To make a Christmas banner, you will need letters to spell your message, fabric or scrapbooking papers in holiday colors, a length or ribbon or cording to hang the banner tags from and a coordinating ribbon to make hangers. You may also want buttons or other decorative elements to really help dress up your banner.

While it is simplest to make your banner using stickers or die cut letters, you can make them yourself too. If you decide to make them yourself, you should trace your letters on scrap paper or newspaper first so you don’t waste good paper if you make a mistake. I like to use a bit of glitter to make the message really special.

After your letters are ready, it is time to make the banner. Choose a shape and cut out enough pieces so each letter will have an individual piece. Triangular flags or stars are most common, but tag shapes, trees and even snowmen also work. If you decide to cut the pieces out of fabric, I recommend using flannel or felt so you don’t have to worry about frayed edges. If the fabric is too flimsy, iron some interfacing to the back to stiffen it.

Next, glue your letters to the shapes. Add any decorative elements now. Once the letters are in place, it is time to make your hangers. Cut 4-inch pieces of ribbon and create a U shape. Glue the loose ends to the shape to create a hanging loop. If you use fabric pieces for the banner, you may want to sew the ribbon pieces on with a button covering the raw ends instead.

Finally, slide the shapes onto your banner ribbon, being sure to keep them in order so that they spell out your message.

For a fun variation of this project, create 25 shapes with a pocket in the front. Create a numbered tag for each pocket and use the tags to count down the days until Christmas. You can make the numbered tags very elaborate and include treats in each pocket to make your homemade advent calendar even more special.

By: Katelyn Thomas

Decorating homes is also a fun family activity. It is during this time that family put up Christmas trees all together.

Other parents prefer creating their own decorations of Christmas ornamentsto minimize the cost and at the same time have a fun filled memory with their children.

Together, they design Christmas socks and hang it on chimney walls and they tell their children stories about Saint Nicholas and make their children believe that on Christmas Eve, these socks would be filled with toys and candies.

Christmas decorations don’t need at all to be expensive. All you have to do is maximize your resources and activate your creative minds. Surely, you’ll be enjoying the spirit of Christmas without spending too much money.

Tips on Decorating your Home for the Christmas Season

1. Let’s start by designing the front door.

Decorating front doors is important because it is where visitors enter. This is the first thing they’ll see and first impressions last. Putting a Christmas wreathon the upper center of the door would do the trick.

And to enhance the beauty, it would be nice to put a big red ribbon on it. You may somehow think that a Christmas wreath could somehow cost something. But you no need to buy, let your imagination come alive and create your own.

2. When designing hallways, you could always make a colorful banner that says “Merry Christmas”.

Place a table with a colored red and green table cloth and place four candles with varying designs on top. The four candles symbolizes the four weeks of advent. This would really uplift the spirit of Christmas in your home.

3. Living rooms are always the favorite section of the house to decorate.

Hanging up Christmas socks on chimney walls has always been the tradition. Creating some ornamental flowers to put on top of the chimney would accessorize it more and would accent the wall. Living rooms are also the right place where to set up Christmas trees.

Accessorizing your trees with cards, snow, Christmas lights and hand made angels would create a fascinating look on your Christmas tree. You may also put your gifts for your family to open on Christmas Eve under the Christmas tree to serve as additional decorations before the big day.

4. Bedrooms are also part of Christmas decorating activity.

You may change the color of your bed sheet and replace them with a bed sheet which has a combination of red and green. Putting a figurine of Santa Clause on bedroom tables would also do the trick. Hanging up Christmas posters on doors would also accessorize the room.

5. Is there such thing as Christmas bathrooms? Yes, there is!

In fact, others consider decorating bathrooms a must. This is because it is also one place where guest go when they want to pee. Therefore, you have to be creative. Shower curtains with Christmas designs such as pine tree illustrations would do. Just keep everything color coordinated and presto! your bathroom is one of a kind.

About the Author

Dave Poon is an accomplished writer who specializes in the latest in Christmas Decorations. For more information regarding Christmas Decorating For The Home please drop by at http://www.christmasworldbest.com/

Popcorn Stringing

If you like strung popcorn, it’s really simple to make. Start with a big bowl of popcorn (unbuttered, of course) and string it piece by piece using a standard sewing needle and thread. Make sure there’s plenty of popcorn because, if you’re stringing it for garland, you’re going to need a lot.

Cranberry Stringing

Much like the popcorn stringing method, many people used to string cranberries using a standard needle and thread. Again, make sure there’s plenty to go around if you’re going to use it as garland. Most importantly, and I know it’s tempting, don’t eat all the decorations. Save some for the Christmas tree.

Paper Chains

One of the greatest memories of decorating for Christmas, as a child, has to be the traditional paper chains. Using green and red construction paper, cut horizontal strips of each color. Fold them into a circle and seal with tape. Scotch tape is recommended and, if you use this when your child is young, the smell will always remind them of Christmas. It will likely become “Christmas tape” to them. Once you have a complete circle, take another strip in an alternating color and run it through the first circle. Next, fold it around and seal with tape. Complete this step until you have a big strand of paper garland in red and green. You and your child will enjoy doing this together and it will create wonderful memories for you both.

Lighted Wreath

If you love the look of a lighted wreath, but don’t quite have a budget for one of the more expensive ones, consider another option. You can purchase a plain green wreath very inexpensively. A small strand of lights can cost anywhere from $1.00 to $3.00. But, put them together and you have the look of a professionally lighted Christmas wreath. For this project, you could use either clear or multi-colored Christmas lights. Simply take the plain green wreath and wrap the lights around in a design similar to the stripes on a candy cane. Once you’ve gone all the way around, tuck the last light into the green of the wreath. Make sure that you place it near an electric outlet because there won’t be a lot of extra cord. Now that you’re ready, plug it in and see your very own design. A red bow is a nice touch, but not necessary. As people drive by, they will see a beautifully lit wreath in your window and they will have no idea that you saved a few bucks by wrapping the lights yourself.

Source: http://www.articlecircle.com/ - Free Articles Directory

About the Author

For more great Christmas craft related resources check out http://crafts.christmashub.com and http://stockings.christmashub.com