Ms. Nancy's Nook : "Pizza Planet" Banner DIY

It's a Toy Story Party for Grandson Lucas, and we need a large banner! Here's my DIY with photos for creating a colorful, low-cost, Pizza Planet Banner. The directions for this banner can easily be adapted to other party themes.

I am always up for a challenge, so when Daughter-in-Law Natalie handed me this tiny picture and asked if I could create a large Pizza Planet Banner, it made my day!

To make a template for the letters of Pizza Planet, I first taped together enough sheets of copy paper to mimic the length of the banner. The completed banner was 7 feet long!

I then did some Math! I measured the tiny letters of Pizza Planet and divided the length into the total length of the banner (84 inches). This helped me decide the width and length of each letter. I put a few "dots" for the width and height of each letter to help me keep it all in perspective. I then lightly sketched the letters on the white paper and cut them out.

Since we decided to put a planet in the center, I needed to allow for that, also.

I laid the letters on green poster board, drew around them with a pencil, and cut them out.

For the 2 Red dots, I folded a piece of paper 2 times and curved the edges to form an oval. I then cut 2 oval shapes out of red construction paper.

Three sheets of blue poster board were needed for the 7 foot banner. They were placed end to end long-wise and taped together from the back side using clear packing tape.

I used Elmer's white glue to glue the green letters to the blue poster board. The drinks provided the needed weights to keep the letters flat until dry.

Tip: Glue sticks will not work on this project! (We found this out the hard way!)

And now for my favorite part, the "Pizza Planet"!

I used a plate to draw around for the planet. I then free-handed a large oval-shaped ring and placed it around the circle, gluing it in place.

For the mushrooms, I opened the container of mushrooms (from last night's dinner) and sketched some on brown wrapping paper. I traced the sketches with a black Sharpie marker before cutting and gluing them on the planet.

Small containers were used as templates for the pepperoni slices. They were then cut and glued in place.

I have often said, "Some of my biggest mistakes have become my best projects!" This happened again with this project. As I was gluing the letters on, a capital "P" touched too early, creating a glue spot. Although this glue dries clear, it was still noticeable to me. (Probably no one else would have noticed.)

What do we do?? Glitter Glue to the rescue!! The Glitter Glue added "bling" by adding a colorful, sparkly dimension to the letters, meteor, and planet!

The meteor was made with a
yellow construction paper circle and orange tail.

I cut a curved piece of brown wrapping paper and used it as a template to cut draw and cut both ends of the banner the same size.

Hanging this Pizza Planet Banner was definitely a 2-person job! My son Joshua and I hung the banner with Command Poster Strips. These strips were easily removed after the party without damaging the walls.

Tip: Make sure you have extra strips in case you don't get the banner straight the first time! (We know this for a fact!)

For storing the banner after the party, I cut through the packing tape (and overlapping letters) from the backside with sharp scissors. Now the banner can easily be stored as posters. The three posters can be re-taped when needed again.

Planning a party? These ideas and tips can easily be adapted to different themes!

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