Happy Halloween Garland from Cereal Boxes- Tutorial
While scouring the internet for inspiration and ideas for some DIY Halloween décor, I saw some very cute handmade Halloween garlands and banners. So, I was feeling inspired and made this very nice "Happy Halloween" garland/banner. I still do not know if it's a garland or banner but I'll just say it's a garland for now. It was actually very easy to do and I think it came out really nice so I've decided to share how you can make one of your own. You can have it say Happy Halloween or Trick or Treat or whatever you like. It's a great Halloween craft to get creative with and add your own personal touches. One of the best things about this craft is that the letters were made using cereal boxes I had saved so I already had everything on hand to make it except the gingham material and ribbon which was like 4.00 total at Wal-Mart but you could rip or cut an old shirt up into strips and use that if you wanted and it would still look very cute! So not only is making this Halloween garland easy but it's easy on the pocket book too.
Supplies Needed
- Cereal boxes or other cardboard packaging (same as chipboard)
- Jute or other thick string
- 3 spools of ribbon (orange 5mm, black 3mm and silver 6mm)
- 2 different halloween colored fabric materials (1/4 yard off the bolt)
- Black spray paint or black acrylic paint
- Orange Acrylic Paint
- Paintbrush
- Spray or brush-on sealer
- Scissors
- Sharpie or similar marker
- Glue gun and glue sticks
- Computer and printer
Did you know??
You may have already heard of using chipboard for crafts... so what exactly is it?? Chipboard is basically a thin cardboard that is not corrugated and you can buy it at any craft store. However, did you know that you can save money by using old pizza boxes, cereal boxes, cracker boxes, etc instead? Cardboard food packaging is basically the same thing as chipboard! I keep all of my old cereal boxes etc. Instead of throwing them out, I will take the seam apart which makes it one flat piece, cut it into large sections and save them to use later. Sometimes I keep the side sections. They are the perfect size to make bookmarks, embellishments, gift tags, small shapes, etc.
STEP ONE- Cut Out Your Letters
First off you need to cut your letters out. It's super easy to do.. just open up a paint program, like Photoshop or similar, and pick a font and pick the size you want it to be and print out each letter on regular paper. I used the font Ravie and the size was 400px. You won't be able to fit all of your fonts on piece.. you will probably need to use several sheets of paper**. Once you print each letter on regular paper, you can cut each letter out and use as templates to trace onto the cardboard cereal box OR you can do like I did and skip cutting each letter out of regular paper and just trace each letter a few times with the cereal box underneath using a black sharpie. The sharpie will bleed through and create the lines to cut for you- so then all the cutting you will do, will be cutting the letters out of the cereal box. (Whew....hope that made sense!)
**Don't worry about having to print multiple pieces of paper with the letters on them. Whether you cut them out or trace them onto the cereal box with sharpie... you can save them and use them again and again :)
***I used the font Ravie because I knew it would be easy to cut out. The more intricate the letter, the harder it will be to cut out.
****If you wanted, you could actually skip using letter templates all together and draw your own letters onto the chipboard and cut them out.
STEP TWO- Paint Your Letters
Once you have your letters cut out of the chipboard it's time to paint them. I just use spray paint on mine but you can use acrylic paint like Folk Art brand if you prefer. I just usually use spray paint because it's quicker and seems to cover better. The Wal-Mart brand spray paint is a buck and has always worked great for me. It covers beautifully and dries quickly.
Paint your letters (front and back) with the black paint and let them dry. Take your orange acrylic paint and put polka dots on the letters. I use the end of a paint brush to do this.. it makes perfect little dots. Once you have your dots on let them dry... Then take your spray or brush on sealer and apply this to the letters. Sit letters aside and let dry for at least a day.
STEP THREE- Glue Your Letters On
Once your letters are good and dry it's time to glue them onto the jute. Arrange them how you want them to read and lay the jute right above them so that you are sure you have enough jute. Then take the glue gun and glue the letters onto the jute.. making sure to glue them at the top of the backside of letters so they will hang correctly. Also, don't glue the letters too close to together- leave a little bit of space (1/2 inch to an inch) so that you can put your ribbon in between the letters.
I did two different pieces. I put "Happy" across one string and "Halloween" across the other so it's really two separate pieces which you can stack or leave straight across that will make one phrase. It would work fine all together along one string of jute.
You could also glue the letters onto the jute vertically if you wanted.. and just hang the garland vertically. I think that would be cute too!
STEP FOUR- Cut and Apply Ribbon and Material to Jute
Now you should have your jute with your "Happy Halloween" glued on. It's time to cut the ribbon and fabric strips for it. I used three different colors of ribbon which were orange (5mm), silver (6mm) and black (3mm). You can use whatever size and colors of ribbon.. I just wouldn't go over 6mm in width of the ribbon.
Cut six inches out of each color ribbon for each letter on the garland plus 1 more (out of each color) for the end. Do the same with the fabric strips.
Once you have the ribbon and the fabric strips cut, it's time to tie them on the jute. Start out tying one of each color ribbon and one each of the material strips in front of the H.. Then do the same thing after the H (one of each ribbon and material) and move down making sure you do this before and after each letter. You can group them up and tie them around the jute all together or you can do them one at at time. I did mine one at a time and scrunched them all together.. I think the important thing is getting one of each color (fabric strips and ribbon) between the letters so that it all looks even when you are finished.
Tie some loops on both ends of your jute and you are ready to hang your garland!
Finished!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for stopping by..... I hope that you have enjoyed this tutorial. Happy Halloween to you and yours :)