Patriotic Tulle Wreath

Last year, I made a quick {Tutu} for my daughter to go with her Patriotic outfit for the Fourth of July.  Over the almost year, I constantly saw the Red, White, & Blue tulle in my cratt drawer and knew there was something to be made with them.

About a week before Memorial Day, it came to me.  A wreath!  But, it couldn't be a plain wreath, there had to be something else to go with it. (Seriously, though, I didn't see THIS other fabulous wreath until I started mine--- AND I picked up the Family Fun magazine and they had a different Tulle wreath as well.  I swear I had the idea too and didn't copy.)

Then, when we went hunting for a flag to hang outside our house, I had another idea--- a flag...

Since I'm currently in a 'delicate condition,' I had just enough energy to finish this project yesterday... a few days late for our Memorial Day celebrations.  Good thing I've got the Fourth of July AND the Olympics coming up!  Now I have TWO excuses to keep it up all summer.


Gather It:

• Wreath form: Styrofoam, wire, straw--- still wrapped, you get the idea
• Red, White, & Blue Tulle (I got mine at HL  25 yd rolls for 2.99 or 3.99--- use coupons over a couple of weeks or watch out for whne the tulle is on sale)
• 99 cent American Flag
• White paint
• scrap plywood, wood plaque
• red vinyl or paint
• Mod Podge
• Glue Gun & Stick

Create It:

1. First, cover the wreath.  I cut my tulle as a went with lengths between 12-18 inches, this is completely personal preference.  If you want a more uniformed look, cut your tulle, at the beginning all the same length.
2. After you have some cut tulle, start wrapping,  I folded my tulle in half, looped it around the wreath, and then pulled the ends through the loop of the tulle.  Then, to keep it in place, I tied a knot.  Continue until the whole wreath is covered.  This process takes a little while, so it wouldn't hurt to do this while chatting with friends, watching your kids play, listening to a book... you get the idea.(Sorry for the lack of pictures, one of these days I'll remember... hopefully it won't take me giving birth before I remember...)
3. If you don't want the flag, then TA-DA, you're done!  If you do, now is time to pull out the wood.  Mr. Nag had some extra plywood in the garage, so he cut one to the length of the flag I found.  I wanted my wreath to have a saying on the bottom, so we added 2 inches to the width.  Paint the wood white, front and back.  Let it dry.
4. Remove the flag from the pole it came with (or have your 2-year-old 'accidentally' break it) and prepare to mod podge it to the wood, once the wood it dry.  Only apply MP to the part of the wood under the flag.
5. While you wait for the first layer of MP to dry, cut out the vinyl saying, or paint it on.  I have a Silhouette, so I quickly whipped up what I wanted it to say.  As always, I'll send you the file, if you have one.
6. Transfer the vinyl, then apply one last coat of MP to the whole plaque.
7. Hot glue the plaque to the wreath, and a ribbon to the back for hanging.
8. Step back and break into a chorus of "God Bless America" (it was in my mind because of the quote.)

I thought about going back and making it look more uniform around, but honestly I like it in it's non-perfected state.  Plus, I can say it looks more like a firework that way, right?

I link up {HERE}.

Fireworks!

I found {THIS} idea and decided it needed to be tweaked to fit me and added to our growing Patriotic Decor. Our TV shelves just looked entirely non-festive.

Wooden Fireworks!

Gather It:

• Wood--- mine is 7, 10, and 13 inches tall (2x2 wide)
• Red, White, Blue Paint
• vinyl/stencils for stars, stripes, and words
• Drill & bits
• wire (cut into 9 3-ft pieces)
• needle-nose pliers
• pencil or marker

Create It:

1. All three fireworks need a base coat of white. I used glossy wood stain, but it would be just as easy (probably easier) to use craft (acrylic) paint.
2. After they dry, choose which one you want to be stars, stripes, and words. For the Stars/Stripes, place the vinyl over it and then paint over any white area you see.
3. For the white firework, use the negative vinyl as a stencil and paint the words on.
   (I used the Jane Austen font). As always, I'll email you the doc, if you have a silhouette. Yes, I used the church news to protect my table--- hopefully that's not too bad. ;)
   
4. Add a few coats and wait to dry.
5. After dry, drill a whole in the center top for the wire 'whicks,' I used the tiniest bit available.
6. Holding the firework in one hand and wire in the other, start to fish the wire in the hole. When it gets difficult, use the needle-nose pliers, instead of your fingers. Repeat three times for each firework.
7. To get the whick curly, wrap the wire (starting from the top) around a pencil or marker (I used a fat dry-erase one). Continue until you get to where the wire and wood meet, then gently pull the marker out. Repeat for the rest of the whisks!
8. Enjoy your new fireworks! Sure to bring that extra BANG to your celebrations!

