One of the things I loved most about my middle daughter’s first birthday party was her monthly photo banner. It was gold and glittery and showcased how she grew month over month – and now it’s a must-have at all the first birthday parties in our family. But, while I loved it for her birthday, it was the first one I ever saw.
So, after a bit of debate (and a lot of procrastination), I decided to do my own DIY first-year monthly photo banner for my second baby girl when her first birthday came around!
Although I love crafting, I rarely have time for it, and this was a project I stayed up late and woke up early to complete. While the actual craft is not time-consuming, I had to reprogram/set up my Cricut, which hadn’t been touched in over a year, and search through my craft “box” for any potential paper to use.
Don’t let the rough start fool you, the final result was amazing! Here’s how I made this easy DIY photo banner from newborn to one year old!
*Note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a small commission for any purchases made through them at no extra cost to you!
What You’ll Need to Make Your Monthly Photo Banner
I really hate to be that mama (because the only reason I have one is thanks to buying it over six years ago), but you’re going to need a Cricut or similar cutter. Luckily, because this project is super small, you can have any size cutter. My personal favorites are the Cricut Explore and Cricut Joy.
Here’s what else I used (and you’ll need) to make your own birthday month banner:
- Medium Weight Cardstock, I used a 12 x 12 paper pack
- Hot Glue or some other type of adhesive
- 12 4in x 6in portrait style pictures of your little
- Yarn or Twine
- Cricut Fine Point Blade
- Standard or light-grip cutting mat
- Cut file, you can find some low-cost ones on Etsy
If you have everything on hand and ready to go (not sitting in your closet to search for), this project should take you 30 minutes to and hour.
How to Make Your One-Year Monthly Photo Banner for Your Little’s First Birthday
We’re finally to the fun part! You’re officially making your birthday photo banner! Here’s what you need to do:
- Pick out your paper, I used prints but you can absolutely use solids. Each paper can make TWO months. Go ahead and mark which months you want for each paper that way there’s no confusion moving forward.
- Upload and cut your files using your Cricut cutter. I used the Medium Cardstock settings but with the extra pressure.
- Gently remove your cuts from your mat and pop out any of the remaining circles.
- Take your glue/ahesive and add each photo to the corresponding month (this is probably the most time consuming part that’s not cutting). I recommend setting them side-by-side so your placement is just right.
- Once you’ve glued it all together, organize by month and use your yarn or twine to loop through the holes and create your banner to hang!
Play around with the length of you yarn/twine based on where you want to hang them up. The benefit of DIYing this banner yourself is that you don’t have a limit on how long it is or how you can space your photos.
This is one of those DIYs I recommend trying to tackle at 2-3 weeks before the party just in case you need extra supplies or time (I cover this in my free party planning checklist you can grab here).
First-Year Photo Banner: The Final Look
My photo banner ended up a little busy thanks to all the patterned paper, but it was still adorable and perfect for her Wild One birthday party! I wish I took better pictures, but it was raining when we started decorating so our outside party quickly went inside.
I did snag some photos from further away if you want to see the full look and where we decided to hang it:
What do you think? I love it.
Anyways, I hope you found these instructions helpful and you’re ready to head out and make your own birthday party photo banner! Let me know in the comments section down below if you ended up doing this DIY and how it turned out!
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