Marvelously Messy : rag wreath

Sunday, June 27, 2010

4th of July Craft Collection

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I've been busy as a bee making some 4th of July Crafts, wanna see??

Rag Wreath and Ra Ra

Tin Can Craft

Iris Folding Star Craft

Here's a simple Betsy Ross-ish flag ( I made 12 stars instead of the traditional 13). For this craft all you need is:

Small rectangular piece of wood

red, white, umber, and blue paint

paintbrush

I just found a good picture of a Betsy Ross flag and went to town. I sketched it briefly with a pencil and then painted the stripes area all white and the stars area all blue, letting the areas dry before adding any more. Then, I added red stripes and white stars. I did this on all sides of the wood block for some consistency. When everything was dry, I did mixed some raw umber and water and did a light wash over the whole piece to give it some aging. I let is dry and Voila!! All done.

Just today I made a little 3d star garland. Simple and easy. HERE is the link for the 5 point star pattern. It's really basic and if you have the time I am sure you can do something A LOT better than what I did. Still, it's fun!!

Last but not least is a fun one for kiddo's. I currently host a craft time at my local library and this was our most recent project (that we'll finish this week). What you need to make it is:

Crayons

Card Stock

Black Paint

Color a piece of card stock with as much crayon color as you can like this:

You want every bit of paper showing through covered with crayon. Once finished, paint it entirely with black paint and let it dry. Once it is completely dry, use something pointy to scratch your design on the surface. I went for fireworks to go with the 4th of July theme. The trick to this craft is that the paint cannot adhere to the wax from the crayons, so it is easily etched away. Fun, eh??

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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Patriotic Rag Wreath and Ra Ra Craft

Disclosure: I receive payments for referrals to Social Spark... and you can too if you sign up! See below!

With Memorial Day coming around the corner and the 4th of July not too far behind, I decided to do some patriotic rag crafting . I had a pair of jeans that no longer fit, some inexpensive bandanas, and some white tulle from (wait for it) Goodwill. I used a large embroidery hoop as a frame for the wreath and a piece of dowel for the Ra Ra (titled by my Munchkin....since it has a cheerleader pop pom feel to it....it must be a Ra Ra Siss Boom Ba!!!!). A little hot glue for the fabric flower and that was it for materials. It's a pretty easy craft. Here's the play-by-play:

Cut strips of your three fabrics, I would say no more than 2 inches in width and maybe 8 inches long. You can experiment and decide what length works for you, shorter and thinner strips would make a more pouffy wreath....longer strips would make more of a shaggy one. Once you've finished making the strips, take two of one kind and tie it in the middle (around the hoop). Go to the next color and pick two pieces and do the same. Rotate through all the colors until you've tied all the way around the wreath!!

Sorry for the quality of that pic. I had to borrow a camera, as my usual one was being used. You get the idea though, right?? It's pretty darn simple. Now onto the Ra Ra!!

Use some of the strips of fabric and lay them down in one direction. Get some more pieces and lay them in another.

Pinch the bundle in the middle and bunch it up to make a ball. Take the dowel and the hot glue and put a big glop of glue in the center of the ball and stick the dowel in there. Wait for it to cool a bit, then take another strip of bandana fabric and wrap it around the area where the dowel and the fabric are glued, making sure you use the hot glue to hold it in place. Once it is cooled, it should be pretty well secure. I made a little fabric flower out of jean strips and tulle and glue that onto the top.

We are lucky enough to have a Memorial Day parade go right past our house every year. I think the Ra Ra will be the perfect way for my daughter to show her respect and have a little fun while she's at it!!