Shopping bags to Pennate Banner for the Patio

Here is a view of the patio on the side of the garage in the back yard. For the last two years I have had the Mexican plastic Picado flags hanging on the side. They were pretty and cheap, but they didn’t come in a length long enough to cover the depth of the garage.

I decided that it was the year to make my own banner. I had seen many homemade banners on Pinterest, and how hard could it be really? I collected three reusable shopping bags- one was a gift from a friend, and the other two I got at a garage sale for $1 each. I also used some plastic woven rope I had leftover from another project. Thats right- project total= $2. Not bad, right?

The hardest part of the project was doing the math to figure out how to get the most triangles from the shopping bags. My daughter and I tried a couple of different sizes and shapes. In the end I decided on two sizes of triangles to get the most from the small amount of fabric each bag had. The only part I wasted was the bag handles. And of course after I threw them away, I regretted it. Maybe I could have used them too? Move on, there will be other projects.

I took out the sewing machine to sew channels on the flat ends of the triangles to run the rope through.

I varied the sizes and patterns for interest.

Ignore the spider web, or not. Real life here.

I tied knots to hang from the hooks on either end of the garage. I also burned the end of the rope with a lighter, so the rope wouldn’t unravel.

The rope is green with yellow spots. I love how the rope adds another level of color and texture.

You can see the top of the shopping bag on the yellow plaid and floral triangle.

The yellow half of the green floral triangle was the bottom of the bag.

I was lucky to find two of the water color bags, I love all of the colors.

 It was a quick and simple project. The banner adds color to where there was none. I think that it is fun and pretty too. I love it.