4th of July Banner Tutorial with Printable

I love our country's Declaration of Independence.  I love it because it's a cherished symbol of our nation's freedom, a national treasure that was written over 200 years ago bravely declaring our independence from Great Britain.  The 56 men who were part of the Continental Congress in 1776 signed their names to this document and by doing so were considered traitors by the King of England.  They were risking their lives and their honor for freedom for the United States of America.  I love it also because it is so beautifully handwritten.  Notwithstanding its content, the handwriting itself is a work of art.

I wanted to use this beautiful text somehow in a fun piece of decor for the upcoming 4th of July holiday.  I created a simple banner that I hung on the mirror over my sideboard.  If you'd like to make one too, here's a step-by-step tutorial:

Step 1.  Download* these three 8.5 x 11 pages and print them on heavy paper (I used 140 lb. Strathmore Watercolor paper because I wanted the flags to have texture and sturdiness.  I trimmed the 9" x 12" paper to 8.5" wide so that it would fit into my printer.)

*To download, just click on each thumbnail image and the full-size image will open.

Right click on the full-size image and save to your computer.

Banner Printable 1

Banner Printable 2

Banner Printable 3

Step 2.  Cut out the 9 Declaration of Independence flags that you just printed on heavy paper.


Step 3.  Cut out 9 strips of blue glitter paper (the length of each flag top by 1/2 inch wide).

Step 4.  Repeat step 3 with red glitter paper.

Step 5.  Glue the blue strips to each flag top, leaving a 1/4 inch of the strip showing at the top.

Step 6.  Repeat step 5 with the red glitter paper.


Step 7.  Download* the star and print on regular paper; cut it out and use it to trace stars on the glitter paper.  I used 5 red and 4 blue stars.  Cut out the glitter stars and adhere to flags (I used 3D tape so they would have a bit of dimension).

*To download, just click on the thumbnail image and the full-size image will open.

Right click on the full-size image and save to your computer.

Banner Printable 4

Step 8.  Punch holes in the banner tops and string bakers twine or other string through the banners.

Thank you for stopping by, and have a happy 4th of July!

I'm linking to these parties:

InLinkz.com