DIY Christmas Lights Paint Chip Banner

Paint Chip Banners are one of my favorite DIY crafts. Besides the fact that they are easy to make, they use FREE paint chips from your local hardware store making them cheap too! I’m absolutely in love with my most recent paint chip creation, this adorable DIY Christmas Lights Paint Chip Banner. Stop by the lake and make one for yourself!

It has been raining here at the lake all day. There’s no sun, it’s gloomy, and all I want to do is sit on the couch and watch reality tv shows. Unfortunately, with Christmas in 11 days, that’s not even remotely an option I can entertain. Bummer!

With a list of a million things to accomplish in the next week or so, I decided to pick the most appealing option to help get myself motivated today. That option, of course, was to CRAFT!

I love crafting, but I’m far from an expert and ALWAYS keep it simple. I’m the Queen of Kids’ Crafts if that’s even a thing! My Motto: If a five-year-old can do it, so can I. Are you with me?

Recently, I have had a slight obsession with paint chip banners. This obsession started back in October when I was on the hunt for fall crafts. I found an idea for a pumpkin pie ombre banner to make for Thanksgiving on Pinterest and I instantly fell in love. I knew I had to make it for one of my Virtual Pinterest Parties and that’s exactly what I did! You can catch the replay of me making the banner by clicking here.

The pumpkin pie ombre banner inspired me to want to create a paint chip banner for Chanukah. You have to take a look at it. I literally found the perfect paint chips to transform into dreidels from my local Lowes. I was pretty impressed with myself!

With a Thanksgiving and Chanukah banner now under my belt, it was a no-brainer that I had to do one for Christmas. A light bulb went off in my head, LITERALLY, and the idea for this DIY Christmas Lights Paint Chip Banner was born.

So with Kenny G Christmas tunes playing on Alexa, I sat down and got to work on my newest paint chip banner today. I must say, I’m really ecstatic with the result.

Want to make your own? Here’s what you need:

Paint chips (I used 16. You can see the ones I used in the picture below. I found them at Lowes.)
Christmas bulb pattern (Access it for free in my resource library. Fill out the form at the bottom for the password)
Small hole punch (Mine is ⅛ of an inch)
Ribbon (7/8 of an inch)
Twine or decorative string
Tape
Scissors
Glue (craft or hot glue)
Pen

Here’s a close look at all the supplies I used for my DIY paint chip banner.

Here are the paint chips I found at Lowe’s. I went with 16 paint chips in four different colors. I alternated them and created a pattern for my banner. The amount of colors or paint chips you use is completely your preference.

Begin by printing yourself a copy of the Christmas bulb template I made for you on cardstock. It’s absolutely free and can be found in my resource library. Here you’ll see tons of other printables that I’m sure will suit your fancy. Remember you’ll need the password to access it so make sure to enter your name and email on the form at the bottom of this post.

There are two Christmas bulbs on this template which I love! Why? This allows multiple people to craft at once without having to print a million copies of the template. I always have your back, my friend.

Once you’ve cut out your template, lay it on top of the BACKSIDE of your paint chip. With your pen, trace the Christmas bulb design ON THE BACK of your paint chip. You don’t want your pen to smudge on the visible side.

Easy as pie! Even a five-year-old can do it 🙂

Continue tracing the pattern onto all your paint chips and then cut them out. Those are some pretty looking Christmas bulbs.

Now it’s time to use your hole puncher. Again, this is a teeny, tiny hole punch with a 7/8 of an inch circle.

You are going to punch two holes, side by side, at the top of the Christmas light.

You can just eyeball where you punch the holes. We’ll be covering the holes with ribbon so they don’t need to be exactly next to each other. I promise no one will see your imperfections!

With all the holes punched, it’s time to thread the Christmas lights with either decorative ribbon or twine. Because twine tends to unravel, I like to put a small piece of tape at the ends. It makes the threading process a whole lot easier too! Side note: I didn’t cut a full piece of twine up front for my banner. I wanted to have room to spread out my Christmas bulbs and get the spacing right once I had them all threaded on the twine.

Start by threading your twine from the back of the paint chip to the front.

Once the thread comes through the front, thread it through the other hole back out.

It makes a loop on the front side of the paint chip. It will look like so.

Add the next Christmas light by starting from the back of the next paint chip and looping it in the front.

Do this for all your Christmas lights. Are you in love with this yet?

Once all the Christmas bulbs are threaded on the twine or ribbon, you can start pulling them apart to the spacing you’d like. If you want to be precise, grab a ruler and measure the exact same distance between each paint chip. Notice how each of my Christmas bulbs are about 5 inches apart. Cut your twine or ribbon from the rest of the spool and don’t forget to add your tape on the end so it doesn’t fray.

With the Christmas lights spaced to your liking, it’s time to cover your holes with ribbon. Lay the ribbon over the Christmas bulb top to get a rough idea of how much you’ll need to go across the top.

Cut your piece of ribbon and glue it down. Notice that it’s not perfect and there is some hanging over each side. Don’t worry about this for now. Continue this process for all the rest of your paint chips.

Allow your glue to dry and then trim any excess ribbon off the edges. Here’s a closeup of a finished Christmas light!

My heart goes pitter patter for this banner!

Creating this DIY Christmas Lights Paint Chip Banner was exactly what I needed to get my rear end into gear today. With this project under my belt, I’m motivated and excited to start knocking more tasks off my Christmas list.

This weekend, turn on some Christmas tunes and let your own creative juices flow. I’m pretty sure you’ll find it’s exactly what the doctor ordered!