Let your kids exercise their independence by taking on a crafting project of their own. Starry wavers are the perfect easy-to-make kid’s craft for this 4th of July.

What you’ll need:

• Pieces of colorful felt
• Colored ribbons
• 10 to 12-inch wooden sticks or dowels
• Scissors
• Craft glue
• Sequins and glitters (optional)

How to make it:

1. Tie ribbons at one end of the stick.
2. Cut a pair of 6-inch wide stars from your felt.
3. Glue the felt stars together with the ribbon-tied tip of the stick/dowel inserted between them. Allow glue to dry.
4. Decorate the felt stars with glitter or sequins.

Congrats! Your Independence Day waver is ready.
Image: orientaltrading.com

To make the star-studded door-hanger you’ll need:

• Paper plates
• Star-shaped foam sticker (red)
• Tubes of blue and golden glitter glue
• Patriotic star garland/thin blue ribbon
• White yarn
• White craft glue
• Scissors

How to make it:

1. Cut five 10 to 12-inch pieces from the garland/ribbon.
2. Cut a 6-inch piece from the white yarn.
3. Glue two paper plates together with both ends of the yarn inserted about 1½ inches deep in between them.
4. At the bottom end of the plate, insert the pieces of garland /ribbon about ½ inch away from one another. Allow the glue to dry.
5. Paste the red star shaped foam sticker on the center of the top plate.
6. Write a welcome message with golden glitter glue right above the red star.
7. Create a border along the rim of the plate using blue glitter glue. Allow glue to dry.
8. For further embellishment, draw a glittering golden border around the star.

Happy Independence Day!

Image: Kaboose

]]> http://www.family-crafts.org/4th-july-crafts-star-studded-door-hanger-for-independence-day/feed 0 http://www.family-crafts.org/easy-craft-projects-for-kids-paper-photo-frames-for-v-day http://www.family-crafts.org/easy-craft-projects-for-kids-paper-photo-frames-for-v-day#comments Sat, 14 Feb 2009 05:45:13 +0000 Erika http://family-crafts.org/?p=81 We’ve already shared some Valentine’s Day craft ideas, but we almost forgot one of out favorites – the V-Day Photo Frame. This decorative frame is simple to make, and doesn’t require many craft materials. Let’s get started!

Image courtesy: kiddyhouse.com

To make this craft you’ll need:

• 2 equally-sized pieces of thin cardboard (you can use the sides of cereal boxes),
• Colored construction paper,
• Craft glue,
• Craft knife and a heart shaped cookie cutter,
• Tape,
• A pencil, and
• A photograph.

Step by Step Instructions:

1. First, draw a heart in the center of your cardboard (trace your cookie-cutter for a perfect heart). Carefully extract the heart-shape from the cardboard with your craft knife. (For safety’s sake, show your children how to use the craft knife, but do the actual trimming yourself.) Save the cardboard heart you’ve removed for later use.
2. Cover both pieces of cardboard with construction paper using craft glue.
3. Apply small pieces of colored paper to the cardboard with the heart cut-out. Overlap your papers and glue them down. Allow the glue to dry.
4. Use your cardboard (with the heart cut-out) to matte your photograph. Tape the photograph to the back of the cardboard.
5. Glue the two pieces of cardboard together. The cardboard that is intact should be used as the backing board. Allow the glue to dry.
6. Fold the edges of your cutout heart toward the center. If done properly, the center of the heart cutout should be flat.
7. Glue the flat center of the heart cutout to the backboard so that it is flush with the bottom. This is how your frame will stand upright. Allow the glue to dry.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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