So, I got this idea in my head, right? Middle ages decorations. Don't ask me why. Maybe I saw a movie, or maybe I was just tired of looking at the same four walls. The missus said I was having a mid-life crisis, but with cardboard and paint instead of a sports car. Cheaper, I guess.
It all started innocently enough. I was supposed to be sorting out the garage, a task I'd been putting off for, oh, about six months. You know how it is. But then I found this big ol' roll of brown paper we used for packing once, and a couple of old broom handles. And it just sort of… happened. My brain went "banners!" and the garage sorting went right out the window. Priorities, people!
Getting My Hands Dirty - The Initial Mess
First thing, I needed some inspiration. I remembered some pictures I’d seen in a book ages ago. Lots of bold colors, simple shapes. Nothing too fancy, because let's be honest, I'm no artist. My stick figures look like they've had a rough night.
So, I gathered my supplies. It was a real scavenger hunt:
- That big roll of brown paper (which I decided was perfect for a rustic look).
- Some old bedsheets we were gonna throw out. Cut 'em up!
- Cardboard boxes. My recycling bin is now my best friend.
- Poster paints from when the kids were little. Still good, mostly. A bit clumpy, but hey, adds character.
- String, glue, scissors, a marker pen. The usual DIY arsenal.
The kitchen table became my workshop. Bad idea. Paint got everywhere. But the creative juices were flowing, so who cares about a bit of dried paint, right? It'll chip off eventually.
Whipping Up Some Banners
I started with the banners because they seemed easiest. I cut out some long, vaguely triangular shapes from the brown paper and the old bedsheets. Some I made to hang down, others more like flags.
Then came the fun part: the designs. I wasn't going for historical accuracy here. I just wanted something that looked kinda, sorta, medieval-ish. So, I drew some simple stuff: a lion that looked more like a confused cat, a dragon that could pass for a large lizard, a few crosses and fleur-de-lis looking things. Nothing complicated. I used the poster paints. Bright reds, blues, yellows. Some of them bled a bit on the fabric, but I told myself it looked "weathered."
I attached some of the paper banners to thin wooden dowels I found (actually, they were plant stakes). For the fabric ones, I folded over the top edge and sewed a quick channel, then threaded string through to hang them. Took a bit of fiddling, but I got there.
Shields of (Cardboard) Valor
Next up: shields! This was all about the cardboard. I drew a classic shield shape – you know, the kite shield sort of thing – on a big appliance box. Then I spent a good half hour hacking it out with a utility knife. Word of advice: get a sharp knife. My first attempt looked like a dog chewed it.
I made a few of these. Painted them with a base coat – some grey, some just brown cardboard showing through. Then, more simple designs. Stripes, quarters, maybe a badly drawn bird. I kept it bold. For the handles, I just cut strips of leftover cardboard and glued and stapled them to the back. Crude, but effective enough to hang on a wall or for a kid to wave around for five minutes before it breaks.
One shield, I tried to make look like it had metal studs. I just used dabs of that puffy fabric paint I found. From a distance, in dim light, it almost worked. Almost.
A Few Extra Bits and Bobs
I still had some energy left, and a pile of scraps. So, I made some pennant strings – just small triangles of colored paper glued to a long piece of string. Easy peasy. I even tried to make some "torches" by rolling up black construction paper into tubes and stuffing the top with scrunched-up red, orange, and yellow tissue paper. Didn't look amazing, but it filled a corner.
Oh, and I found some old plastic goblets. Sprayed them with some metallic gold paint I had leftover from another forgotten project. Instant medieval chic! Well, sort of.
The Grand Unveiling (to Myself, Mostly)
So, after a weekend of glue fumes and paint splatters, I had a collection of medieval-ish decorations. Were they museum quality? Absolutely not. Were they perfect? Far from it. But you know what? They were mine. I made them. And there’s something pretty satisfying about that.
I hung a few banners in the hallway, propped a shield in the living room corner. The kids thought it was cool for about ten minutes, which is a win in my book. The missus just shook her head and asked if the garage was sorted yet. Nope. But hey, the house felt a tiny bit more like a castle, and sometimes that's all you need to get through the week. It was a fun diversion, and honestly, way more rewarding than wrestling with that overflowing recycling bin.