Simple USA Wall Hang

Before this year, I had minimal Fourth of July decorations; this is a minor tragedy because the Fourth is my FAVORITE holiday. I LOVE everything about it; patriotism, the colors, BBQ, swimming, parades, fairs, fireworks (professional and not-so-professional). This is actually the holiday when my husband met my parents for the first time (and asked my Dad for my hand), I think you get the point that I love the holiday.

Not decorating for it felt like a crime, so I dusted off my thinking cap and came up with a fun, easy and inexpensive door hang for our laundry room door (it must be passed by anyone entering/leaving our house---high traffic area).
Disclaimer: Excuse the pictures of the random steps in the process. I'm still getting a hang of the whole document-while-crafting thing. :)

Gather It:

• 3 wood stars
• Acrylic Paint
• 1 11x17 foam sheet (they're 1.99 at any craft store)
• 3 in wide ribbon, 29 inches long
• 1/2 wide ribbon, 3-5 inches long
• patriotic scrapbook paper and solid cardstock
• Red, White, and Blue Tulle (I got the 6 in' wide rolls at Hobby Lobby) you need 3 24 in strips
• Glue Gun, Mod Podge, and a couple felt scraps

Create It:

1. Before I start any explanations, one of the reasons I LOVED this idea (besides the fact that I came up with it) is that it is very versatile. Depending on your decor (and budget), you can do do one color of paint, tulle and scrapbook paper or you can do what I did and alternate it. It would be cheap to do the first option--- but the choice is yours!
2. Paint your stars. I know it sounds like a cheesy song title, but do it anyway.
3. While the stars are drying, trace and cut out circles in the paper and foam craft sheet. You'll need three paper circles and six foam circles. I used a kitchen bowl to find the circle size I wanted; it was 5 inches wide. Cut out the USA letters by either tracing them onto the cardstock or use your craft cutter (I used my Silhouette and used the "Lumos" font).
4. Attach the paper circles to the foam circles using Mod Podge; wait 10 minutes to dry. Apply Mod Podge to the back of a letter and put one on each circle, then seal the whole thing with a top coat of Mod Podge.
5. Now's the time to break out the glue gun. After the stars and circles are dry, apply glue liberally to the back of the foam circle and attach to the center of the star.
6. (Reminder: I had a method to my color combinations. I had Red, White, and Blue in each star section. For example, the top star was Red with blue scrapbook paper and white lettering and tulle. Then White Star-Red paper-Blue lettering/tulle and Blue Star-'White' paper-Red lettering/tulle. You could just do all the stars one color, paper another and lettering/tulle the last, but I really liked the affect mine created).
7. Next, glue the stars to the 29 in long ribbon. I started by taking a scrap piece of regular ribbon and scrap felt to create the loop to hang the creation. Then, about half way down the star, I applied hot glue TO THE STAR and attached the beginning of the ribbon. My stars were 4 inches apart from bottom corner to top point. In order to put the glue in the right place, I traced the ribbon down the middle back of the star and applied hot glue in that section. Repeat the same process with the third star.
8. If you want, you can stop here. Hot glue the other foam circles to the back of each star to secure the ribbon and your done. I thought it needed something extra, enter the tulle. If you want to add the tulle, don't glue the back foam circles just yet.
9. Take your 24 inch strips and cut them into 4 sections... that's 6 inches each. So you should have 4 6x6 squares of tulle for each star. At this time, cut a few more scraps of felt too. You need the felt to secure the tulle. See, I told you random picture of felt...
10. Take one square and fold it accordion-style all the way across. Then, fold the square in half. Place your tulle in one of the four corners of the star and apply hot glue to the bottom of the tulle. Then, CAREFULLY apply the felt piece to secure the glue and tulle. Seriously, I had a few HOT moments because I decided to leave my finger on the felt a little too long. Repeat until each corner has a piece of tulle. Add the back circles and admire the extra Patriotic flare you gave your special high traffic door!