Patriotic Poppers
If you're not too keen on having fireworks at this year's Fourth of July family bash, consider making your own confetti popper rockets, like these shown on Alpha Mom!
Simply made using only a handful of materials such as cardboard tubes, construction paper, and confetti, these patriotic poppers contain trap doors for the confetti to come sprinkling down around your guests once the strings have been pulled. And the best part about these cool poppers -- they're just as explosive and fun, yet completely recyclable! Check out Alpha Mom for an excellent pictorial on how to create these cool confetti rockets.
Salad Spinner Fireworks
We love Scrumdilly-Do's idea for using a salad spinner to create this beautiful firework-esque artwork!
To get started on your own Fourth of July masterpieces, you'll need materials such as paper, liquid watercolors, scissors, a salad spinner, and most importantly -- a "splat mat." But before letting your kids get busy with spinning, Mama Jessica offers up some great advice: "Make sure your kidlet is in mess-friendly clothing. The mess potential on this project is quite high." With that in mind, this project may just be absolutely perfect for a sunny backyard art day filled with impromptu trips through the sprinkler. Who says cleaning up can't be fun as well?
Fancy Fireworks
Crafts by Amanda includes a great tutorial on how to make these beautiful firework flowers out of coffee filters for a fun, Fourth of July picnic table centerpiece. So incredibly easy, fun, and festive!
Homemade using basket coffee filters, pipe cleaners, scissors, and watercolor paints, this is a great project for younger tots to take on and one that the adults will certainly love to admire while sharing a Fourth of July family feast!
Ice, Ice Baby
Hoping to chill out with the fam this Fourth of July? Consider making these "cool" ice star necklaces featured on Maya*Made!
To make these neat homemade necklaces, you'll need to have some star-shaped ice trays (Maya found hers at Ikea) on hand. Simply dangle string throughout each soon-to-be ice cube and freeze overnight. And if you'd like to give your ice jewels a little extra pizazz (and flavor), Maya recommends adding edible flowers and herbs into the water before it has completely frozen into cubes.
Patriotic Puppets
We love these adorable Fourth of July finger puppets featured on Craft Jr!
Including the likes of Uncle Sam, The Statue of Liberty and the American Bald Eagle, these patriotic puppets are easy for kids to make and can be used year-round during countless hours of role-playing puppetry. For bedazzling finger puppet decorations, Craft Jr. recommends including googly eyes (our favorite), pom poms and glittery pipe cleaners -- check out the complete puppet tutorials for more details!
For a Bug-Free Fourth
Once again, Alpha Mom with their great ideas: If you're hoping to keep those pesky picnic intruders (and biters) away this Fourth of July, check out Brenda Ponnay's neat idea for making homemade citronella candles!
Perfect for the holiday with their dazzling red, white and blue layers, these candles are made with ingredients such as old crayons, soy wax, citronella oil and a braided candle wick. Though Mom will want to handle all of the hot ingredients and melting, we have a feeling that your child will love bringing his old crayon bits back to life by crushing and crumbling them into smithereens. (Something the adults may enjoy just as much!)
Fit for an All-American Meal
No Time for Flash Cards includes this clever idea for making an American flag dinner placemat -- using only a regular paper towel as its base.
To get started on this fun Fourth of July project you'll need construction paper (of the red, white, and blue variety), contact paper, a paper towel, and a star paper punch. Simply glue on your stars and stripes, wait for the glue to dry and then cover with contact paper to create your very own American flag dinner decoration. See the full tutorial and get helpful tips at No Time for Flash Cards.
Holding It All Together With Style
Skip To My Lou offers up a great tutorial on making these bright and beautiful Fourth of July food clips for this year's family picnic.
Inexpensive and easy to make, this simple project only requires clothes pins, acrylic paint, and wooden stars from the craft store. Like we said -- super easy! Though Mom may want to wrangle the hot glue gun while placing the stars at the very end, the majority of this project is perfect for small hands as it really only requires a whole lot of paint.
All-American Votive
What could be better than jazzing up this year's family picnic with a colorful homemade votive?
Featured on Red Bird Crafts, these inexpensive, DIY tissue paper candle holders are sure to add a fun, festive touch to your family's Fourth of July feast this year. Simply made with Mod Podge, leftover paper bits from the recycling bin, and tissue paper, this project is a fantastic one for younger children (not to mention the fact that it provides an excellent opportunity for reusing old jars around the house)!
Note: This article was originally published in 2011.
