Independence Day Crafts

I love the Fourth of July! It's seriously one of my most favorite holidays. There are no gimmicks, no toys to buy, no "fake" mascot .... just a lot of fun and joy in celebrating our country. I remember going to my dad's high school, sitting on top of the station wagon and waiting for the fireworks to begin. They would always play Neil Diamond's "Coming to America" song. I remember feeling such pride in my country at a young age. I still feel joy in the USA, but I also have come to love other countries as well. I think for the most part we all want the same things in life -- love, peace and happiness. And whether you're here in America or in Argentina or France ... there are good people everywhere around the world.

So to celebrate the independence of America from England here are some of my favorite crafts that I've found online that I want to do with my kiddos. I think it will make celebrating Independence Day extra fun. Oh, before I start -- I thought I'd share this link as well. It's a photography link on how to shoot Fireworks with your camera. It's very helpful. Hope it helps you as well!

For our first easy craft - I found this garland on Smilemonsters... LOVE IT.

She took large popsicle sticks, painted them red, white and blue -- added sparkle paint (of course) and then glued them into "star" shapes. She glued them to a long piece of jute. Super cute.

Sunset Magazine was my next inspiration. They have a whole spread online about decorating for the 4th.

Lawn Stars -- made with sifted flour

Star Luminarias

The lawn stars made me think of sidewalk chalk and how much fun it would be to decorate our driveway and front sidewalk with stars made out of chalk. A couple of different options with this one -- you can buy sidewalk chalk and make some stencils. OR you can make your own sidewalk chalk / paint and have your kids paint the stars. Either way seems fun. Here is a fun site on making your own chalk/paint.

Hostess with the Mostess blog did this cute idea as well.

She has a whole list of ideas to put on a great 4th of July party.  Take a look at these 3-D cupcakes that a friend came over and taught her... super cute (although I'll never make these myself, wayyyy too complicated for this non-crafter who is 9 months preggers!). But I'm sure there are many of you out there who could make these in a snap.

If you're still not sure about the 4th for your family and need some more ideas -- I got a lot of them from one of my favorite blogs, The Red Headed Hostess. She has some really great ideas and fun games for the whole family to enjoy (plus a quiz about the Declaration of Independence). Go check her out.

I'm off to Michael's right now to pick up some of these supplies. I'm also going to get some plain white T's and have my kids paint them with fabric paint in red and blue to make a fun personalized shirt for them to wear in our local bike parade for kids.

I hope you all have a very enjoyable Independence Day. If you live elsewhere I hope that your country is safe and sound.

Enjoy!