'Gateway to Summer' door banner diy tutorial

summer is approaching once again...
i for one, am not quite ready
but that doesn't mean that i'm not going to welcome it when it arrives.
last year we marked the beginning of summer in just the right fashion
with celebration through color and energy
you might recall these images of elated faces and blurry bodies
darting past checkered flags and through multi-colored ribbons
ringing in the days of sprinkler and pool fun

as i was finally unpacking a few more boxes from the garage
i came across the letters S U M M E R from last year's door banner
Owen also saw them and became animated in explaining to me the manner in which he would be running through them this year
so it was official
i needed to create a new one

as i received so much great feedback from last year
i decided to create a diy tutorial for you to make your own
'GATEWAY TO SUMMER' door banner

supplies:

a rainbow of colors of ribbon - i used floral acetate ribbon for outside durability

oilcloth - 12 x 12 cardstock paper would probably work too

jute or other twine

popsicle sticks

tape - i used masking

2 nails

lets get going:

ribbons

measure your doorway - width and length
clear a large portion of the floor to work on

cut a generous amount of jute for the top of the banner using your width measurement as a guide

measure any color ribbon the length of your doorway {i started with red},

don't cut it...tie the ribbon in a knot around one end of your jute piece

and then finish off the piece of ribbon by cutting it once it measures the length of the doorway again

voila your first section of ribbon!

repeat this 'measure...knot...measure...cut' pattern so that you have a total of 3 knotted ribbons for each color {a total of 6 ribbon strands per color}

wherever you want the letters to fit in on your banner, leave an opening approx 12" wide

do this without kiddies running around or it may become a tangled ribbon mess:)

letters

cut the letters S U M M E R out of oilcloth or cardstock

mine are the height of 11"

i free-handed my letters but you could use a bold font like this to create templates

cut two generous pieces of jute the length of the doorway

lay out all your letters upside on the floor inside the opening between the ribbons you designated for them

i gave myself about a foot between the top and where i wanted my letters to start

tie your two pieces of 'length' jute to the top 'width' jute piece approx 8" apart

lay them down the sides of all the letters, stapling in numerous places in a X pattern

i taped popsicle sticks onto the backs of the portions of the letters that were not attached to the jute and may become floppy when hung

hanging

get your trusty ladder and recruit a helper if possible

{i managed to do this on my own, but it was just short of a trip to the Urgent Care:)}

hammer a nail into each side of the top of your doorway

tie each end of your banner to the nail and

voila!

your kids' own 

GaTEwAy to SuMmER

now throw in some signs of congratulations in the yard,

some checkered flags with crete paper marking the finish line

and you've got yourself the perfect way to say goodbye to school and hello to summer.