How to Make a Birthday Banner out of Felt and Leather

Learn how to make a birthday banner out of felt and leather in this post. It is very easy to do and requires no sewing. You can use a cutting machine to cut out your shapes and letters or you can do it by hand with scissors.

This is a collaborative post with Silhouette America and may contain affiliate links at no extra cost to you but for your convenience.

Something about birthdays that can be so wonderful, but if you take it too far can become overwhelming. I personally prefer to error on the simple side of things, but even I can take it too far for me :). For decor, I like to reuse the same thing every year, maybe even bring some Christmas garlands out (you know the wooden colorful ones that aren't necessarily just Christmas). A birthday banner can be easy to make and can last forever if you love it enough.

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Unfortunately, the first one I made was made out of paper, so it didn't hold up after a few years of use. So I decided we needed a new one that was a little more sturdy. I love the look of leather and felt together, and felt comes in so many colors. Thus was this colorful felt garland born! I used the new Silhouette Cameo 4 to cut out the letters and the faux leather, but this is definitely a project that can be done with just scissors if you don't have a cutting machine.

As for cutting felt on the Silhouette 4, it was amazing! I just put it on the strong mat and set the settings on felt. I used a rotary blade and it cut without any test or fidgeting the cut. I'm thinking more felt projects for the future are needed!

How to Make a Birthday Banner out of Felt and Leather

Supplies:

Silhouette Cameo 4

Or you can use scissors

Colorful Felt

Faux or Real Leather

Step 1: Cut Felt with Cutting Machine

First I decided how big I wanted my letters. Then I colored them the colors I wanted so it would make it easier to keep track of cutting the felt. Then I rearrange the letters on the cutting mat so they were next to their matching letter. Then arrange your felt on the cutting mat and cut it out.

If cutting with scissors: I suggest using a block font like Bebe and make the size you want of Happy Birthday and print it off. Then, pin to the felt and cut out the letters with scissors.

DIY cutting felt with silhouette cameo 4

For the leather cutout, I used a simple banner design and then resized it to what I wanted. For full details for cutting with leather and faux leather, go to this post here.

Step 2: Glue Letters

Now it's time to assemble and glue. You can use any leather glue, but I personally like using E6000 because I always have it on hand and it seems to work great.

Step 3: Punch Holes

Now you're going to punch holes in your leather. You do need a leather punch for this, but totally worth the investment if you like using leather. You could probably use an awl as well to make a hole.

Step 4: Add Strings and Wood beads

Now add your twine or string! I added wood beads in between each letter just to space the letters a little. And your done!!

Now go celebrate!!