Hello Super Cute!
Some cultures think we should see death as part of life, so Halloween deserves to be celebrated in style.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a beautiful Happy Halloween Banner with Silhouette Cameo. If you have Cricut, Brother, or some other cutting plotter machine you can use the format compatible with your software and follow the tutorial.
When you download a design file it automatically downloads in SVG, Ai, DXF, Studio3, and Webp formats.
Plus I’ll give you lots of free design templates for you to enjoy making your DIY arrangements for this remarkable date.
These are the topics that we will cover in today’s tutorial:
- Materials and accessories
- Steps to organize the banner layout in Silhouette Studio
- Cutting process in Silhouette Cameo 4
- Assembly process.
In this tutorial, we will learn and have fun at every step, so if you are new to this world I suggest you stick to the instructions to get a wonderful project.
Materials and accessories
- Silhouette Cameo 4
- Standard grip adhesive cutting mat
- AutoBlade
- 65lb Flat Cardstock: I used colors that are typical of Halloween: Black, Orange, and White
- A sheet of Kraft paper
- White wool or acrylic yarn*
- Cotton rope or black jute twine
- High quality glue
- Rubber roller
- Free Design Template: Download at the bottom of this article or by clicking here.
*Este material es opcional para decorar el banner, en caso de usarlo elige un color acorde con tu decoración para Halloween.
Organize the design in Silhouette Studio
Step 1: Upload the Happy Halloween Banner Design Template
Download the design file to a folder on your PC, then open the Silhouette Studio program and click the “File” button in the top panel, then click “Open.”
In the dialog box, browse to the folder in which you stored the design and double-click the file to open it in the Silhouette design software.
Step 2: Organize the design for cutting
When you open the file, at the top left, you will find the full banner design in a small size.
This element serves as a reference to know what the distribution of the pieces is when you are assembling them and in case you want to modify the size.
In the central region of the design area, you will find the elements ungrouped and ready for duplication and cutting.
This is how you should see the layout when you open it:
In the design area you will find the following pieces:
- The thumbnail banner design on the top left
- The contour of the pennants in the shape of a triangle
- The 14 letters of the phrase “HAPPY HALLOWEEN”
- The outline of the spiders in two different sizes
- The outline of the rectangular pennants
- The 4 letters of the word “BOO!”
- The outlines of the letters of the word “BOO!”.
The size of the triangle pennants is 7 in (17.7 cm) wide by 8 in (20.3 cm) high.
Each of the letters of the phrase “HAPPY HALLOWEEN” measure 7 in (17.7 cm) wide by 7.65 in (19.4 cm) high.
The large spider measures 4.3 in (10.9 cm) wide by 4 in (10.1 cm) high, and the smaller one measures 3 in (7.6 cm) wide by 2.8 in (7.1 cm) high.
Rectangular pennants measure 3.9 in (9.9 cm) wide by 5.9 in (15 cm) high.
The outlines of the letters in the word “BOO!” They measure 2.0 in (5 cm) wide by 2.9 in (7.3 cm) high.
The letters of the word “BOO!“ measure 1.8 in (4.5 cm) wide by 2.7 in (6.8 cm) tall approx.
If you want the banner in another size, you will need to adjust it before ungrouping the elements for cutting.
Cutting process
Step 1: Select the elements, materials, tools, and cutting settings for each element.
You must drag out of the design area the elements or layers that you do not want to cut yet and leave only the element that you are going to cut.
I suggest starting with the part of the banner that says “HAPPY HALLOWEEN”, but you can do it in any order.
First, take the triangle-shaped pennant, select it, left-click and in the drop-down menu click on “Duplicate”. Rotate one of the flags to accommodate them in the design area and save material when cutting.
Note: These triangles have a dotted line at the top, this line corresponds to a FOLD line, that is, you SHOULD NOT CUT IT, but it is to make a fold.
Click the “Send” button in the upper right section of the menu and set the cutting options.
Make sure you select the fold lines and click “Don’t cut” at the top left of the cut options menu. You should notice that the lines no longer appear in red, which indicates that the machine is no longer going to cut them.
Tip: To cut this element I recommend you activate the “Line Segment Overcut”, this will make the sharp angles of the pennants cut better.
You must click on the “More” option and set the length of the overcut.
Now you are ready to cut the pennants!
To cut this element you must select the orange cardstock and put it on the cutting mat, load the mat into the machine with the added material.
Insert the AutoBlade into carriage 1 of the machine.
Tip: Before cutting the pennants, you must decide how you are going to make the fold lines that are on the top. To know the options visit the tutorial How to Make Fold Lines With Silhouette Cameo 4.
This time I didn’t do the fold lines with the Silhouette Cameo 4, as I chose to do them with the WeR Memory Keepers Trim and Score Board, but you can choose any of the available options.
