Part of my tendency to complicate projects involves purchasing craft supplies for which I do not have a plan. My trip to Joann Fabric and Crafts the week of the party yielded paper in yellow and green (the colors Erin helped me pick out for the party theme) as well as more of the grass paper that we used on the invitations. I’d been inspired to create a banner and signs for the party, based on golf flags (for the golf-themed party). I got to work creating, which in my case involves cutting and pasting until I come up with a concept that works.
I knew I wanted yellow and green to alternate on the flags, and I knew that I wanted circles for the individual letters. What I hadn’t counted on was the fact that ivory cardstock does not show up well against pastel yellow paper. Thank goodness for grass printed paper, right? I cut the 12″x12″ green and yellow paper into flags with just a ruler, pencil, and scissors (there are still some pencil marks on the back side, but who’s counting?
I knew that I wanted to incorporate the gold brads I’d used on the invitations, and that I needed a way to hang the flags on some sort of string (green and yellow yarn I picked up on my Joann trip). So I scored the flags about an inch from the top so they’d fold down nicely, and secured the corners with brads. In retrospect, it probably would have been easier if I’d strung the banner as I created it rather than having to thread the yarn through after, but I didn’t think of it at the time.
In order for the ivory paper to show up, I added a rectangle of green grass-print paper to each flag and folded the edges to match the angle of the flag’s sides. Although I really didn’t like how the flag backs looked on their own, they remind me of argyle when strung up together. Argyle is golf-ish, right? It’s based on a clan tartan, and golf is Scottish in origin, so I’m sure that’s a valid rationalization. The banner ended up hanging from the ceiling rather than against an art-filled wall, so I decided to embrace the pattern on the back instead of worrying about it.
Although I would have preferred not to embrace this particular aspect, I was overruled by my mother and others, who told me I was the only one who would notice. Pop quiz: what aspect of this banner turns me into a crazy person? Both Carrie and my mother told me that I was over-reacting, but my brother-in-law noticed exactly the same thing I did. I’m learning to let go of the crazy and accept that not everyone places as high a priority on small details as I do. It’s difficult, but I’m making progress.
Finally, with my excess yellow and green yarn, I thought that tassels might be a nice finish to each edge of the banner. I’m not sure how many people even noticed these details, but they did make my over-complicating mind happy. Each little bit of decorating detail and fussy paper craft made my heart sing.
Of course, I should mention that in my banner and tassel creating frenzy, I enlisted both John and Carrie to do a lot of the actual work of creating the thing. I cut and pasted some flags together and then delegated the rest to my capable friends. Go, team!
