A fun project when planning for my son’s first birthday party was creating a high chair banner. It makes everything more decorative, so I decided to construct one that would also fit with our barnyard theme. It was easy and makes for adorable pictures when you sing “Happy Birthday” and do a smash cake!
List of materials
- High chair – I have the IKEA ANTILOP High Chair with tray
- Twine or small rope – bought from Hobby Lobby
- Variation of at least 4 fabric patterns (1/2 yard each) – bought from Hobby Lobby
- Stick on Felt- bought from Hobby Lobby
- Command hooks – I used clear outdoor light clips like these from Target
- Scissors (preferably fabric scissors)
- Sewing needle and thread
- Ballpoint pen or thin tip sharpie
I’ve seen many variations of a high chair banner, but here are all the details for mine below:
STEP 1: Measure your twine/rope so that it completely fits snug around the highchair tray, and pull out extra so that you can tie it in the back behind the chair. For the high chair I have, the twine measured out to be about 90″ with the extra twine to tie a knot.
STEP 2: Cut your fabric into strips from all the different patterns you have. I cut my fabric strips at 2 x 36 inches (give or take a little). You could cut yours longer or shorter, depending on how low you want it to hang. Also, note when doing this is that some fabric will fray a lot. Mine did a bit, but I didn’t mind it. I wasn’t looking for perfection, but if you’re more particular with yours then you can choose your fabric carefully. My suggestion would be you could try getting high-quality quilting cotton, but that doesn’t always mean it will stop the frays. Here are a few pictures of the ones I used. One is not pictured.
STEP 3: Take a strip of fabric and lay it out with the twine in the center of it. You’ll want to take both ends and tie a knot. Repeat all around the twine. This step is also very forgiving, the knots don’t have to be perfect and you can adjust everything after you complete all strips and hang it to the high chair.
STEP 4: Take the fabric you want to use for the main centerpiece (I chose a cow print) and measure out and cut it. I used a 9″x 15″ piece. I wanted the center panel to fall a little shorter than the rest of the strips of fabric.
STEP 5: With your stick-on felt (mine was red), freehand or stencil the number you’d like to use (i.e. “1”). I drew this out with a sharpie and cut it out afterward.
STEP 6: Stick the cutout of your number onto your main fabric and it should completely stay on with no issues!
STEP 7: For the main panel piece, fold over the top of the fabric with the twine inside so that you’re able to tack it down about an inch or two. You can sew it by hand or a sewing machine. This will secure the piece to the rope since this is the only piece you are not making knots on.
STEP 8: Take your command hooks and follow the directions on the package in order to hang/stick them if you haven’t used them before. The command hooks are perfect for this type of project because once the party is over, you can strip them right off without any markings on the high chair. I used three on each side, so a total of 9 altogether.
STEP 9: Insert the rope along the tray and into the command hooks. You’ll have to really adjust a lot of the strips of fabric to cover up the rope and the command hooks. It works, though!
STEP 10:
If you’re indoors, then you’d want to adjust all the fabric pieces and rope so that it looks nicely put together. It really should sit nicely along the high chair. The only issue I had that was uncontrollable was the weather – it was breezy outside because we had an outdoor party, so I didn’t bother adjusting it too much.
Try it and make your own first birthday high chair banner! Let me know how it goes.
