When I lived in the South, I didn’t ‘get’ the Fall thing. The perfect weather, the waiting-for-the-snow-while-also-enjoying-the-last-bit-of-sun (thank you, inversion!) thing. The not-going-to-leave-the-house-from-November-to-March-so-you-might-as-well-decorate thing. But I’ve grown since. Now I enjoy every season of the year for everything it’s worth, and with Autumn coming on us soon I’m more than ready and excited. Decorating projects are already in full swing and I have one  very versatile one that I’m excited to share. Simple, inexpensive chalkboard-style buntings that you can make for less than $2. Yep. Less than TWO DOLLARS!

You’ll need:

• Black (or other darkish colored, like red) poster board
• Straight-edge or right-angle ruler
• Hole Punch
• Scissors
• Marker/Pen/Pencil/Writing Utensil From Junk Drawer
• Ribbon

I think that might be… it… ? Chalk. Don’t forget chalk.

Your very first step will be to decide what size you want each piece of your banner. I chose 4″ x 6″. Use your ruler to draw out your lines as above, then for each of your flags make a mark in the center of one of the short sides (for me it was 2″ in), then  draw up about 1/2-1″. From each corner on that end draw to the top of the line you’ve just made to create a triangle (see above image). Cut out your rectangle and snip out the triangle you’ve made at the bottom. This is your guide for marking out the triangle on each of the following flags (see image below).

Woo! Repeat for each flag. My poster board has a bit of a curl to it. If you experience the same and realize you’ve marked on the wrong side (as I did and can be seen a bit on the front flag below) you can simply roll it loosely the opposite way and secure it with a rubber band so that you can use the other (unmarked) side instead.  Let it sit for a bit and unband it. It should now curl the other way.

Determine where you’d like your holes for your bunting to be placed. I chose to put mine approximately 1/2 inch from the top and outer edges. I marked them clearly, punched them with my hole punch ($1 at Dollar Tree since I couldn’t find the one we already had) then lined up each of the next flags behind it and punched through the same spot. I couldn’t punch through more than two layers of poster board at a time, but even so it doesn’t take that long unless you’re making enough of these for a quote or something.

Grab ribbon, twine- whatever you have on hand, or again hit up your local dollar store and see what’s available.  Angel chose the black ribbon.

Lace thread from back to front (or front to back, or alternate, or whatever you want- these get to be unique!)

Back as well as front views of my flags to show my results.

Use scraps to create photo props (this is integral! hehe).

Write on it with any old chalk, hang it, dress it up or down, and you are done. I simply twisted some paper streamers and push-pinned ours to the wall. I also made an additional 13 flags out of my poster board so that I can make different messages to hang all through the cold weather.

In case there is any question, yes, it is erasable! I simply used a cotton cloth to dry rub the flags clean.

You can add rivets, buttons, use alternating colors or colorful chalk. You could knot or glue the ribbon/twine/etc. behind the holes/along the back but I did not find a need to as the width of my ribbon kept the letters from shifting. Foam core board (foam board) also works for this project though you will need a sharp blade such as a utility knife to cut out your pieces.

This bare bones version cost a whopping $3 to create a ‘Happy Birthday _ _ _ _ _’ banner (five blanks because I had five flags for a name). The happy birthday banner required 1 poster board and two different $1 each spools of ribbon (same color was used for both Happy and Name and a second color was used for Birthday).