Pennant Banners for Smash Cake Pictures
DIY Pennant Banners for Smash Cake
Image provided by Troutman Photography
One of the things I LOVE that's L-O-V-E about First Birthday Smash Cake sessions is that I get to be just the tiniest bit creative. Daniel (our photographer) gets to design portraits, take pictures, create scenes - but I get to build smash cake sets :)
I grew up around sewing machines, my mom is a pretty decent seamstress - like a sew-your-prom-dress seamstress. So I'm comfortable in a fabric store. Give me enough time and I could probably pull together something amazing. But for this shoot I was in a hurry (like normal), we had a shoot the next day - so I took the easy way out. It worked out so great, I've not looked for another method since then. Below is my down and dirty tutorial on how to make a smash cake banner quickly and on the cheap!
Where to get your fabrics?
We have a Joann Fabrics and a Hobby Lobby in our community, but I'm including links for Amazon. Both Hobby Lobby and Joann Fabrics have websites, but I feel like they are of the "mark it up, to mark it down" business mentality, which I’m not fond of. Plus I love my Amazon Prime option. Moms of three kids (in my experience) are permanently doing things at the last minute, and 2 day delivery rocks my world. You can try Prime for free, just click the link.
Designing your Pennant Banner
You'll need:
Fabric batting (45" or 60" width - doesn't matter, but you need the same amount of batting as fabric.)
3-5 coordinating fabrics (1/2 - 3/4 of a yard total, not each)
7/8 or 1" wide ribbon (5 yards works, but 7 yard rolls are common)
Construction or other heavy paper
Tools:
Fabric or other sharp scissors
Quilting pins
Fabric glue
Fabric measuring tape
*** Note: I was dismayed when I looked to see what polyester fabric batting costs online. Typically it's super cheap - I suggest you look local first. A quilting store is another great resource.
Start by choosing 3-5 coordinated fabrics. I use tons of quilting fabrics for the color options. If you aren't feeling adventurous for your first project, fabric companies release "lines" of color coordinated fabrics, just like a clothing store. Be sure to take into consideration the design size and the distance from the camera. If the pattern is too small your yellow duckies will look like yellow polka dots.
Most fabric stores have a minimum width they will cut, buy the minimum. Be careful to consider your pattern's direction. Warning: If your pattern has a direction to it and it matters which direction the fabric will lay, buy a little extra.
Next, cut out your pattern. My triangle is 6 inches wide by 8.25 inches long. Yours doesn't have to be - this just works for me. You want a nice thick paper, but not coverstock.
Lay out your fabric right side up with batting underneath. Batting is naturally a little sticky, so it'll help hold this together. Pin your pattern through both fabrics and cut out 3-5 triangles of each fabric. I tend to do the same number of each fabric unless I want to highlight a specific color in the set. Organize your cutouts in the order you want them.
You will most likely have leftover fabric - I keep these for additional projects.
Start out approximately 2ft down the ribbon. Open the "top" of your first cutout. Run glue between the ribbon and the fabric and between the ribbon and the batting. Close the top of your cutout, and open the bottom. Continue gluing the cutout around the fabric edge.
Move down the ribbon the width of your original cutout pattern. This matters - you want the distances the same for your smash cake photography, and the width of the cutout is perfect.
Repeat this until you’ve placed all of your triangles and then cut your ribbon an additional 2 feet down. That 2 feet additional ribbon gives you what you need to attach the banner to your stands.
I can bust the project out in 60-90 minutes in front of Hulu :)
Happy Smash Cake Designing!
Clare