Firework Crafts

 This is it, my last 4th of July post for the year. I didn't realize how much we have done over the course of a couple weeks. The anticipation was just too exciting, I guess. These last two firework crafts are simple and great crafts to do tomorrow afternoon while waiting for all the festivities to begin.

 This Firework Drawing was done using oil pastels on black paper and then going over them with glitter glue. If you don't have oil pastels, chalk will work well, too. They both give that great "pop" effect on the black paper.

 We started our Popsicle Stick Fireworks by gluing four sticks together to create a star look. Tacky glue works best for this. We added ribbon strands to the back using the same glue.

Next, just decorate. We used dot painters, but just about anything from paint to glitter will get the job done.

Now, I must sign off for a bit. We have dear friends arriving in just about an hour. Wine is chilling, grill is ready and the kids are soaking each other with water balloons as I type.
From our creative space to yours--I wish you a beautiful day.

4th of July Party Ideas for Kids

 Here are a few fun details to add to the party this year and make July 4th extra special for the little ones. This is a super easy way to make a cool and festive party cup without using disposable cups.

 Grayson helped me decorate some small mason jars with red, white and blue felt star stickers.

 We added a fun paper straw and some strawberry lemonade and he was as happy as could be!

 No one wants to be baking in July! For an easy special treat we cut stars out of an ice cream sandwich using a very small cookie cutter. The kids quickly rolled them in sprinkles and we laid them on wax paper to go back into the freezer. So easy and my kids loved making them (and eating them!!)

 You can easily change these up for any party theme with all sorts of shapes and colored sprinkles.

 These disposable tins are great for crayon making. Add your old broken crayons and pop into the oven for a few minutes (300 degrees.) Once melted just pour right into a candy mold. We used stars for this 4th of July.

Pop into the freezer for about 10 minutes and your crayons fall right out of the molds. If you would rather more prominent colors--melt each color in separate tins.

These would be fun to have at the kids table and also has a cool party favor.
I shared these ideas and many more over at Kiwi Crate. Head there to check out more.

Happy 4th of July! Make wonderful memories, eat great food, laugh, love and be safe!!!

Red, White and Blue Tie-Dye for The 4th of July

 That's my cutie patootie nephew above, eating ice cream in his red, white and blue tie-dye. Is that photo just screaming the 4th of July or what?! Yes, tie-dye is a necessity for the 4th and really easy to do!

 You need a t-shirt, (did I just state the obvious? Sorry!) plastic gloves, rubber bands, plastic bag and red and blue dye. If your dye does not come with those great squirt bottles then you will need those, too.

 With a damp t-shirt you will pull up from the center and start to twist. This is for traditional style tie-dye. You can also just twist in random spots to create small star-bursts all over the shirt.

 Start to rubber band the shirt as you go.The more bands the more design you get. I usually use about 8-10 per shirt.

 OK, this is a must do outside part of the project. Once your shirts are all twisted and secured with rubber bands you can start dyeing. Squirt the dye right onto the shirt using enough to saturate the shirt. Try to keep the colors separate. They will blend quite a bit if they touch too much. Once they are covered well with dye place the shirt into a plastic bag over night. The next day cut the bands off and wash (alone) in the washing machine.

 And now you got yourself some pretty cute 4th of July gear! For more details I shared this tutorial over at Kiwi Crate.

Happy 4th!!!

With Love,

Em, Gracie, Neh-Neh and Jewels

Firework Headband and 4th of July Visor Craft

 Emma is a girl who loves to accessorize! I should probably not support this habit (that everyone curses us with...you are gonna be in trouble with that one!) But, it's just so darn cute to watch her each morning rummage through her baskets of bracelets and "match" them up to her little outfit. So, for the 4th of July we had to, of course, make a few accessories.

 This cool Firework Headband was easy to put together. We twisted a bundle of three pipe cleaners to each side of the band. The sparkly one was a fun addition!

 At the top, we used a pencil to curl each pipe cleaner.

 That's it! Emma loves this fun festive headband.

 Our Fourth of July Visor Craft is a great party craft for kids. It comes together really easily with a few foam or felt stickers and glitter glue. A lot of fun for all ages to make.

Burlap Flags for The 4th of July

 OK, I am a little bit in love with these flags. They came out so beautiful and rustic looking. A great DIY 4th of July home decor. They were pretty simple to make, too. Plus, we loved making them, together!

 We had a large sheet of burlap. You can get burlap at any fabric store and it's very inexpensive.

 We cut flag shapes in a few different sizes. Emma loved helping with this, but Grayson is still a bit rough around the edges with scissor control.

 We painted right onto the burlap using acrylic paints. Since burlap has small holes in it be sure to have paper on your working space.

 For our smaller flags we used popsicle sticks and for the larger ones, wood dowels worked perfect. A little hot glue connected the two and that was it.

 What do you think? I am a big fan of farmhouse style so these flags are beauties to me. I am even hoping to make a large pennant banner using the same theme.

If you don't have burlap and want to do a simple craft with the kids you can also just use paper for the flags. Enjoy!
For more details, I shared this craft tutorial over at Kiwi Crate.

Patriotic Rocks

 OK, summer is already moving way too fast for me and it's not even July yet! Since moving to a place where summer is so celebrated (rain, rain go away....) I just want to dive in and embrace every little wonderful thing that makes up summer. Watermelon slices (Yes, I always cubed it in the past, big difference,) barbeques, road trips, beach weekends and lemonade stands! I want to do it all and I want it to go as slow as possible. Too much to ask?

 Independence Day is just around the corner and we are getting ready for it. We made these fun Patriotic Rocks and I have to say it was one of those crafts that I really got into as well. Love when that happens! We painted our rocks using red, white and blue acrylic paints. The colors really stood out nicely.

I think we will scatter these on our tables outside during our July 4th barbeque.
Happy Summer!!

Confetti Votive

 I just can't seem to get rid of jars. They have so many fun possibilities. We made these Festive Confetti Jars for the 4th of July. They were really easy and look so festive and fun when we set them outside with candles lit in each one.

 It's always fun for me to start projects like this without inviting the kids over. Once they get a peek at the cool materials I have out they just can't stay away. It's sort of my way of leaving that open invitation out for them to join me in creating, only if they want to. On this day they sure did! Who could resist that interesting mix above.

 Emma joined me and helped to mix some mod podge and confetti together. She had no idea what I was planning, but she's a girl who loves to mix things up, so she was fine with this job.

 I rummaged through our jar collection and pulled out a few. I think our backyard dining table will look great with a few of these in different sizes.

 Look how cool it already looked? You can cover them as much as you'd like. We went up a little more than half way on this jar. Using stencils to make shapes on the jars would be fun, too.

Now that is a good use for a pickle jar!