Spooky Halloween Banner, with Medallion tutorial

I don't know why I don't have a banner on my mantle every day of the year. I do know, though, that I will always have one for Halloween. Next to Christmas, Halloween is my favorite holiday to decorate for! Here's a new banner I put together this week with Alpha Stamps supplies.

I used lightweight cardboard to make the pennant shapes. They're 4" wide at the top, and 6" to the point, which allowed me to use 6" by 6" scrapbook paper to cover them. Each pennant is then outlined with a thin Dresden trim, and has a Tim Holtz "Typed Token" attached to the point with a brad.

I tried to represent all the best of Halloween with this banner. First pennant: a happy Halloween moon, a secretive skeleton, and some flying bats. Tim Holtz says, "beware."

What time is it now? Oh, it's the Witching Hour! This witch holds a spooky clock with an eyeball face. There are no hands on this clock, because every hour is witching hour on Halloween. Note: the image of the witch I had was too short to fit on the pennant, and I didn't want her to be cut off, so I gave her a skirt of spiderwebs. Tim Holtz says, "wicked."

Boo! Here's the center of the banner: a spooky flying skull with a Victorian collar (tutorial below). Tim Holtz exclaims, "31". 

The whimsical clock on this banner proclaims it's pumpkin time, and the skelly agrees. He's holding an October 31st sign and a freshly carved jack o'lantern. Tim Holtz says, "spooky." If I saw this guy running down the road, I'm sure I'd agree.

The final banner has two very large and scary spiders. Even that ghoul seems a little concerned. He is well aware that the spiders are poison. Tim Holtz concurs.

This was a quick project that came together in just a couple of days. Nevertheless, I think it looks great on my mantle with a few of my Halloween decorations. This weekend, I'll pull the rest of my decorations out, and spook up my house. Beware!

TUTORIAL:
Here's how I made the Victorian collar and the medallions behind the 2nd and 4th pennants in the banner using a Martha Stewart Mini Score Board. You'll need the score board, a strip of paper 11 1/2" or 12" long, and a circle cut for the back of the medallion. I used a punch to make mine, but you could cut one by hand if you don't have a circle punch, as this will be on the back of the medallion. For this medallion, my strip is 1" wide, which makes a medallion about 2" in diameter.

Place the strip along the top and side guidelines of the scoring board, and using the scoring utensil, score every 1/2" (on the Martha Stewart board, shown here, you would score on each dot.)

Your paper is longer than the board, so when you get to the edge of the board in your scoring, simply slide your paper over to the left to continue scoring your strip.

Once you have scored every 1/2", flip the paper over and score between each scored area. Now you will have a score line every 1/4". Flipping the paper makes it easier to fold.

Finish scoring all the way to the end, and then fold the strip accordion-fashioned. In order to join your medallion correctly, you'll need to cut off one of the ends at the first fold. 

Bring the ends around so your folded paper makes a circle, and use glue to attach the ends.

Stand the strip up on one edge, and using both your hands, gently press the top edge down to the middle to form your medallion.

Use a glue gun to glue around the edges of your cut circle. Place it on the center of the medallion, holding firmly. Make sure you're holding your medallion in place as you perform this tricky maneuver!

Now you have a festive medallion, or collar, or basis for a badge.

 
For a complete list of supplies to make this banner, click here. And happy Halloween!