All That Glitters Leaves a Mess

DIY: Glittery Flag Banner

*When I made this, I didn't know that these 'flags' were a type of bunting, so  throughout the post I refer to this bunting as 'flag banner' or 'flags', so, just as a heads up!!*

 I meant to make a photo step-by-step thing, but I forgot to take the rest of the pictures, so... I'll show the pictures I did take and just explain thoroughly the rest of the directions to your own glittery mess!

     Before I begin, I'll explain what this is. What I made is just a little flag banner strung across my closet doors. On my closet doors is also a Big Time Rush poster, and I had hoped on getting more posters for those closet doors of mine, but I haven't found any other posters I've wanted to post. My closets were just a giant, blank space waiting for creativity to throw up on it. For awhile I have been wanting a flag banner for my closet, and I had planned on buying one. But, on a snow day, I decided to go ahead and make one myself. I already had some burlap lying about, so I went from there. The glitter was actually an after-the-fact thing. At first, I had just planned on painting the the numbers with gold and silver paint, but then I was like, "Hey, I also have gold and silver glitter!" The messier the better, right? It's actually not too bad, glitter doesn't shed every time I open the doors, thankfully.

Aight, here is the partly pictured tutorial to your very own glittery flag banner!!

1. Gather Yo Materials

When gathering those materials of yours, choose your paints wisely. I did pastel colors to go with the decor of my room. I've seen these banners done to circus schemes and plenty of other themes as well.; you can choose whatever colors, but just make sure they work with where you'll be putting it. Also, make sure you have enough of the paints! The one thing you don't need when doing a project is to run out of materials!! ESPECIALLY paint! Just the thought makes me sad... Oh, and also part of step one, get your work space together.

The actual materials you'll be needing are the following:

• scissors
• marker
• sheet of thick paper (construction paper or card stock)
• a couple yards of printed burlap
• paint of whatever colors you choose (have enough of it!)
• large paint brush
• medium paint brushes for detailing (numbers)
• glitter matching the detailing
• yarn
• Command hooks (or tape)

2. Cut Up That Burlap

Before you will be able to cut the burlap, you will need a stencil. Well, I did. The stencil will help all of your flag triangles be the same size. I used a sheet of notebook paper because I messed up on my card stock and didn't want to waste any more :P You will be able to use this stencil to keep all the flags the same size, and could be used for a later project possibly.

3. Painting Triangles

As soon as your sheering is done, get to painting! This is probably longest part, because burlap is pretty difficult to paint with most craft paints. It will take several coats to get the color very visible. You can keep on painting to get desired color. You'll want to paint in strokes side-to-side and up and down. Also, when you wash your brush out in between colors, dry the brush very well! If you paint with a wet brush on burlap, the color looks awful.

4. Detailing

Once the flags are COMPLETELY dry, you can start on the details. On my burlap, the little details were the printed numbers. Whatever your little deets may be, go ahead and paint them your other paint color. I used gold and silver for the numbers. Every other flag had gold, and every other had silver. I used a medium-sized brush to paint these numbers.

5. Glitter, Glitter Everywhere

As soon as you are done painting the numbers, get to the glitter. If not, the glitter won't stick to the dried numbers or what have you. Pat the glitter down on top of the detail then shake off the excess.  Do this for each flag. Once you think that they are dried, shake each flag again to make sure you have rid yourself of most of the excess glitter.

6. Pulling It All Together

Using yarn and a yarn needle, string all of the flags together. The needle should be able to easily pass through the burlap. Make sure there is enough yarn at each end to be able to tie it up.

7. Hanging It Up

For putting the banner up, you can use tape or command hooks. I used the hooks because I know it won't fall. My banner was hung across my closet doors so I had to use four hooks because the doors open. Most of you should only need two hooks.

You now have a finished product!!

I plan on making more DIY posts, hopefully. I really need to get on top of things and actually post what I say I'm going to post!! This post took awhile to construct, so I hope you guys enjoyed it :) Oh, and if any of you actually make one of these, talk about it in the comments! Tell me if this post was helpful in making one yourself. And, again, sorry for the lack of pictures.

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