I printed the booklovers' Halloween flags a few nights ago meaning to photograph them straight away, and instead they sat on the desk for a day or two while I kept picking them up and putting them down. They were finished. They just weren't dressed. A printed pennant on a stick is a lovely thing, but the moment you put a pom pom trim down one edge or knot a length of chiffon at the base, it really starts looking like something personal. Here's the same page I used, if you need it.
A note before we start. Be so clear about this. There is no need to go out and buy things to embellish the flags. A bit of spare ribbon, a rag torn up, scrunch up some crepe paper. Bob's your uncle. My four-year-old testers have used them as fairy wands, as fence posts for a very serious game about a dragon, and even as a fan for the king of library dragons. lol. Make it simple. Make it again. Make it yours. That's the whole point.
But in case you want to get sorted and organised, I'll be all type A for you.
Here's what you'll need
The base kit, plus:
- Wooden dowels — every flag here is on one of these
- Born pom pom ribbon, 3m
- Born raffia pom poms, large, 6 pack
- Kadink pastel tassels, 15 pack
- Born mini tassels, 10 pack, white
- Dusty blue chiffon ribbon
Plus a glue stick, double-sided tape, scissors, and a bit of PVA or a low-temp glue gun for the trims. Nothing here needs a craft knife or a cutting mat.
The method
Think about this once and the concepts work for all six. Here's your printable.
1. Print on matte, not gloss. A4 cardstock somewhere between 200 and 250gsm. A gloss finish lays a sheen over the top that I generally think changes the feel of the kit.
2. Cut freehand. Scissors, no ruler. Every edge in this kit is drawn with a deliberate wobble, and a perfectly ruled cut fights it... the flag ends up looking half machine-made. If you want, cut a whisker outside the printed line and let it be uneven. If a corner goes slightly rough, leave it. That's the look.
3. Mount the pennant. Fold some excess that you leave when cutting it out around the dowel, press it out with thin tape, done. If you prefer to use glue, go for it.
4. Add the kit's small tag flag. Some of these flags carry a second, smaller tag lower down the dowel. Sliding those up or down changes the whole balance of the piece, so don't commit to a position until you've looked at it a little.
5. Trim. Pom pom ribbon runs down the leading edge the same edge the dowel is on. Work in short sections - I like narrow double sided tape for this. Tassels and raffia pom poms tie at the base, right where the flag meets the stick, and cover the join neatly, if you feel like it.
6. Lay them out light, dark, light. When you finally do style them (if you do...) sequence the finished flags so a pale one always has a dark one beside it. The set is designed to alternate in value, and a bunch that goes blush-blush-blush can be hard to notice - unless that tonal look is what you're going for!
Check for safety around any cut ends of the dowels - chuck some masking tape on them. Small hands, waved enthusiastically, at eye height. Frankly, if you used popsicle sticks, it would look fab, too.
The six flags, and what's on each
Book hoarder | Peach, and the loudest one in the set. Black pom pom trim down the leading edge, which is a fairly bold call against that warm peach and is exactly why it works: the flag needs something to stop it going too saccharine. Below it on the dowel, the chocolate small tag flag from the kit. If you can't lay hands on black trim, the Born pom pom ribbon is the substitute I'd reach for.
Spooky cute | The deep ink brown one, and the anchor of the whole group. Racing check small tag flag from the kit further down the dowel. Then a wide bow of dusty blue chiffon tied low, left long and a little frayed. Don't tie it neatly. A crisp bow on this flag looks too tidy; a loose one looks more homey and cosy.
So scary | The light blue one, and the simplest build here. No extra tag, no trim down the edge. Just a single orange tassel from the Kadink pastel pack, hung at the base on its own loop. One flag in a set should always be the quiet one. This is mine.
Best ghoulies | Blush, and the most decorated of the six, so if you're only doing one, do this one. Peach pom pom ribbon down the leading edge, the orange small tag flag from the kit lower down, and a large raffia pom pom tied at the base with a few strands of raffia left trailing. Three textures on one flag is my limit; a fourth and it starts to look like my craft bag tipped over.
Trick or treat | The cream one, banner-shaped rather than pointed, and the only flag in the set carrying the Library Guardian. He's the small ghost dragon in the spectacles who looks after the books, and he turns up on roughly one piece in three across the kit, which is deliberate. He stops being a character if he's on everything. Add the chocolate small tag flag from the kit, and one white mini tassel. That's all.
Spooky, and the rest of the small tags | Mount the kit's small tag flags on their own dowels, two or three to a stick at different heights. Particularly great on popsicle sticks!
Where to put them
Gathered in an odd jar on the table works, and is sort of what I did for mine. If your child ends up carrying all six around the house at once and none of them stay where you put them, that's a good outcome. Just see if you can't get a photo first and send it to me!
Note from Marie: A pom pom edge can be such a fun experience but I have found them oddly hard to get a hold of. Gluing loose poms onto similarly coloured ribbon works beautifully. And again this is the Library Dragon Page of Flags if you need it!