Fall vacation project - finally completed!!

I don't sit still well.  I need to have a book to read or a project for my hands.  Usually when we go to the beach, I pack several projects.  One year I took all of my recipes and plastic sleeves and a giant binder and organized my recipes.  Last year, I took all the supplies and made the prayer vigil poster for an Emmaus Walk.  One year, I took lots of scrapbooking supplies and completed multiple lay-outs.  This year . . . I took no supplies.

What?  What?  No supplies?  What was I thinking?  I wasn't thinking.  Working five days a week is kicking my butt and I was so desperate for a vacation that I packed a bathing suit and some shorts and t-shirts and toiletries.  No craft supplies.

So . . .I realized after the first day that I was going to have to get a project.  I can only watch so much tv and I was already reading a lot while we were outside.  We went to Walmart and I purchased felt squares in fall colors, scissors, pins, needles, dmc floss in same colors as felt squares, and glittery letters.

This was my work space at the beach . . .and I also carried some supplies around the condo with me!  Oh - back to the glittery letters . . .what?  Well, I usually have patterns of some sort.  Laura, my daughter, can free-hand . . .I can't.  Since "Happy Fall Y'all" has lots of the same letters, I just bought some foam letters that you would stick on the wall or a poster and used those as my pattern.

I figured out the pattern of colors that I wanted to use and cut out all the letters.  I cut the felt squares in half and made an inverted "v" cut at the bottom to make the banner squares.  I then pinned the felt letter to the felt square and used a long running stitch in a coordinating color to sew on the letters.

I cut two tiny slits in the top of each square and ran an orange ribbon through to connect the banner.  I simply used thumb tacks to tack the ribbon to the bottom edge of the mantel.

Forgive this picture - I moved right as I snapped . . a simple white thumbtack under the edge of the mantel.

I had a lot of fun making this fall banner - I may need to go back and add an apostrophe to "y'all" - that may bother me!!