25 DOC - Day 19 - What A JOY!

We're almost done with these 25 Days and it wouldn't be an "EVENT" without creating a banner!!

Last year I purchased these snowflake paper shapes at Michaels (less than $3 - but I might've gotten them on sale or with a coupon - you gotta be SMART people!!, lol).  Anyway.  I was hoping to use it to make some cards (which you totally still can), but I never got around to it.  This year, when I cracked open my overly stuffed Christmas drawer, I found these Untouched.  Right then, a light bulb came on.

I traced the snowflakes to the back of the patterned paper I wanted to work with,
in this case it was MME "Be Merry",
cut the shapes and then glued it to the back of the snowflake
before distressing them with vintage photo distress ink.

Immediately I knew I wanted to use them for a banner.

They are a perfect adorable snowflake shape and also the perfect size.
HOWEVER, I didn't want to make something ridiculously long like "Merry Christmas" for 2 reasons:
1 I didn't have enough pieces and
2 I'd still be working on it all through January and you'd never get to see it.
So "JOY" it was!!

I found these letters in my craft closet 

(the one filled with "I've Been Meaning To Use That" craft supplies - we all have them - lol), 

which came from a Heidi Grace pack of letters that I purchased at Jo-Ann Fabrics about 2 years ago.
I knew I would be altering the letters, so the color didn't matter much to me.
I wanted the letters to be the perfect size and font in conjunction to the snowflake background.

Using Versamark Ink, Stampin' Up's Heat & Stick powder,
I covered all the letters with Recollections Expresso Glitter.
I was so excited to be working with glitter!!  =)

If you follow my Instagram, you would've seen the following "preview" photos
posted on 10/27/12 of the making of this banner,
including the adorable pleated rosettes I made
with some MME doily 12x12 paper using THIS DIE by MFT Stamps.

Later on you'll see that I covered the rosette centers with a 1.5" circle punch

because these Martha Stewart flower punches were too small

and not sturdy enough to hold the rosettes in place.

and here's a IG photo of my hubby and Giovanni playing with Legos,

in my craftroom, as I cut out the snowflakes.

                                             

Okay, back to the project.

I punched holes in the snowflakes and added eyelets with my crop-a-dile tool.

I then strung some tinsel through the loops to tie everything together.

I used Recollections flourish bling to enchance the appearance of the banner,
placed the letters over the rosettes with pop dots,
added some punched snowflakes with blinged out centers,
and taped it to my craftroom door for this photo.  

The tiny metal snowflakes you see in between each snowflake pennant is actually a plastic button.
And I honestly can't remember where I got those,
but they've been sitting on my craft desk caddy for an entire year... if you can believe that!!

I absolutely love this banner.  If you notice, the colors used are the same as the blog badge that my hubby and I designed for this blog event.  That color combo was the inspiration for this banner... I LOVE IT!!  hehe...  It would make a perfect gift for someone, if you have the heart to give it away.  It's just so much more beautiful in person, I tell ya!

P.S.  It's still hanging on my craftroom door.

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