Baby Banner Love...

So, it seems like everybody that I've ever known in my entire life is having or has recently had a baby.

Seriously, everybody.

And it seems like nearly everybody that I know (or at least, everybody for whom I would make gifts/crafts) has had boys.

BOYS!

If you've been to my blog previously, you know that feminine, frilly, lacy, flowery, sparkly... those are my favorite. (I just heard Buddy the Elf say "smiling's my favorite" in my head. Teehee!)

FINALLY- one of our friends decided to have a girl!! (like there's much choice in the matter, right?) And they picked out the cah-yutest name for her: Elizabeth Leigh, to be nicknamed Ellie. Isn't that just darling?! And her nursery is going to be one of my favorite color combos-pale pink, white, and gray. Momma specifically requested one of my banners to be used at the shower, then to be added to the nursery decor after Ellie is born. Her stipulations: shabby chic, polka dots, the color scheme, and some chevron. Other than that, her response was "I trust your judgment." Yay!!! Free reign, and as girly and flowery as I can make it! Goody gumdrops!!

Here's what I came up with:

The frames are cut from the Cricut Fancy Frames cartridge, which is my absolute favorite cartridge to use for banners, other than Pretty Pennants. (None of those pennants lent themselves well to "shabby chic.")

 I combined her "polka dot" request with my love of roses. I used the MFT Royal Rose dies in various sizes to fulfill that requirement. I just LOVE how realistic they look! My Cricut can never cut tiny roses well, and they don't have the scalloped edges on each individual scallop, which I think helps to make them even more realistic. 

 The letters were cut with the new Cricut Letter Envy cartridge. I thought that font just screamed "shabby chic." (It will come back in another post when I showcase the baby gift!!) I used Elegant Cakes to cut the little floral garland at the top of each frame, which I thought could have been mistaken for that pretty shabby-chic molding that you find on resin frames and things from the Melissa Frances website. 

 Now, the rosettes on either end are one of my most favorite elements of the banner. I usually use styrofoam balls (cut in half) to make hydrangeas with stick pins. This time, I wanted more of a full bouquet look rather than the somewhat flat-looking hydrangeas-surrounded-by-roses look that I've done on previous banners. I ended up cutting a few dozen roses in various sizes with PTI's Bitty Dot patterned paper in Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, and Sweet Blush. I cut several daisies out of white shimmer card stock from the Flower Shoppe cartridge and attached them with some cosmetic foam to add dimension. I punched some hydrangeas out of pink shimmer vellum from Hobby Lobby and attached them with yellow stick pins. I think the combination of all of these flowers creates a really pretty and full "bouquet." I put some lace trim from Hobby Lobby in pleats around the bottom of each bouquet. A gray and white chevron bow with a button finished them off.

Banners are one of my absolute favorite things to make, especially GIRL banners (yippy skippy!). I hope you've enjoyed reading my book of instructions on how to make these. (Sorry about that!) This banner took me about 10 hours to make, between all of the die-cutting, rose-rolling, Cricut cutting, bouquet-making, and paper-gluing... Time well spent, though, in my opinion! Everybody at the shower just loved it, and the momma is super excited to have it hang in little Ellie's nursery!

I will be back tomorrow with another post to show the baby gift that I made for her. If you've made it this far, thanks for dropping by!!

TTFN~ 

Emily