Angry Birds party prep, part 2 - the banner

Okay, so now here's my favorite project (at least so far): The Pin-The-Monobrow-On-Red-Bird game!  There are tons of Angry Birds images online, but none of them were anywhere near the resolution I'd need if I wanted to print something large enough to use for a game.  So I found an image I liked, printed it as large as I could, and got started duplicating it on a much larger scale.

First, I drew a grid of 1" squares over the picture, using a ruler and pen to just draw them right on the printout:

Next, I laid out my banner paper on the floor and taped it down to make a stable drawing surface.  Since my paper was only 12" wide, I needed 3 strips taped on top of one another to get the size I wanted for the project.  I cast another grid on the banner paper, this time with squares 6" on each side.  Then I spent the better part of 90 minutes copying each square from the printout onto the corresponding square on the banner.  Some of the squares had a lot going on, so I cut those squares into quarters and copied each quarter over.  It was actually much easier to do than it is to describe.

Then LazyHusband and I went insane.

But sometime before 10:30 last night, the drawing was done!

All I had left to do was erase all of the gridlines on the banner and paint the whole thing ... with watercolors ... which required a tiny paintbrush and two coats to get a decent-looking color.  Oh, well, it was done shortly after lunch today, and I couldn't be happier with the result:

Seriously, how awesome is that?  All I have left to do is make some fake eyebrows for the game and tape the strips together on the back, and it's done and wicked cool.  I mean, come on, look at the comparison: