Cowboy Flag Banner

As I mentioned here, my youngest son had a cowboy-themed birthday party recently.  I couldn't find many cowboy party decorations - although I didn't look too hard...just the party aisle at Target, Walmart, etc.  So, I kept it simple and made this banner instead of buying anything....

I had the red bandana fabric which was perfect, so just found some others that matched.  I cut flags each 9 inches tall, and used the 45 degree marker on my ruler to cut them out.

I should have taken pictures of that process.  I think there are tutorials out there for making bunting, or flag banners, though.

I just sewed along the sides of the flags with right-sides together.  I then turned them inside out, leaving the top edge open.  I folded the top down about 1/4", and then folded again ~1/4".  I sewed along the bottom edge of the fold (as close to the edge as possible).  I left enough room to thread some twine through.

I laid the flags out in the order that I wanted and "threaded" them onto some cheap twine I bought at Walmart for only around a dollar.  I was able to make 3 banners - 2 long ones and 1 shorter one.

The long ones had 13 flags each with about 6-12 inches between them.  The shorter one had only 6 flags - which I used along the buffet in my kitchen.  I also made the red bandana napkins on the buffet with the same red bandana fabric I had.  I just cut two big squares out, and sewed them together with right-sides together and left a small opening.  Then, I turned it inside-out and sewed a 1/4-1/2" from the edge all the way around.

You can see the horse cupcakes I made for his birthday in the background.  I think I'll be ordering a cake from the grocery store next year though.  That darn Pinterest made me think they looked easy to make!!!  I had peanuts, popcorn, and Chex Mix out as snacks too.

I bought the boys and their cousins each bandanas and cheap cowboy hats to wear at the party, which I laid on the table for decoration.  I also wrapped the silverware with napkins and tied with the twine, and got Mason jars out for the water glasses.

And, that was it!  Very simple and very cheap for an easy Cowboy party.  Sorry the photos aren't better.  I looked back at his party photos and realized that I forgot to get some good ones of the party decor!!!  The lighting wasn't very good at all!

One last look at the cute little birthday boy....