Make Your Own Bunting

I think there is nothing more festive than a house festooned in red, white and blue bunting.  When I went to actually do it however, I found that what was available was either too expensive, was going to look kind of cheap, or I didn't have enough time to get it shipped to me.  So, not one to be thwarted, I figured out an inexpensive way to make bunting that I could re-use year after year.I started with red and white striped cotton canvas.  I wanted 24 feet of bunting, so I bought 12 feet (4 yards) of fabric and then cut it in half lengthwise.  I then just sewed the two long pieces together to get a 24 foot long piece.  For some reason I was feeling more fastidious than usual and ran a 1/4" hem along the top and bottom.For the supports I used navy blue webbing cut into 12" lengths.  Yours may need to be longer depending on the width of your fabric.  I then put grommets into each end. I know that seems daunting, but you can get grommet kits at any fabric store, it's really easy and makes it really easy to put up and take down every year.  If you're going to just do this once, you can skip it and just put them up using a staple gun.I then decided where I wanted the hanging points to be on the porch, put in a screw at each point and then measured the same distance on the fabric and put grommets there as well.For the finishing touch I got some foam stars that were already silver and glittery and used a hole punch on them.  You could also cut stars out of a plastic coffee can top and paint them or even cut them out of plywood.Then all you have to do is put up one end of the webbing, drape the fabric, secure it with the other end of the webbing and add the star at top.  For the ends of the fabric you can either put an extra grommet at the bottom corners, use a staple gun to hold the ends in place, or leave the extra fabric to just drape down.And there you have it, inexpensive, festive bunting that you can use year after year!Happy Fourth!