Autumn Mantel

When I posted about my fireplace mantel here, it was decked out for Halloween.  With Halloween over, it was time to transition to more of a harvest tone.  I wanted to hang the fabric rag wreath I made here over my mantel, but I couldn't locate my brick clips.  So what could I hang that would be light enough to hang without clips?  How about a paper banner?  We've been seeing them all over blogland and it was time I tried my hand at one.  I wanted my banner to read "Give Thanks."

First I assembled my tools:  paper, paper cutter, glue, ribbon, and diecut letters.

I wanted to maximize the number of triangles that I could get from 1 piece of paper.  I cut 6 from each piece of paper by cutting each sheet in half horizontally, then cutting 3 triangles from each half.  Here's some lines and measurements for a typical 8.5x11 sheet of paper.

After cutting out my triangles and popping out my diecuts, I glued the triangles together, partially offset, like this.

After assembling each of the triangles, I measured out how much ribbon I would need for the banners to hang from.  I applied glue to the backside flap of the triangle.

I sandwiched the ribbon between the flap and the base triangle

and cut off the excess corners.

After completing the banners, I hung them over my mantel just draped over the bricks.  The bricks are rough enough and the ribbon textured enough to grab the ribbon without any fasteners whatsoever.

I completed my mantel with mums & coneflowers from the garden and produce from the kitchen.

Thanks for popping in and check out the other projects at Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday, Craftomaniac's Monday Link Party, and Sew Can Do's Craftastic Monday.