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Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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How to: Family-friendly Autumn Banner

October 18, 2010 2 Comments

Supplies: Scotch tape, scissors, construction paper in autumn colors, printed out leaves to use as a drawing guide (optional), pencil, glue dots, ribbon or string

Print out silhouettes of leaves or find fallen leaves you’d like to use as a guide for drawing the leaves on your banner. Here are the images I used: oak leaf outline, maple leaf outline. Google image search terms that worked well for me were XYZ leaf stencil, XYZ leaf outline and XYZ leaf silhouette. I hate using my printer, so I opted for “outline” in my search to save on ink.

Fold your sheets of construction paper in half, and then cut the folded paper in half. See above left image for an example. Using your leaf or leaf image as a guide, draw a leaf on one of your folded and cut pieces of construction paper. Cut out your leaves. This is where your folded paper comes in handy, resulting in 2 leaves per stencil.

Once you’ve cut out your first leaves, use one of them as a stencil for cutting out all of the others. This will help make your leaves look uniform. For more variety, freehand draw your leaves each time.

Arrange your leaves in a color pattern you like once you’ve finished cutting them all out. Tape one leaf to your ribbon or string, as shown in the picture second from the right above. Then apply a glue dot near the top and bottom of your leaf. Stick and identical leaf on top of the taped leaf and press down over the glue dots, securing them. Voila! Now you have one leaf attached to your string, no gluing or drying necessary. Repeat this process until all of your leaves are attached to your string. Mount your banner across an archway or on a porch, and you’re done. Really easy. This project is great for kids, because they get to practice a lot of fine motor skills in a fun way that they can show off. Doing this made me feel like a kid again.

An easy variation on this project: Rather than stringing your leaves in pairs to create a banner, you could also use the glue dots to stick them on the wall. If you get the removable glue dots, you don’t need to worry about your paint. Just an idea. I’ve been thinking about deconstructing this banner and arranging my leaves on the molding you see above to make my work go further.

Filed Under: How-to, Thanksgiving Tagged With: autumn, banner, construction paper, fall, festive, glue dots, kids, leaves

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is an artist, author and crafts designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame. In addition to running the Hands Occupied Blog and Pattern Shop, you can find her making videos & co-hosting the Very Serious Crafts podcast.

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

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Craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. / #latchhookbook out now!
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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s ab There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s about how I’m going to take the next 2 weeks off to rest & recharge. ☺️🧶 No new content for y’all means I can also take a moment to zoom out & plan what’s next. Link is in bio. 
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A note on Very Serious Crafts: In the post I discuss stepping away from the @seriouscrafts podcast to give myself more time to devote to some minor medical issues. Don’t you worry - my health will be fine, & @molliejohanson @redhandledscissors and I are still pals, and after a short break of their own, the podcast will be back! Just sans moi. 💁🏼‍♀️😆 
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See you in a couple weeks! ✌🏻#handsoccupied #knitdesign #craftdesign #sofadedsweater
Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it shoul Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it should be. ☺️🎄The past few days have been filled with a lot of catching up on festive zoom calls & raising toasts to the camera. 🥂 Connecting with people has been a welcome change of pace! Now I’m feeling ready to meet my inevitable end-of-year deadlines. 😆
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Warmest wishes for the season, my friends! ❤️💛💙
Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker beh Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker behind Hands Occupied! 👋🏻 I’ve been enjoying making Reels a lot lately, but I wanted to bop in to share a regular photo & say hello. 🤓 
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rather than giving you my bio right now, I have a question. I just got this new sweater & I can’t stop imaging how funny it would be to wear this to a knitting class ... is that bad? 🤣🤣🤣
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Pictured: a blond woman with glasses wearing a sweater that reads “all your sweaters are ugly” standing in front of a Christmas tree.
Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is o Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is one of the most common methods for finishing a knitting project and helping ensure its final size and shape. Learn basic blocking for absolute beginners in an easy-to-follow (non-Reel!) video tutorial! Catch the tutorial on YouTube or the Hands Occupied Blog, link is in bio. 🧶 #handsoccupied #stopswatchandblockit #KPAmbassadorsDec20 #sponsored
Had to share this perfect capture of one of my fav Had to share this perfect capture of one of my favorite weird homemade Christmas ornaments: a simple macramé Santa face with beads for the eyes and nose! My Great-Grandma made it too. 🎄
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Might have to try making a quickie Reel tutorial for this guy - I think it’s the perfect project for it, don’t you? 🎅🏼 #handsoccupied #macrame
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