Thanksgiving Banner

This little Thanksgiving banner took all of 15 minutes to slap together and it didn’t cost me a thing. I love when Mother Nature does most of the work! And I love crafting without spending a dime. If you haven’t heard of the “Crud in My Craft Room Challenge” it is where I try to make stuff using only the things I have around the house. I love it because it always pushes my creativity and I come up with stuff I like even better than if I had spent a fortune at the craft store.

For this banner I needed lots of perfect leaves, but it wasn’t easy finding the leaves this summer. We have been having an Indian summer and none of the leaves have been changing. Our ornamental pear tree in the front yard has even sprouted a few spring flowers! Luckily the kids and I were able to finally find a vine with gorgeous red leaves.

To make this Thanksgiving banner I just pulled out my chalkboard banner set that I made using this handy little tutorial from ahandcraftedwedding.com. In case you find yourself wandering around the craft store trying to find chipboard cutouts like me, they are over by the scrapbooking section. I use this all the time in everything from baby showers to young women’s events.

Chalkboards always make me a little nervous because my handwriting stinks, but I didn’t do too bad here!

I then tied the leaves between the letters using a piece of twine. If you notice, I was careful to stitch on one side of the midrib and then the other. This is the strongest part of the leaf and will help it not to tear off. This is the easiest to do when your leaf is still fresh and malleable. I also rinsed my leaves off so that I didn’t bring in as much mold and dust. B– and I both have allergies and I have to be careful to keep that stuff out!

I used some of my leftover leaves to make this cute little leaf garland. I love being outside, so I always feel more at home when I can bring some of the outside in!