you won't need to do this. Also, if you're hanging the bunting on a wall and not from a railing you don't really need to have a pattern on the back as it won't be visible.
 

 

How do you decorate for your parties?
 

Ciao Bella!

Eden!

 

Credits: All layouts designed by and images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life. This post contains an affiliate link. I feature products that I own or that I am considering purchasing. All opinions presented are my own.