Note: You must repeat this step until you obtain 14 triangular pennants and their respective fold lines.
You’re doing great, let’s continue!
Now I suggest you cut the letters of the phrase “HAPPY HALLOWEEN”.
The large letter “H” that appears in the design area is a sample, as it has the dimensions that all letters should have: 7.002 in x 7.651 in (17.7 x 19.4 cm).
You must drag the letter “H” to the design area, select it and duplicate it. Then rotate one of the copies to zoom in to save material on the cut.
To cut this element you must select the black cardstock and put it on the cutting mat, load the mat into the machine with the added material.
Insert the AutoBlade into carriage 1 of the machine.
Click the “Send” button in the upper right section of the menu and set the cutting options.
Tip: To better cut the angles of the letters, I recommend you activate the option “Overcut Line Segment” with a length of 0.3 mm.
Everything is ready to cut the letters!
Note: Now you must repeat these same steps with each of the letters. I suggest you organize them in the design area according to the number of copies you need for each one:
- Letter “H”: You must cut 2
- Letter “A”: You must cut 2
- Letter “P”: You must cut 2
- Letter “L”: You must cut 2
- Letter “E”: You must cut 2
- Letter “Y”: You must cut 1
- Letter “O”: You must cut 1
- Letter “W”: You must cut 1
- Letter “N”: You must cut 1
Hey… it’s looking beautiful!
Now select the second element of the banner. I chose the spiders, you just have to drag them to the design area and then “replicate” them until you get 10 big ones and 8 small ones.
To replicate them you must select the image and in the menu on the right side click on “Replicate”, then select the “Fill page” option.
Move the spiders closer together in the design area to save material.
To cut this element you must select the black cardstock and put it on the cutting mat, load the mat into the machine with the added material.
Insert the AutoBlade into carriage 1 of the machine.
Click the “Send” button in the upper right section of the menu and set the cutting options.
Note: Repeat this same step with the small spiders until you get the number of spiders you want for your banner.
Ok, everything is ready… Make the cut!
This is great, I’m really very happy, I wish you too!
The row of the banner that says “Boo!” is missing, how about cutting out the rectangular pennants first?…
You just have to drag the outline to the design area, select it, left-click, and in the tools menu click on “Duplicate”.
You must duplicate this element until you get 4 equal pieces, and distribute them in the design area for cutting.
To cut this element you must select the Kraft paper and put it on the cutting mat, load the mat into the machine with the added material.
Insert the AutoBlade into carriage 1 of the machine.
Note: If the 2mm manual blade (previously known as a deep cut blade) is available, you can use it to cut this type of material.
Click the “Send” button in the upper right section of the menu and set the cutting options.
Very good, everything is ready!
Now only one small and beautiful detail is missing… the “BOO!” expression
First, drag the outline of the letters to the design area.
To cut this element you must select the black cardstock and put it on the cutting mat, load the mat into the machine with the added material.
Insert the AutoBlade into carriage 1 of the machine.
Click the “Send” button in the upper right section of the menu and set the cutting options.
These outlines will give a beautiful highlight to the letters on the banner.
Finally, drag the letters of the word “BOO!” to the design area.
To cut this element you must select the white cardstock and put it on the cutting mat, load the mat into the machine with the added material.
Insert the AutoBlade into carriage 1 of the machine.
Click the “Send” button in the upper right section of the menu and set the cutting options.
¡Boo! It’s so cute!
Perfect! You are just a few steps away from finishing!
Assembly process
Step 1: Using Glue
Glue each of the letters of the phrase “HAPPY HALLOWEEN” on the triangular pennants, using high-quality glue and respecting the upper space from the fold line.
Glue the letters of the word “BOO!” on the contours.
Then glue the outlines onto the rectangular pennants using high-quality glue.
Try to do it as symmetrically as possible, use a ruler, and take your time.
Step 2: Using cotton thread or jute twine
Use the cotton thread or the jute twine to link all the letters of the phrase “HAPPY HALLOWEEN”. You can make a row with each word or both words in a single row, depending on the space where you want to place it.
To use jute twine with these pennants, you need to attach the twine to the back of the triangle, then fold over the tab and apply glue.
To make the chain with the spiders I suggest you alternate the sizes.
Link the rectangular pennants to form the word “BOO!”
Step 3: Using Tassels to Decorate the Banner
Make 2 tassels with white wool, ideally, in the shape of a ghost, and glue eyes on them, if you don’t have mobile eyes you can make them with black and white cardstock.
Make sure the ghosts are sized to match the rectangular pennants.
This is fascinating!
Congratulations, your Happy Halloween Banner is ready!
Free DIY Designs and Halloween Transfer Vinyl
I hope you have as much fun making Halloween crafts as I do! Here you can find the design template I used in this tutorial and many others to inspire you to make multiple Super Boo! Crafts.
