Easy Patriotic Treat

These ice cream sandwich treats are easy to make and perfect for any summertime get-together.  All you need is a box of ice cream sandwiches and some red, white and blue sprinkles.  To get better coverage, I cut each sandwich in half, then dipped all the sides into the sprinkles.  Store back in the freezer until you are ready to serve.  Kids already love this ice cream treat, and the sprinkles make them even more fun!

Flag Windsock

Last week was supposed to be week three of our at-home summer camp, but my son attended a half day art camp all week and we just didn't have enough time to work on things.  The week one overview can be found HERE.  But, today I wanted to share with you one of our easy crafts we completed during our week two at-home summer camp.  The theme was America the Beautiful, in honor of the 4th of July.

We made small flag windsocks using only a few supplies - small flag on a stick, toilet paper tube, yarn, glue and masking tape. 

We started by wrapping a piece of masking tape, sticky side facing out, around the tube.  The kids stuck pieces of yarn onto the tape.  These would hang down for the  bottom of the windsock.

After the kids had their yarn in place, we put another piece of tape, sticky side down this time, over top of the yarn to keep it in place.

We also had some leftover foam stars from another project, and the kids decided to use these and tied them onto the yarn.

Next, we ran a line of glue down the length of the tube to hold the flag in place.  These flags are the mini flags on a stick; we just removed the flag from the stick.

Then, we wrapped the flag around the tube, and put a little more glue to keep it in place.

Last, we added one more piece of yarn for hanging, by taping it inside the top part of the tube.

We hung these on our front porch, to help with the drying, but the kids wanted to use them inside to decorate our sunroom.  I think they turned out super cute and would like nice anywhere!



Uncle Sam Decoration

I made this Uncle Sam decoration ages ago (I can't remember where I saw the idea), but recently thought of making a few more to use as decorations for the summer holidays.  He is actually pretty easy to make.  Here is a list of supplies you will need:

• terra cotta pot and saucer
• metal coffee can
• acrylic paint and brushes
• floral wire
• wooden stars
• hot glue gun
• painters tape (optional)

I started by painting all of my pieces first.  I painted the saucer blue.  I painted the rim of the pot white and the rest a peachy color; once dry I went back and painted on the simple face.  I painted the can in red and white stripes; to make my stripes nice and neat, I used painters tape.  And I painted both sides of my wooden stars yellow.

After everything had been painted and had a full 24 hours to dry, I glued everything together using epoxy (make sure to use the epoxy in a well ventilated area).  I cut a piece of floral wire long enough to fit around the can, curled it around a pencil, twisted the ends together, and slipped it over the can.  Then I hot glued the wooden stars randomly around the wire.

And that was it!  It's a really cute decoration and has held up really well to being outside for the past 5+ years.  I will sometimes use it as is for a decoration, or add some water and cut flowers to the can.  One year we also filled it with sand, stuck in some sparklers and lit them for a fun backyard bbq party.

Sharing at the following blogs:

Somewhat Simple

House of Hepworths

Fireflies and Jellybeans

Paisley Passions

Trendy Treehouse