Thanksgiving Banner Ideas: 13 Cheap DIY Garlands That Make Your Home Look Ready for Company

These Thanksgiving Banner Ideas are the fastest way to make your home feel ready for company, and most of them cost less than a pie. A banner goes up in a moment on a mantel, a front door, a porch rail or the wall above the buffet, and it instantly tells guests that the holiday has arrived. You can make one from burlap, felt, paper bags, yarn, real leaves or a handful of pine cones from the yard. Some are perfect for a quiet evening with a cup of tea, and others are easy enough for the kids to help with on a rainy afternoon. We picked thirteen Thanksgiving Banner Ideas that use cheap supplies, look handmade in the best way, and pack flat so you can bring them back every November. Pick one, pick three, and let the house dress itself up before the turkey goes in the oven..

Thanksgiving Banner Ideas Start With Painted Burlap Pennants

A burlap pennant banner is the natural place to begin, because burlap already looks like harvest season before you add a single brushstroke. Cut a run of triangles, paint one simple leaf on each in rust, gold or olive, and the banner suddenly feels custom made. It pairs well with other budget friendly holiday decor like mini pumpkins and eucalyptus on the mantel shelf. Hang it a little loose so it swags in soft curves, and keep the painted leaves large so they read from across the room when guests walk in..

You will need: Burlap yard or burlap ribbon, acrylic craft paint in rust, gold and olive, a small flat brush, jute twine, fabric glue, a cardboard triangle template.

How to make it: 1. Trace and cut eight to ten burlap triangles about 7 inches wide. 2. Paint one leaf on each triangle and let it dry flat. 3. Fold the top edge over the twine and glue it closed, spacing the pennants 2 inches apart.

Pressed Maple Leaf Clothesline Banner

This one costs nothing at all. Gather the brightest maple leaves you can find, press them flat for a few days, and clip them along a length of twine with tiny wooden clothespins. The colors shift from red to orange to gold, so the line looks like a sunset by the time you reach the end. It is one of our favorite uses for fallen leaves, and it works beautifully across a kitchen window where the light shines through. Brush each leaf with a thin coat of decoupage medium to keep it from curling, and the banner will last through the holiday weekend.

You will need: Fresh fallen maple leaves, heavy books or a flower press, decoupage medium, a soft brush, jute twine, mini wooden clothespins.

How to make it: 1. Press the leaves between paper in a heavy book for three to five days. 2. Brush both sides with a thin coat of decoupage medium and let them dry. 3. Clip the leaves to the twine about 4 inches apart and hang the line in a window.

Velvet Ribbon Bow Garland in Autumn Colors

Velvet ribbon catches the light in a way that makes even a simple doorway feel dressed for company. Tie a row of bows in rust, deep orange, gold and olive, then knot them onto a length of twine so they sit evenly along the top of the frame. If you already have a Thanksgiving wreath on the front door, a matching bow garland inside the entry ties the look together. Leave the ribbon tails long and cut them on a slant so they hang neatly and do not fray before the big day.

You will need: Velvet ribbon in four autumn colors (about 2 yards each), jute twine, sharp fabric scissors, a ruler, removable hooks.

How to make it: 1. Cut the ribbon into 18 inch lengths and tie each into a bow. 2. Knot each bow onto the twine about 6 inches apart. 3. Trim the tails on a slant and hang the garland over the doorway with removable hooks.

Dried Corn Husk Garland for a Farmhouse Porch

Dried corn has welcomed fall guests to farmhouses for generations, and it still makes one of the most striking porch banners you can hang. Pull the husks back, tie the cobs together in pairs, and hang them in a row from the porch beam so the golden kernels show. It is an easy upgrade for any Thanksgiving porch decor and holds up well in cool, dry weather. Mix in a few red and speckled cobs if you can find them at a farm stand, because the variety of color is what makes the line stand out from the street.

