4th of July Firecracker

A fun firework decoration just in time for the holiday weekend.

You can find the directions HERE on the BIC website. They have lots of fun & easy crafts that are all usually completed with Sharpie markers... obviously, regular washables would work just as well!

Enjoy the long weekend! s.b.

Some Red.White.Blue Ideas for the Week

Here are a few projects that I have planned for M1 & M2 this week while we're up north. Hopefully they will enjoy them & give us something to do, esp. if the weather doesn't cooperate. All three ideas came from Family Fun I always have great luck finding cute kiddo activites both online & in the magazine.

Save holiday travels to all....

Enjoy! s.b.

Craft Stick American Flag

We'll be heading up north next week for the 4th of July so I'm not sure if I'll be posting. No worries, we'll be back the following week with more crafts! Here is our 4th of July door hanging that M1 created this week. It looks great hanging on Grandma's front door & very festive. And this year we're not only creating RED.WHITE.BLUE to celebrate Independence Day but also World Cup Soccer!! We're so proud of our good friend Jay (#15 so you can cheer extra hard for him!!!) & the US team. We are looking forward to the game on Saturday!!!

Supplies- *Craft Sticks (9), *Red, White & Blue Paint, *Paint Brush, *White Paper, *Small Square of Cardboard, *Ribbon, *Scissors, *Glue, *Star Hole Punch

1. Begin by painting the craft sticks.  

***2 sticks-red, 2 sticks-white, 3 sticks- 1/2 red 1/2 blue, 2 sticks- 1/2 white 1/2 blue

As seen below...

2. While the sticks dry, begin covering the cardboard square with glue.

*Our piece of cardboard was 3inches by 3 1/2 inches.

 

3. Once the cardboard is completely covered with glue, begin placing the painted craft sticks into place one by one.

 

4. Using the hole punch & the white piece of paper begin punching out as many stars as you'd like.

*If you don't have a star punch, your little one could create the star look by dipping their finger in white paint & stamping it onto the blue portion of the flag. Cut out stars or stickers would work also.

5. Glue the stars onto the flag & allow time to dry.

6. Once dry, glue or tape the ribbon to the back of the flag so it can be hung where ever you wish!

Enjoy & Happy 4th of July!!!

Go U.S.A.

Go U.S.A.!!!

We're two days away from the big match between U.S.A. & England... so why not continue crafting to show some spirit?! Today M1 & I made a U.S. flag to keep up with the festivities. It's a great independent project for kids of any age. M1 did not do the cutting for the project, but an older child could absolutely do that on his/her own. She did enjoy gluing on the shapes & creating a flag of her very own. I enjoy how excited she is each time we finish a project... definitely very proud of her work!

Supplies- *Red, White & Blue Construction Paper, *Glue Stick,  *White Paint, *Scissors, *Pencil (Used to trace the lines for an older child to cut along.)

1. Cut out five long, 1 inch strips of red paper.
2. Cut one large blue square, set aside.

*While I was doing the cutting for the project, M1 sat at the table with me & did a little cutting of her own. She could cut up pieces of paper all day long...

3. One by one, glue the red strips & place them onto the white paper leaving a little space in between each strip.

4. Glue the blue square into place. (Upper left corner)

5. Using the little one's finger, begin dipping it into the paint & stamping on the "stars."

(I drew small dots in a line along the blue paper as a guide for M1 when stamping her prints. It helped her keep them in a somewhat straight line.)

6. Allow some time to dry. (Sorry for the blurry picture below!)

Done! We'll definitely be bringing out our flag on Saturday while we cheer on the USA during their match against England. Between the flag & the soccer balls the girls created we'll be all set!

ALSO... One of my blog readers (Who lives in South Africa right amongst the World Cup action!...) did a similar project with her little one using sheets of colored foam. Below is a picture from HER BLOG of her little one with their S. African flag. Be sure to check it out.

It's so fun for little ones to use different materials when crafting. M1 would have been thrilled to use foam for this project but I don't have any at the moment.  So fun!

Bring on the weekend, we're looking forward to cheering for #15! Go U.S.A.   

Enjoy! s.b.