Patriotic Paper Banner Craft for the 4th of July!

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This patriotic paper banner craft is perfect for the 4th of July! It’s easy and fun to make, and is a great decoration for your Independence Day celebrations!

For lots more craft ideas on The Purple Pumpkin Blog, check out these 100+ crafts for adults and kids!

Patriotic Paper Banner Craft for 4th of July

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The paper banner tutorial slideshow video is over on my YouTube Channel, which you can save to your Playlists. Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel while you are there!

Patriotic Paper Banner

One of the easiest party decorations to make is paper banners. You can make them with coloured paper, or use printable designs – I’ve got several free printable banners for birthday parties, and other celebrations that you can download.

Banners are great for spelling out a sentiment, and/or adding a pop of color to the party space. You can hang them across mantels, railings, walls, windows, and doors – customize the length of your banners to fit accordingly.

Paper Banner

I love the pleated fan flags that are hung along porch railings or on buildings, and this patriotic paper banner craft reminds me of that sort of style!

To make this 4th of July banner you will need:

  1. Construction/craft paper in these colors: red, white, and blue
  2. Scissors
  3. Craft glue
  4. Pencil
  5. Gold glitter sticker paper
  6. yarn or string
Paper Banner Craft Supplies

Having a stock of construction paper in different colors in your craft stash means that you will always have some on hand when the craft bug strikes! I tend to bulk buy craft supplies to save money in the long run, and so I can set up for an impromptu craft session with my niece when she visits me. She loves crafting with her auntie!

Instructions:

In this papercraft, we will be creating pleated paper flags using construction paper. You can make as many of the flags as you like for your banner. I used 3 per string. A printable version of the tutorial is at the end of this post.

Step 1

Cut the red, white, and blue construction paper into 6″/15cm squares. I used 3 squares per banner – but you could use more and create longer strings of the flags. You can make the squares bigger or smaller if you like, it will depend on what size banner you want to make – and on the max-width of your paper!

Paper Square

Step 2

Create small and even accordion folds on all of your paper squares.

Accordion

Step 3

Take the accordion folded paper and hold the middle to divide the paper into 2 even parts – like a bow tie – as demonstrated in the photo below. Keep hold until the next step!

Holding accordion folded paper

Step 4

While still holding the paper in the middle, apply craft glue along either of the open sides of the paper – as demonstrated below.

Apply glue to folded paper

Another patriotic craft to try: Red, White & Blue Paper Flower Wreath

Step 5

Now join the glue side with the other side. This will form a scalloped edge on one side and a straight edge on the other side of the folded paper.  And you’ll see how they remind me of the pleated flags! You may want to use paper clips to keep the paper together while the glue dries.

Scalloped edge paper flag

Step 6

Cut a piece of white yarn or string to about 36″/90cm – this is so three 6″/15cm flags will fit along it, leaving long ends to tie up. Of course, adjust the length if you made bigger or smaller flags.

Now you need to attach the flags to the string – and it’s a bit difficult to explain, but I think the photo below demonstrates it well.

Apply glue to the straight side of the folded flag, then place the string between the glued side and the folds and press together to attach. Once again, use paper clips to hold everything in place as the glue dries.

Glue flags to string

Step 7

Cut some stars onto gold glitter sticker paper – I’ve got a star shape template here that you can download to trace around (opens in new tab/window). You could use other glitter colors if you want!

Gold glitter star

Step 8

Peel the backing from the star stickers you have made and attach to the front of the flags. You don’t have to attach a star to every flag – unless you want to of course!

Completed patriotic paper banner

And that’s your patriotic paper banner complete! This is a great craft for kids, as it will help them with cutting and folding skills. Making lots of these paper flags will certainly keep them occupied!

Now you know how to make the banner flags, you can make them for all sorts of occasions! Why not change the colors to make this paper banner for other times in the year, like St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, or Halloween?

Want more 4th of July crafts? Check out these 30+ Awesome Patriotic Crafts for the Whole Family!

Patriotic Paper Banner

Patriotic Paper Banner

Yield: 1
Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Beginner
Estimated Cost: $5

This patriotic paper banner craft is perfect for 4th of July! It’s easy and fun to make, and is a great decoration for your Independence Day celebrations!

Materials

  • Construction/craft paper in these colors: red, white, and blue
  • Craft glue
  • Gold glitter sticker paper
  • yarn or string

Tools

  • Pencil
  • Scissors

Instructions

  1. Cut the red, white, and blue construction paper into 6″/15cm squares.
  2. Create small and even accordion folds on all of your paper squares.
  3. Take the accordion folded paper and hold the middle to divide the paper into 2 even parts – like a bow tie.
  4. While still holding the paper in the middle, apply craft glue along either of the open sides of the paper.
  5. Now join the glue side with the other side. This will form a scalloped edge on one side and straight edge on the other side of the folded paper. Leave to dry.
  6. Cut a long piece of white yarn or string. Apply glue to the straight side of the folded flag, then place the string between the glued side and the folds and press together to attach. Leave to dry.
  7. Cut some stars onto gold glitter sticker paper.
  8. Peel the backing from the star stickers you have made and attach to the front of the flags.

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Folded Paper Flag Banner - 4th of July Craft

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