DIY Personalized Tablecloth + Banner

As a vendor, preparing for a local event is a lot of work! Many of you saw the updates each day on Facebook as I was working on new items, and last week I showed you my booth at the Hospice Fundraiser. It was such a fun event! Not all of the prep was in making product to sell, however. I also knew I wanted to get a cute display together to really represent my brand and help sell my shop. Here are a couple items that I DIY'ed to get a cohesive look throughout all the items in my booth! I decided to make a tablecloth that can be used over and over to represent my shop.

I wanted colours and font that matched my business cards. Not too much to ask, right? (Here is a picture of my new business cards if you need a reminder!) I started by picking up 3 yards of unbleached muslin. (I feel all Little-House-on-the-Prairie-ish when I say that. Unbleached muslin. Lol!) 3 yards gave me plenty for a tablecloth and the banner. I made my tablecloth wide enough by sewing two pieces together with a nice flat seam using this method. It comes out so beautiful!

Instead of hemming the tablecloth, I serged it with pink thread as an accent.

To make the  words, I created a template by printing my words on white paper and cutting them out. I just used Microsoft Word - this font is called Vladimir Script. Probably some of you steady-hand people could have free handed this, but I do not have a steady hand, my cursive isn't this pretty, and I wanted the font exactly the same. So...I made a template. :)

Cutting them out really wasn't too tedious. I used a razor blade for the insides of the letters. It didn't have to be perfect, I could fix little imperfections as I painted each letter.

I carefully centered the template exactly where I wanted it on the tablecloth, and used small pieces of tape to hold the paper in place. Then I used a pencil to trace around each letter.

This part went really quickly!

Then I mixed up some paint and started filling in the lines with a small paintbrush. I used a craft paint from Walmart - the colour was Honeysuckle Pink, but I lightened it with a beige colour I had on hand. It ended up being exactly the same colour as the thread I used on the serged edges!

This part was more tedious - not gonna lie. But the letters were small enough that it still went fairly quickly.

The only thing I wish I had done differently was be more careful about completely covering the pencil lines with paint. I tended to fill in between the lines with paint, and close up the pencil lines can still be seen. Probably no one else but me will be looking that closely, however. :)

Now on to the banner...

I followed the exact same method, this time painting on smaller pieces of fabric. I made a paper template to cut out the banner pieces, as well as the words. This time the font was Bookman Old Style.

These letters took significantly longer to paint! They were bigger with bigger spaces to fill in. But I got 'er done, just the same!

For the banner I used Honeysuckle Pink again, this time straight from the bottle instead of a lighter shade, as well as a turquoise craft paint from JoAnn's named - wait for it - Turquoise. :) I let it all dry overnight.

Then I folded the top of each banner piece over about 3/4 inch and sewed to make a pocket. I threaded them on to a string using my safety pin method.

I just love how these two things turned out! I think they help represent my brand and catch the eye of potential buyers. The best part is they can be used again and again.

Some of my best tips for cutting and painting:

1. When cutting out the paper template, turn the paper, not your scissors. This makes for smoother edges.

 2. Use a ruler to be sure everything is centered. If even one letter is crooked, an OCD eye like mine will pick it out every time. :)

 3. Wash and iron your fabric well before you start painting. Mine still got wrinkled by the time I got it to the event, but it was entirely better than before!

 4. With this fabric, I found it best to put a pretty good glob of paint on my brush each time. It did soak in (and through) the fabric a little bit, and with plenty of paint on the brush it was easy to push it right to the edge of the pencil lines. As you do it, you'll get a stroke that works for you, don't worry!

 5. ^ Put it on a drop cloth. Obviously. And that is the end of my project! It took me a whole afternoon to make both items, but it was so worth it for the impact it had on my display. I am currently re-using both of these in a display at a local business, so they are already being put to good use!

  Small business owners, how do you establish your brand locally or on the web? What crafty projects have you all been up to lately? Would you have used a paper template, or free-handed the lettering?