You will need: 8 to 12 dried corn cobs with husks attached, natural jute twine, garden wire, removable outdoor hooks.

How to make it: 1. Fold the husks back toward the stem and tie two cobs together by their husks. 2. Wire each pair to a long length of twine about 8 inches apart. 3. Hang the garland from the porch beam with outdoor hooks.

Thanksgiving Banner Ideas From Paper Bag Pennants

Brown grocery bags have just the right rustic color for a harvest banner, and you probably already have a stack of them under the sink. Cut them into pennants, stamp a simple acorn on each one, and string them across an open kitchen shelf. Among all the Thanksgiving Banner Ideas here, this is the easiest to make with kids, and it fits right in with other paper bag crafts you may already love. A potato cut into an acorn shape works well as a homemade stamp if you do not have a store bought one.

You will need: Brown paper grocery bags, a cardboard triangle template, a potato or foam acorn stamp, dark brown craft paint, jute twine, mini clothespins.

How to make it: 1. Flatten the bags and cut out pennants with the template. 2. Stamp an acorn in the center of each and let the paint dry. 3. Clip the pennants onto the twine with mini clothespins and hang the line.

Clothespin Photo Banner of Past Thanksgivings

Nothing gets a room talking like old family photos. Print snapshots from past holidays, clip them along a line with clothespins, and hang it where guests gather before dinner. Grandparents love spotting younger versions of everyone, and kids love finding their baby pictures. This is one of the sweetest clothespin crafts you can make, and it comes together in no time once the prints are ready. Paint the clothespins in fall colors first if you want the banner to match the rest of your decor.

You will need: Printed family photos in instant photo size, wooden clothespins, acrylic paint in fall colors, a small brush, baker’s twine.

How to make it: 1. Paint the clothespins and let them dry. 2. Tie the twine across a wall or doorway. 3. Clip the photos in order by year so guests can follow the story from left to right.

Thanksgiving Banner Ideas With Wood Beads and Felt Pumpkins

This garland is playful and strong enough to bring back every year. Alternate natural wood beads with small felt pumpkins sewn from orange and cream felt, then add a felt leaf to each stem. It looks charming laid across a buffet or along a staircase rail. If you enjoy faux pumpkin makeovers, you will love how quickly these little felt pumpkins come together in front of the TV. Of all the Thanksgiving Banner Ideas in this list, this one packs away the best, since nothing can break or fade in storage.

You will need: Orange and cream wool felt, green felt for leaves, polyester fill, needle and embroidery thread, 20mm natural wood beads, cotton cord.

How to make it: 1. Cut two felt circles per pumpkin, sew around the edge, fill lightly and pull the thread tight. 2. Wrap thread around the pumpkin six times to form sections and add a felt leaf. 3. Thread the cord through beads and pumpkins in an alternating pattern.

Fabric Remnant Pennant Bunting

Fabric bunting has decorated village fairs and festivals for a very long time, and the word itself comes from the light cloth once used for flags, as the history of bunting explains. For Thanksgiving, gather leftover fabric in gold, brown, rust and cream prints and cut them into small pennants with pinking shears so the edges stay neat. Mismatched prints look intentional when you stick to a warm color story. Use any leftover pieces for more fabric wreath ideas and nothing goes to waste.

You will need: Leftover cotton fabric in warm prints, pinking shears, a cardboard triangle template, double fold bias tape, fabric glue or a sewing machine.

How to make it: 1. Cut pennants with the pinking shears using the template. 2. Tuck the top edge of each pennant inside the folded bias tape. 3. Sew or glue the tape closed and hang the bunting from a porch rail or mantel.

Thanksgiving Banner Ideas Built on Thankful Cards

This banner fills itself in during the meal. Hang a row of blank kraft cards on twine above the dinner table, one for each person, and set a basket of pens nearby. Before dessert, everyone writes one thing they are thankful for and clips it back on the line. Make the cards from the same paper as your Thanksgiving place cards so the table and the wall match. Save the finished cards in an envelope each year, and you will have a little family history to read aloud every November.

