DIY Wall Banners
My mind has been in moving-out mode recently—buying dorm essentials, deciding what to bring with me to school and what to leave behind, brainstorming how I want my new space to look—and one thing that’s continued to pop up on my Pinterest boards is wall banners. So of course, me being me, I just had to make them. If you’re interested in how to DIY these wall banners (that only cost me $5 to make!), keep reading.
Tools:
Muslin or any lightweight durable fabric you prefer
Acrylic paint
Paintbrushes
Wooden dowel
String
Sewing machine
Thread
Steps:
Gather your inspiration
The first step is to decide what look you’re going for. With a project like this, the options are truly endless and you can do anything from drawings to motifs to quotes. If you’re not sure, a quick scroll through Pinterest or your camera roll always helps. Once you have your inspiration, you can choose to print it or practice freehanding on a piece of paper.
My favorite quote: “Your life is already artful—waiting, just waiting, for you to make it art,” by Toni Morrison.
Solange in the iconic pink memory foam sweater from her “Cranes in the Sky” music video.
Prep your materials
Next you’ll want to start preparing your materials. First trim your fabric and wooden dowel to size. Next on the wrong side of the fabric fold down the top raw edge to create a casing wide enough to fit your wooden dowel and sew it in place. You may also want to iron the fabric to remove any wrinkles that might make painting difficult.
The muslin base of my wall art ironed with the top casing sewn in place.
Paint
Now you can finally start painting! On the right side of your fabric, sketch out your design with a pencil. For my quote wall art, I decided to tape a printout of the quote beneath my fabric and trace it, but I simply made a freehand sketch for my Solange painting. Whatever you decide, your next step is to paint over the pencil with acrylic paint and let it dry completely.
Near the halfway point of painting my quote wall banner.
Hang
The final step is to feed your dowel or twig through the wall banner and hang it up! An optional step is to tie a string to either end and hang it up that way as well.
I love how these wall banners turned out and I think they’ll be great decor pieces for my dorm. If you decide to give this project a try, feel free to tag me on Instagram or Twitter, I’d love to see what you create!
