Fourth of July Hat & Sparkler

Having been rather un-crafty in the patriotic department for many years past, THIS year seemed to be the year to step up and actually do something with the kids. I can't take credit for the ideas, because I fiddled with several that I found online. Becca @ The Texas Darlings posted a cute picture of her kids wearing a similar festive hat. The sparkler idea was featured at Crafty Crow today.

In the spirit of being festive, we invited some friends over, the mommies did a bunch of prep work, and we all had fun creating!

 

Fourth of July Hat

Supplies needed

~ Red, white, & blue foam sheets
~ Duct tape {your color choice}
~ Holiday garland {we picked it up at the Dollar Tree}
~ Star stickers

Putting it all together

1. Cut the garland {or destroy a Dollar Tree centerpiece} to use as decoration for the hat. We used most of the stars for our hats and saved a few along with the other spikey garland to make our sparklers.

2. Cut the foam sheets into 2" strips {if you are using 9x12 sheets this will give you 6 strips when laid horizontally}.

3. Lay the foam strips out on the counter. We patterned them red/white/blue and used a total of 12 for each of the hats.

4. Use duct tape to hold the strips together. We used two strips of duct tape that would show as a 'band' on the outside of the hat and one strip that we folded over the back/inside of the hat.

5. Fringe the tops of the foam strips opposite the duct tape. We made 4 cuts/slits on each foam strip {1/2" apart} and about 4" long.

6. Decorate the hat with stars and the holiday garland. We used duct tape on the inside of the hat to hold the garland in place.


7. Fit the hat to your child's head. Once we knew how big it needed to be, we used another piece of duct tape to seal it.

8. Wear it proudly!

Fourth of July Sparkler

Supplies needed

~ a pencil
~ duct tape or painter's tape {your color choice}
~ holiday garland

Putting it Together

1. Cut garland to use for the sparkler and cut a piece of duct tape slightly longer than the pencil.

2. Lay the pencil on top of the duct tape and press the decorative garland onto the tape.

3. Roll the pencil up in the duct tape to seal it shut.

4. Shake and enjoy!

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