ZZZZZZZZZZZ!

O.K. I admit it! Just the sheer volume of this post could probably put you to sleep. I warned you that I love crafting for the 4th of July. The good news is that most of these projects are pretty much replicas of other holiday decorating just using patriotic images. I seem to do that a lot once I find a craft that I like. Hence, we have probably talked about the "hows" before, so most of this should be self explanatory. Let's get started.

The above banner was made last year from a download I purchased. I simply printed out the words to "The Star Spangled Banner', printed the download on those papers , added pounds of glitter and strung. It turned out to be quite long so I didn't have too many choices of where it hung.

I know I showed you this last year, but I love it so much that it is worth another peek. I can't take credit for this. My youngest daughter made it for me using the handprints of her children. Those hands are getting bigger every day but I can never get enough of those chubby little prints!

A very simple banner just cut from cardstock, embellished with rhinestone stars and strung on glitter cording.

We made lots of these hangers last year. Simply downloaded patriotic images, decoupaged onto thin wooden rectangles, glittered and strung. I use them hanging off apothecary jar lids, cupboard knobs, etc. but when I first made them, I used them on a 4th of July tree.

4th of July fire crackers. Just dowels of varying lengths covered in scrap book paper. I drilled a small hole in the top and added a wire swirl with a wooden star on top, tied them in a bundle and glittered the top surface.

My oldest daughter made this flag many years ago. I think it is crumbled brown paper painted and then stained and hung on a piece of twine. The staining must be what makes this paper so strong as this has really been around a long time and is none the worse for wear. I think we used the same technique to make jack-o-lanterns in Brownies when the girls were very young. We actually made a front and back and gently stuffed them - and they're still around also!

A vintage fire cracker made from a paper towel roll. We just covered them in a downloaded image and embellished with crepe paper, glittery sparklers and glitter.

Simple, inexpensive votive holder painted with glass paint. I also painted dish soap dispensers one year because who doesn't want their dish detergent in a decorated bottle?

I needed a big embellishment in this vase and couldn't find any so I made this from cardstock, scrapbook paper, crepe paper and glitter. I think I saw the idea on a vintage image sight.

This has to be my favorite 4th craft because it gives so much bang for the buck. I made them for my girls at the same time, so the supplies worked out perfectly - as cheap to make 4 as it was to make one because the wood came in large pieces. It is simply a rectangle of bead board painted red and white. Then, a rectangle of luan was glued on and painted blue. I used my Dremel with a cutting tip to cut out the star. Then, everything was sanded to distress and a light touch of stain was wiped on. I love the size of this piece. I bought the wooden letters at HL and painted them black to give a bit of a contrast to the mantle. The stars are 3-D paper mache' ornaments that I cut in half and painted.

This star is kind of hard to see, but it is my copy of a Bethany Lowe decoration that was sooooo expensive that I'm not sure who could afford to buy it. It was a bit tedious to make, but my grand daughters and I did them together, so they weren't difficult. I bought sheet styrofoam and cut out the stars. We then glittered them. The silver stars are cut from chipboard and glittered. The large rosette is a tea stained coffee filter. Then we embellished with glass beads in the points if the star, word banners and glitter pipe cleaners. They did take a long time, but I love them!!

See how pretty the hutch looks with all of them displayed the year we made them. I had a hard time letting the girls give them away as gifts.

Here is the infamous Bingo card from last year. I still love the way it looks because most of my 4th of July decorations are vintage.

We made theses sand candles a long time ago as well. I think the idea came from a MS magazine. It is kind of a no-brainer. The hardest part was finding the sand back before HL came to town. Then you just put a smaller glass container inside and layer up the sand between the 2 surfaces...can't make a mistake!

Our 4th of July decoupaged plate - this one using downloaded images and another candle holder using a cobalt blue glass container embellished with red, white and blue glass beads.

I love this picture. I simply ripped it out of a BH&G magazine a long time ago and had it matted and framed.

This is an inexpensive wooden star decoupaged with a paper napkin, sprinkled with clear glitter, wired for hanging and embellished with tied ribbon.

This project wasn't a favorite so I don't think I ever made more. I cut a 2X4 into blocks, painted them black, decoupaged on the letters (that I had to have my grand daughter do because I don't have a clue how to use clip art and then put letters over it ) and decorated with glittered stars and fireworks.

The "Liberty" banner is another copy of a Bethany Lowe item. This was really tedious, but I love it so worth all of the time I spent. I printed the words to "The Star Spangled Banner for the diamonds. They were then glued to chip board and then red card stock because I discovered that the backs showed when hung over the mirror. I then had to trace and cut the letters from chip board and glitter. I cut out the dangling stars from chip board as well and glittered them and then added the glass beads. Then, they were all strung on blue glittered cording.

And here is another glass plate this time decoupaged with napkins and tissue paper. I use the blue bottle and put in the topper that my girls gave me that reminds me of fireworks. For some reason, I love this simple vignette.

That's it for the old crafts. I will show you what I came up with this year very soon. Hope everyone is having a safe and happy Memorial Day!