DIY Mini Fall Banners Made from Felt

DIY fall banners are easy to make out of felt, and perfect for celebrating the season! Learn how to create this mini version, easy for all ages.

Skills Required: None. Even if you’ve never crafted before, you’ll be able to accomplish this autumn project. You just need to be able to cut and glue.

Felt banners are super trendy right now . . . and the best part is that they’re also super easy to make!

These fall banners are especially fun given the color palette, and they’re a good reminder that even when times get tough, there’s something to be thankful for. I think about it every time I look at this little bit of felt!

This is such a simple wall hanging – if you can cut, and if you can glue, you can make these banners. I’d love to see what kids of all ages would come up with when trying these! Just put out the felt colors and let them go to town. Or you can turn it into an adult project if you like.

Stack of felt in fall colors, scissors, twine, tacky glue, and dowel rods

Here’s how to make one for autumn through Thanksgiving; but customize them to any season or special event you’d like! They make for pretty modern and colorful Thanksgiving decor in my opinion. Here’s how they’re made.

DIY Fall Banners

Gather These Supplies

Colored felt in various autumn shades – brown, orange, mustard, red, etc.
Sharp fabric scissors
Twine – at least a few feet
Fabric or craft glue (yes, you can also use hot glue)
Thin wooden dowels (or skewers with sharp ends removed)

Note: I don’t typically get my felt from the craft store for a project like this (unless there’s a fabric section and I can get it on the bolt). For something like this I get felt from either Etsy or Benzie Design. Check them out!

Cut the Felt

Start by trimming your background felt (whatever color will be the main portion of your banner) into smaller rectangles.

I used sheets of craft felt, and just cut them exactly in half. I recommend cutting a rectangle that is anywhere from 5″ x 7″ to 8″ x 10″ or so. You can use scissors, but you can also use a rotary cutter or craft knife with a ruler and mat to get straight lines.

Brown piece of felt cut into a rectangle

Cut the rectangles into banner shapes. Do this by folding the rectangle in half lengthwise and cutting off the corners as you see below.

Cutting the bottom corners off the felt to create the banner pieces

Unfold and save the triangles you removed for another project.

Two brown felt banner pieces with a pair of scissors

Cut Out the Words

Decide on the message that you would like to spell and plan it out. You have a few options. You can print out a word or phrase using a computer and word processing program. You can draw the words with a pencil and use as a cutting template.

I made mine roughly 1.5″ wide by 2.5″ tall and just free handed the cutting. I find imperfection charming! Cut out the letters from the other colors of felt. Do a “test fit” to make sure the letters fit on your banner in the way you would like.

Cutting out letters from felt using scissors

Glue the Letters to the Back

Choose the positioning of your wording and glue down. Do the letters need to be straight? Absolutely not!

Gluing letters onto the front of a brown piece of felt

Again, I enjoy the imperfection, but measure or use a straight edge if you’d like!

Felt letters spelling thankful and fall glue to brown pieces of felt

Glue to Dowels and Hang

Flip the banner over and glue it to the wooden dowel or skewer. Place a line of glue about 1/2 down from the top of the felt on the back. Stick the dowel into the glue. Let dry.

Then put a line of glue across the dowel rod so you can fold the felt down over it. Place a book on top (or something heavy) so that the felt dries without popping up.