Patriotic Rag Wreath and Ra Ra Craft

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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!!

I also wanted to tell you about the awesomest blog advertising company out there:

Social Spark is great. 

I totally recommend it!

Disclosure: I receive payments for people referred (and you will too if you use Social Spark!)

Here are the parties I linked up, check them out....I promise inspiration!!!!
Just Something I Whipped Up
Made It Monday
Making the World Cuter
Metamorphosis Monday
Market Yourself Monday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays
DIY Day
Trash To Treasure Tuesday
Take A Look Tuesday
Get Your Craft On
Penny Pinching Party
Boardwalk Bragfest
Thrifty Thursday
Under $100 Linky Party
Favorite Things Friday
It's a Hodgepodge Friday
I Made It!!
Plant a Punkin Seed Party
Made It Monday
The Boardwalk Bragfest
Thrifty Thursday

Giveway Winner!!!!

The winner of the Guess the Car Giveaway, thanks to Random.org is........

Generator Min: 1 Max: 23 Result: 1 

KIMRA!!
Congrats!! I will be contacting you soon by email!!

Thanks to all of you for participating in the Giveaway!! This was fun. I definitely plan to do another one soon!!


Missy

Sandpaper Crayon Craft

Here's a little craft that my Munchkin and I enjoyed today. I found an article here on how to do crayon transfers with sandpaper and regular crayons. Our house is filled with thousands of lounging crayons bits just waiting to be crafted into something new. This was the craft for us!!

What you need:

Sandpaper

Crayons

Fabric 

Iron 

Tinfoil

Start by making a crayon drawing on the sandpaper and be sure to press down HARD. You want that paper covered with wax. 

Iron your fabric to get all the wrinkles out and then flip the design over. Put a piece of tinfoil that is slightly bigger than your design under it to make sure that the wax doesn't seep into the back layer of the fabric (if you're doing a shirt).  Get that iron out and iron away. Try not to put it on the "charbroil" setting (like I did).

The Munchkin made this. Too cute!!!

I worked on some butterflies. I wanted to try a Morpho (since they've been on my mind recently ).

I made a fun selection and placed them on the shirt, colored side down. Then I ironed away. Have you seen my iron?? It's awesome. Goodwill, of course. :-)

Once you've ironed the drawing, gently peel it away and let the fabric cool. To wash fabric with crayon transfers, you *can* use a washing machine on cold....but I would reccomend handwashing with cold water and setting it out to dry. Do NOT put one in your dryer. Nope, nope, nope. Bad idea. 

You can see that the Morpho didn't quite come out as well as it could have. I think it *MAY* have had to do with the fact that I used a variety of crayons....some name brand and some not. I would suggest trial and error to see which produce the best results for you. I, only the other hand, was not paying enough attention. :-) 

This is a great kiddo craft, except for the ironing. Make sure that there is an adult around to use the iron....other than that, you're good to go!!

Here are some link parties I joined:
Flaunt It Friday 
Frugalicious Friday
Look At Me I'm So Crafty 
Favorite Things Friday 
100 Ideas Under $100 
Friday Favorites 
It's A Hodgepodge Friday
Made It Monday 
Just Something I Whipped Up 
Metamorphosis Monday 
Making The World Cuter Monday 
Made By You Mondays 
Market Yourself Monday 
DIY Project Parade 
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays 
DIY Day  
Trash To Treasure
Boardwalk Bragfest
Thrifty Thursdays
Favorite Things Friday
It's Hodgepodge Friday
I Made It!!