You will need: Kraft cardstock, a paper trimmer, colored washi tape for borders, mini clothespins, baker’s twine, a basket of pens.

How to make it: 1. Cut cards about 4 by 6 inches, one per guest. 2. Add a colored tape border to each card. 3. Clip the blank cards on the twine and invite guests to fill them in before dessert.

Yarn Pom Pom Garland

Pom poms are pure fun, and a long string of them in orange, gold and cream reads as instant fall. Wrap yarn around a fork or a pom pom maker, tie the center tight, cut the loops and trim the pom pom into a neat round shape. Kids who enjoy turkey crafts for kids will happily make a big bowl of these while you cook. Use a large needle to thread them onto embroidery floss, leaving a little space between each, and hang the finished garland across a bookshelf or a window.

You will need: Chunky yarn in orange, gold, cream and brown, a pom pom maker or a dinner fork, sharp scissors, a large tapestry needle, embroidery floss.

How to make it: 1. Wrap yarn around the maker about 80 times, tie the center and cut the loops. 2. Trim each pom pom until it is round and even. 3. Thread the pom poms onto the floss about 3 inches apart.

Thanksgiving Banner Ideas Using Tea Dyed Coffee Filters

Coffee filters take dye beautifully, and brewed tea gives them a soft range of cream, tan and caramel shades. Dip folded filters in tea, let them dry, then cut them into leaf shapes and draw in the veins with a brown marker. The finished leaves are light enough to flutter when the door opens. If you like coffee filter crafts, this is a cozy afternoon project with a pot of tea on the stove. Thanksgiving Banner Ideas like this one prove that the cheapest supplies in the pantry can look elegant.

You will need: White paper coffee filters, strong brewed black tea, a baking sheet, leaf templates, scissors, a fine brown marker, a glue stick, thin twine.

How to make it: 1. Dip the filters in cooled tea, some briefly and some longer, and dry them flat. 2. Cut leaf shapes and draw veins with the marker. 3. Fold each leaf over the twine and secure it with glue.

Fabric Leaf Garland in Rust, Red and Gold

Fabric leaves keep their color all season, so they are perfect for a banner you want to hang in early November and leave up through the holiday. Cut leaves from felt or cotton in rust, red and gold, then string them on a thin ribbon so they overlap a little. This is one of the easiest fall leaf crafts to scale up, since you can cut a dozen leaves at once from a stack of fabric. Run a line of glue down the center of each leaf to create a raised vein for a more realistic look. It is one of the Thanksgiving Banner Ideas you can make weeks ahead.

You will need: Felt or cotton fabric in rust, red and gold, a leaf template, fabric scissors, fabric glue, a thin satin ribbon.

How to make it: 1. Stack the fabric and cut out leaves with the template. 2. Draw a line of glue down the center of each leaf for a raised vein. 3. Glue the stem end of each leaf onto the ribbon so the leaves overlap slightly.

Thanksgiving Banner Ideas With Pine Cones and Acorn Caps

Finish with a garland straight from a walk in the woods. Gather small pine cones and acorn caps, bake them on a low oven setting to clean them, then tie them onto jute twine with a few dried oak leaves tucked between. Hung along a porch rail, it feels like old fashioned holiday decor that your grandparents might have made. These Thanksgiving Banner Ideas all share one secret: simple natural materials repeated in a long line always look generous and welcoming.

You will need: Small pine cones, acorn caps, dried oak leaves, jute twine, thin floral wire, a baking sheet lined with foil.

How to make it: 1. Bake the pine cones and acorn caps at 200 degrees for half an hour and let them cool. 2. Wrap floral wire under the bottom scales of each pine cone and twist it onto the twine. 3. Tie acorn caps and oak leaves between the cones and hang the garland on the porch rail.