Happy Independence Day! An Easy 4th of July Craft, Firework Bows!

Here is our Activity Day craft, patriotic flip flops!

Hi friends! Hope you all have a super 4th of July tomorrow! It's such a fun holiday with such special
meaning. I was looking for a fun, easy red, white and blue craft for my Activity Day girls yesterday. (If you aren't familiar with "Activity Day" it's a special bi-monthly, planned activity for the girls in our church ages 8-11, I have the privilege of being one of their leaders.)  I wanted something we could make, that they could wear on the 4th and something they could do while we discussed the significance of Independence Day. I have always loved the 4th of July, the parades, bbq's, fireworks and traditions. But I wanted the girls to really appreciate why we celebrate the 4th and what it means. So we talked about that and made these easy flip flops. Of course this idea has been around forever. And Joann's had flip flops on sale for $1 and I had access to lots of free fabric scraps so it was a win, win! But, then I had another idea...why not make some hair clips using the same method (don't know if anyone has tried this, but it worked great too!) They look like fireworks which is very fitting, and they were super fast and easy!!

This is a fun, inexpensive craft for camp, activity day or family reunion. You could make them using any color combo of fabrics to suit the holiday or affair. We did Red, White and Blue of course and they turned out cute!

To make these, just buy some hair barrettes from Joann, and cut/tear strips of scrap fabric about 1/2-1" wide and 6" long, then just tie the strips onto the barrette, using double (two) knots. And fill in the entire barrette, easy peasy! The barrettes had small, circular holes in the ends so I put one strip through each hole and tied them as to cover the metal ends.

Here are some pics of our creations:

Here is a finished firecracker bow!

This is the kind of hair barrette clip we used.

The fabric strips look like this...

Here is the little hole I was talking about. I thread a strip through each hole and tie 2 knots.

Here's one knot after threading through the hole.

This is two knots in the original red strip and another blue strip added right next to it.

If you continue adding more strips and turn the ties different directions when tying the knots it will look more like a firework and less uniform as the first two do. 

Here is a finished firework bow.

 Oh...and if you aren't familiar with the flip flop craft shown in the picture at the top, you use the same method of tying strips of fabric to the flip flops until they look full. We have also used this same method on a giant safety pin, (only filling one side of the pin) and then you can pin it to a hat or blouse to create fun, patriotic accessories!

Hope you all have a great 4th of July and always remember what it means and how blessed we are to live in the great U.S.A!!