I just love fall. The leaves are changing, the air grows crisp, the boys go camping… It’s such a sweet season. Despite the pandemonium of school for our kids and hectic pace of balancing homework, sports, and church, I think it’s still my favorite time of year.

Although this banner would be particularly apropos for November, I love to hang it as soon as the first hint of fall is in the air. And if the colors were more four-season, I’d probably keep it up all year! The reminder of give thanks is always a good one, don’t you think?

And I have much for which to be thankful.

To make you own, grab a 6″ x 6″ scrapbook paper pad in fall colors, a few sheets of colored paper or cardstock, and cardstock stencils (the letters g, i, v, e, t, h, a, n, k, s), hole punch, a bit of tape, and access to a die cut machine (or handdraw & cut each leaf).

I used the hand lever die cut machine at our preschool a few years ago to cut out several maple and several oak leaves from the scrapbook pad.

Next, I attached a bit of solid colored cardstock to the back of each stencil letter to “fill it in.” Then I hole-punched each leaf & the stencil letters and strung them on twine. To space the words, I added three leaves between each letter, and I added an extra couple of leaves between the two words.

To make the banner hang correctly, tuck leaves behind each other to make them lay flat side by side (rather than strung like keys on a ring). To hang the banner, I tucked each end of the twine under a pot at either end of our mantle (I’ve also hung this banner other places with the ends tucked into drawers or cabinet doors). Easy!

Ahhhhhhh, now pass the apple cider & pumpkin pie!