Happy Holly Days Christmas Banner with the Cricut

Deck your halls with this cute Happy Holly Days Christmas banner! Grab the free Happy Holly Days SVG file and make this banner with your Cricut or other cutting machine!

Today’s post is a double header! It’s both Day 3 of the 25 Days of Cricut Christmas AND it’s Totally Free SVG day!

For 25 days, we are crafting with our Cricut machines for Christmas. It’s Day 3, so we’re just getting started!

If you’d like to get this series in an ebook format PLUS all of the SVGs needed to make all 25 projects check out the 25 Days of Cricut Christmas eBook Bundle!

Today we’re making a Happy Holly Days Christmas banner using a FREE cut file, which you can get below! This banner is perfect for decking your halls and bringing the spirit of the season to your home.

Also make sure you look toward the bottom of this post for the links to all of the other free Christmas SVG files from my blogging friends!

Christmas Banner Supplies

• Cricut Explore or Cricut Maker
• Blue LightGrip or Green StrongGrip mat
• Red, pink, and green iron on vinyl
• Weeding tool
• 11″ x 13″ piece of white felt
• Cricut EasyPress, Cricut EasyPress Mini, or household iron
• Pressing mat or EasyPress Mat
• Pom pom trim
• Hot glue gun
• Happy Holly Days file

Download the Free Happy Holly Days File under SVGs C336

This file can be found in my Free Craft Resource Library. The file number is: C336.

Want access to this free file? Join my FREE resource library! All you need is the password to get in, which you can get by filling out the form below!

Christmas Banner Instructions

Make the Felt Banner

Let’s start by making the felt banner. You could technically cut this on your Cricut, but I find it much faster to just cut it by hand. I buy my felt from Benzie felt and often order a half yard or yard off the bolt—it gives me plenty of felt for crafts. You can also find large felt rectangles or felt on the bolt at your favorite craft store, like JOANN.

Start with a rectangle that is 11″ wide and 13″ long. On the bottom edge, find the center and make a tiny mark. Then from the bottom edge, measure up each side 2.5″ and make a mark. Then cut from the center of the bottom edge, to the mark on one side, and then the other. You have a pennant shape!

Upload the Happy Holly Days File to Cricut Design Space

Next, we are going to upload the free Happy Holly Days file to Cricut Design Space (see Uploading SVG Files to Cricut Design Space if you need help).

Once the file is onto our canvas, we need to resize it for our banner in the Edit Toolbar at the top. The banner is 11″ wide, and I found that 8.5″ wide is a good width for this project.

When I created this file, I kept the holly and the words separate, just in case you want to use more or different colors. But to make it easier, let’s weld the berries with the word “holly” and the leaves with the word “days” so they cut at the same time. Learn more about Welding in Design Space if you are not sure how to do this.

Now we are ready to cut the file! Click Make It in the upper right and you’ll be taken to the Prepare Screen. Here, we want to click the “mirror” slider for each layer. This will ensure that our project faces the correct direction when it’s ironed onto our banner.

Then click Continue.

Cut Your Iron On Vinyl for Your Christmas Banner

On the Make Screen, you’ll set your material (I am using a few different brands of iron on for this, but the Everyday Iron On setting works for them all). Make sure you have your fine point blade in your machine, insert your mat, and your Cricut will cut your project!

You’ll want to cut all three layers of iron on vinyl, making sure that each layer is mirrored.

Weed Your Iron On Vinyl

Next we’re going to “weed” the negative space from around our image. I have an extensive post about Weeding Iron On Vinyl, which you’ll want to read—tons of tips and tricks to making it easier.

Adhere Your Iron On Vinyl

Now we are going to adhere our iron on vinyl to the felt pennant. I like to layer my three decals so I can make sure I like how it looks when it’s finished, and then carefully peel away the two top layers, just leaving the bottom layer to start. Make sure you subtract an inch off the top—that will get folded over the dowel and glued.

Use your EasyPress or Iron to adhere the iron on vinyl to the banner. Learn more about Using Iron On Vinyl.

Continue with the other two layers, until your entire image is adhered to the banner.

Finish Your Happy Holly Days Christmas Banner

We’re almost done! Flip your pennant over, and fold over the top of the banner, encasing the dowel. Use your hot glue gun to secure the fold.

Glue the pom pom trim to the back of the bottom of the banner using the hot glue gun.

Then tie a ribbon or twine to the ends of the dowels, and your adorable Happy Holly Days Christmas banner is complete!

Love Christmas banners? Check out my Merry & Bright banner, too!