Awesome 4th of July Crafts

1. Patriotic 4th of July Banner
 Materials:
Double sided cardstock – Red, White & Blue
1”, ½” circle punches
Star punch
Trimmer
Craft knife
Pencil and ruler
Stapler

 Instructions:
Cut five 4” X 6” pieces of double sided cardstock.
 Cut each piece into a triangle. Find the middle 2” point and draw diagonal lines to each corner.
 Use the first triangle as a template to create the other triangles.
 Embellish each triangle with a different pattern created from patterned papers. Suggested patterns: horizontal, vertical or diagonal strips, layered circles in different sizes and colors, mixed layers of circles and stars.
 Attach the triangle flags to a string or a rope with a stapler.

2. Fourth of July Centerpiece

Materials:

• STYROFOAM* Brand Products:

• 1 sheet, 2" x 12" x 36"

• Star pics:

• 4 blue; 3 red; 2 red, white and 1 blue yards Blue or Pink Jumbo Loopy Chenille (FloraCraft)

• 1 Blue and white star print fabric, 6 1/2" x 9"

• 1 Red and white stripe cotton fabric, 6" x 19"

• 1 cup lead fishing weights

• Star cookie cutter, 3 1/2"

• 1 Red felt, 2" x 7"

• 1 Silver metallic basket and bag filler

• Silver glitter spray (optional)

• Serrated knife

• Scissors

• Ruler

• Melon baller or sharp spoon

• Pencil

• Wire cutters

• Thick white craft glue and/or low temperature glue gun and glue

Steps:

Using the serrated knife, cut a 5" x 7" x 2" rectangle from the foam sheet. 

Using the melon baller or a sharp spoon, carefully scoop out a cavity in the vase bottom large enough to hold the lead weights and leaving a 1/2" wall intact around the cavity.
 
Center and glue the red and white stripe fabric around the rectangle, turning under the end. Fold over and glue excess fabric to top and bottom of vase.
 
Using the cookie cutter as a pattern, cut out two star shapes from the blue fabric. Glue to the upper left-hand corner on each side of the vase.
 
Glue weights into the cavity at the bottom of the vase. Glue scraps of 1" foam around and over weights to hold them in place. Glue felt to bottom of vase, 
trimming edges if necessary.
 
For added sparkle, spray vase with glitter spray (optional).
 
Using scissors blade, curl selected streamers on several of the pics.
 
With wire cutters, trim 3 1/2" from stem of each pic. Arrange pics in center top of vase.
 
Glue basket filler to top of vase

3. Grand Old Flag
Materials:
Styrofoam block (at least 10” x 10”)
2” x 2” fabric squares (red, white and blue)
glue
pencil
ribbon

Take your foam and cut it to the desired size that you want.  Measure out how wide each stripe needs to be to make sure they are even. 

Cut your fabric into 2” x 2” squares. You’ll need less of the blue and more of the red and white fabric (the amount depends on how close you put the squares together)

Now it’s time to glue the fabric to the foam. Wrap the fabric around the tip of your pencil, dip it in the glue and then stab it into the foam. Don’t go to deep but enough that it will stick in place.

Continue doing that until the whole flag is complete.

To finish off the sides of the flag  wrap ribbon around it.  Glue it in place as you wrap around it.

4. Patriotic Cloth Napkins
Materials:
1½ yards fabric in a patriotic print (you need less fabric for fewer napkins)
4 packages of red (or dark blue) double-fold binding/bias tape
Thread to match
Ruler
Scissors
Pins
Sewing needle
Sewing machine

Instructions:

Wash, dry, and iron your fabric before starting your project.

Cut out 8 10-inch-square pieces (they don’t have to be huge, they’re for packing in your picnic basket).
 
Zig-zag or stay-stitch around edges to prevent fraying (optional but recommended).
 
There are varying ways to sew on binding tape, here are just a couple to consider:

(A) One is to simply sew by hand. To do this, fold the binding around the napkin perimeter, cutting it off 1-inch past your beginning point. Pin in place, folding the short edge of the end piece under ¼ of an inch (run your fingernail over it to crease it into place) and position it to overlap your starting section. Pin in place and slip-stitch around the napkin on both sides.
(B) Alternatively, sew the binding on with a sewing machine. Follow the same instructions as described above and sew close to the inner edge (closest to the napkin main section), making sure to catch the binding on the other side.
 
After sewing, press your napkins, pack them in your picnic basket, and have a happy Fourth of July.

5. Americana Mason Jar
Materials:
Plaid ® Hot Glue Gun Helpers
FolkArt ® Enamels™ - Calypso Sky, 2 oz.
FolkArt ® Enamels™ Mediums - Flow Medium, 2 oz.
FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Brilliant Blue, 2 oz.
Mod Podge ® Gloss, 8 oz.
Recycled Jar
Alcohol
Paper towel
Medium paintbrush
Detail paintbrush
Scissors
Old book pages
Wood stars
Ribbon
Hot glue


Instructions:
Remove the label from the jar. Wipe the jar clean with rubbing alcohol.

Blend equal parts of calypso sky and flow medium.  Paint the jar with the mixture.  Allow to dry and paint a second coat.

Cut random sized stars from old book pages.  Working on the outside of the jar, apply a coat of Mod Podge to the jar, position the stars onto the jar, top-coat with a layer of Mod Podge.  Add stars until the jar is covered.  Allow to dry.

Paint a star with brilliant blue paint.

Using hot glue attach a ribbon around the jar and glue stars to the ribbon.

6. Firecracker Craft for Kids

Materials:
Bubble wrap - hopefully you have some left over from a package that came to your house.
Toilet paper roll - start saving a few of these as they always come in handy for crafting projects.
Pipe cleaners - these are also great to have handy.
Decorations - paint, markers, paper, stickers, tissue paper, etc…
Scissors
Glue/Tape/Stapler


First tape both ends of the pipe cleaner to each end of the Firecracker. You could staple the pipe cleaner in place as well. Then twist your pipe cleaner together for more of a fuse look.

Then roll up a 2×3 inch size of bubble wrap. Using a little glue or tape, stick it into your empty toilet paper roll. I just taped mine on the top and the bottom. The tape is going to get covered with your decorations anyway.

For the decorations, you can paint them with red, white, and blue paint. Or glue on paper. Or use markers to make a flag or stars. We even cut a little orange tissue paper and simply stuck them to the tops of the fuse to make it look like it was ready to blow!