I first made this banner when Big Brother turned 1, already 2 years ago. I got the inspiration from a felt Christmas banner my mom had. Even though it took a couple hours to make, it was totally worth it…especially since it now hangs for every person’s birthday in our family!
Big Brother has his own “name” to add underneath the “Happy Birthday.” So, I decided I needed to make one for Little Brother too.
The directions will only show the making of Little Brother’s name, but the same steps apply to the “Happy Birthday” part as well.
Here’s what you’ll need: assorted colors of felt (I used red, yellow, green, dark blue, and light blue), paint, a paintbrush, a hot-glue gun, and some string.
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| 1. Cut out rectangles from the felt. My rectangles are 4″x5.5″. You’ll need to cut out 13 rectangles for “Happy Birthday” plus the number of letters in your child’s name (if you choose). |
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| 2. Use paint (I used tempera) to add designs to every other square. You’ll want to lay them all out before starting to paint. I did stripes, polka-dots, and squiggly lines. Let dry. |
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| 3. Print out all of the letters from Word (I used the “Arial” lower-case font, size 250). You’ll need the letters H-A-P-Y-B-I-R-T-D and then the letters of your child’s name. You don’t need to print out duplicate letters since they will only be used to trace. You could also use a stencil. (And apparently, I really do need to replace the black ink my printer’s has been telling me to replace for the last month). :) |
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| 4. Cut out the letters. |
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| 5. Turn the letters upside-down and trace them on the back of your extra felt. Cut the letters out so that your on the outside edge of the line you traced (to make it thicker). |
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| 6. Center the letters and hot-glue them to the front of the felt rectangles. |
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| 7. Once the front has had time to dry, cut out small rectangles (2 per each larger rectangle). Put a small line of hot glue on the top and bottom of each of the small rectangles and place on each of the top corners of the larger rectangles. This is where the string will pass through to hold the individual rectangles up. |
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| 8. Thread the string through the backside of each rectangle. |
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| I just used two pushpins to hold the string up and then put the child’s name below on a separate string. |
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| You’ll only be able to see the squares through the felt if you place your banner in a window and take a picture of it in the middle of the day. :) |
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| Here it is on the mantle for Prince Charming’s Birthday… |
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| …And at our old house for Big Brother’s 2nd Birthday! |
You could make the banner in whatever color you like! I am partial to the primary colors (for boys especially) because it goes with just about every theme. :)
Very very cute, I love this :)
Jenae, I enjoy reading your blog…our kids are about the same age (my daughter turned one at the end of last month and my son will be three in February!) We also enjoy doing fun, creative, learning activities at home!
cute!!!
Thank you so much for this idea! I saw it on your site a while ago and finally decided to make it. It took me a while but it was totally worth it and I know we'll use it for every birthday from now on. We have 2 birthdays coming up in February and I'm excited to display it. Thanks again for all your great ideas!