Banners are a wonderful way of advertising our businesses and displaying on our trade stands, however, as all traders will know, we do not always have the advantage of having our trade stands in areas where there are railings;
Of course, railings are the ideal place for attaching banners, on roadsides, over bridges, outside venues etc. Ideally using cable ties (found in all diy stores). I find these the best, especially if your banner is going to be positioned outdoors for long periods. They are strong enough against the elements and can be tightened to keep your banner taught.

Remember, health and safety when displaying your banners – I recently saw one banner extended between two trees about 10 metres apart – the banner was only about 6ft! The rope they had used was a dark brown; hence if you were walking past in the dark you were likely to be tripped up!
Use common sense – you want the public to be attracted by your banner – not taking out a lawsuit!
If you have a market / trade stand and want to position your banner on your stall then the ideal way is to attach it to your actual stall – you can of course attach two poles to either side of your frontage and extend the banner between the two poles, above your stand, however, as all outdoor traders will know, this will inevitably act as a wind break, and could see your banner / poles being ripped down in high winds, or worse still taking your stand with it!
An easy way to display your banner is by using sticky back Velcro – this can be bought by the roll at most haberdasheries or online. Stick one side of the Velcro around the edges on the back of the banner and the other side of the Velcro in the same sized square onto your stall cover / canvas. Then when you have erected your stand you can simply stick on your banner.

The advantages to this are that you can have your banners displayed on all inner or outer walls of your stand, and if you have 2/3 different businesses then you can alternate between different banners by simply peeling off.
You can of course use sew on Velcro or better still sew your banners permanently onto your canvas – this is very easy to do and can be done using a normal sewing machine. Or you can use carpet adhesive to ‘stick’ your banners on.
These techniques are also useful for indoor stalls e.g. craft stalls; If your display, consists of a tablecover then simply sew / glue your banner onto the front of the tablecloth. The advantage of this is that you do not need to keep the same rectangle shape; Bannerhub banners are easy to cut and do not fray – depending on your design and your sewing skills then you can cut your banner into whatever shape you desire.
Indoor venues are very limited with where you can display banners, especially as most will not allow you to simply go around hammering nails into the walls!
If you wish to display your banner behind your stall then you can of course use the two poles technique where you attach them to the back legs of the table and extend your banner between the two.

Alternatively, you can buy a clothes rail (these can be bought cheap at Argos or on Ebay).
These are stand alone racks which can be heightened to suit and used to hang your banner from, plus they do not take up much space. You may of course have to purchase a longer horizontal pole from a diy store to replace the existing one if your banner is longer than the rail.
Unless, you are buying a commercial or custom made rail then I would not recommend this for an outdoors option.
Don’t be afraid to experiment – Bannerhub banners are so versatile that you don’t just need to attach them to railings – they can be sewn / glued / folded / cut … let your imagination run wild!

By Emma Brown – Walkabout Crafts

Walkabout Crafts was established in November 2008 to promote the art and craft industry and give customers access to exquisite hand crafted goods from the comfort of their home. The web site itself has been split into four sections:
The Gift Shop – We bring together an exquisite range of hand crafted gifts and souvenirs direct from craft makers and artists throughout the World.
World Tour – An introduction to each of the members home countries; sample the culture, local cuisine, history, attractions…and much more.
Craft Topics – From craft events and business advice to craft projects / plans and templates
Free Gifts – Colouring pages, Celtic designs, Fonts, clipart, music, recipes… all free!
Walkabout Crafts is a non profit web site. 100% of all items bought from our online gift shop goes direct to the artist / craft maker.
www.walkaboutcrafts.com