Reverse Cut Out Halloween Banner

Usually when we’re assembling a banner, we cut out the letters, cut out the banner shape and attach the letters to the shape. A ghostly alternative? Cut the letters out of the banner shape and let them be mysteriously missing.  It’s a frighteningly chic look that we love! (Enough Halloween puns? ::Sigh:: Fine.)

Start with 3 9×12 inch sheets of watercolor paper and watercolor or acrylic paints. This would also be insanely awesome dip-dyed. I used silver, white, a pearl-y blue and black to create a gray ombré effect.

There’s no magic method or recipe – you can see from my “paint palette” that I started with the silver and added to it as I went. Starting at the top with the lightest shade, work your way down the page darkening the hue as you go. Also, a piece of foil is my all time favorite place to put paint while I’m working.

I cut the letters out with my Silhouette – this font is Jacques and Gilles – positioning them high enough I could still cut the dove tail shape out of the bottom. You could also do a include the bunting shape in your cut (circle, dove tail, triangle, etc) but I just cut it by hand. Then run the pieces through the machine one at a time.

Remove the paper from the mat and separate the cut out letter from the banner piece. If you didn’t cut the shape, cut the shape of the banner then string and hang!

This EEK is hung behind my kitchen table on my black wall and make a perfect Halloween statement. The 12″ long pieces make it fill the space and are a fantastic backdrop to the rest of my Halloween decorations. This would be great on a mantle, in a front window, across a bar or in a dining room – where can you imagine hanging a monster sized Halloween banner?

PS – love the look of the painted paper but don’t really want to DIY? Click here to download a .jpg of the gray painted paper. Print full page to get the same look with no dry time. Please remember that all browsers and operating systems are a little different – if the file doesn’t directly download you can still right-click and Save-As to get the .jpg!