Wednesday, May 11, 2011

FOUR MEMORIAL DAY DECORATIONS TO MAKE!


FOUR MEMORIAL DAY DECORATIONS

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial Day is a solemn occasion honoring the American soldiers who gave their lives in war. The values those men fought to defend form the essence of our country: freedom and the rights of the individual.

Try these Memorial Day craft ideas for decorating your front door and your beautiful porch!

RED WHITE BLUE AND GOLD DOOR DECORATION

Get three ears of fresh corn with husks and soak them in a gallon of water.
Add a splash of chlorine bleach.

Pull the husks back and arrange together at the top. Dry the ears of corn and set aside to dry thoroughly.

Wrap a plastic bag over the husks and spray paint the ears of corn in white spray paint primer (or use a brush).

Let the ears dry. Then paint them in red, white, and blue.

After they dry, wrap plastic over the ears of the corn and spray paint the husks in gold. After completely dry, tie the husks together and hang from your door!

Sorry there is no picture. Ii is stored in the attic and I need someone to climb up there to get it.

Decorate your door with a homemade Memorial Day Wreath. Wreaths really make your front door festive


MEMORIAL DAY STARS AND STRIPES WREATH

Wave the flag and bring out the red, white, and blue with this patriotic wreath. Simply place mini flag toothpicks (about three packages of 100 flags) into a styrofoam wreath (we used a 10″ styrofoam disk and cutout a 7″ circle out, because some wreaths are extruded and are hard for the toothpicks to push through) until the wreath is completely full and there is no white showing. Then your wreath is ready to hang; greeting every guest that arrives!


STREAMER FLAG

Make your own star spangled door hanger for Memorial Day, using affordable craft items you probably already have in your home. Nothing displays American pride during the holidays like our own American flag. Show your patriotism during the holidays by decorating your entrance with an easy to make streamer flag. Hang on your front door to welcome party guests for a day of celebration

SUPPLY LIST:

1 roll of red streamers (1.75” thickness)
1 roll of white streamers (1.75” thickness)
Blue construction or craft paper
Cardboard or similar strong paper or poster board
13 to 50 mini white gift bows
Ruler/straight edge
Double sided tape
3M Spray Mount, ReMount, Super 77 or similar spray adhesive
Xacto blade/hobby knife or scissors
A small piece of yarn or string

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut seven strips of red streamers measuring 35 inches long.

Cut six strips of white streamers measuring 35 inches long.

Cut a strip of cardboard or poster board approximately 26 inches long and 2 inches wide.

Line strip of poster board with double-sided tape and adhere alternating red and white streamer stripes.

Once all stripes are attached trim any cardboard excess and flip cardboard binding over to attach a piece of yarn or string for hanging. Flip back over.

Cut out a 13” x 14.75” piece of blue construction or craft paper. Spray back of blue paper with spray adhesive. Let dry for 30 seconds to lessen tack unless using ReMount which is specifically useful for repositioning. Lay blue paper in top left corner of striped streamer pattern.

Flip entire flag over to adjust streamers by pulling up gently and relaying where streamers may have wrinkled. Take care to line up the fourth red steamer stripe with the bottom of the blue paper so that the bottoms remain flush.

Flip flag back over to front. Assemble mini white bows in appropriate star formation, being sure to place them before adhering. If using 50 bows to represent 50states, create nine rows of stars alternating six and five star rows. If limited to 13 bows, use a pot or pan lid or similar guide to assemble stars in a circle pattern to represent the original 13 colonies.

Hang on front door and watch flag wave in a gentle breeze.

CRAFTING TIPS:

While most of these materials can be found cheaply at the craft or dollar store, try going through your gift wrap and holiday items to see what materials you might already have in storage when preparing for this project. Wide ribbons can replace streamers and star stickers can replace bows.

Try varying the size of your flag if you have fewer amounts of materials and thin ribbons. Smaller flags can be used to decorate gift bags, buffet tables and more.

Door hangers can be used in and outdoors, but be sure to bring your streamer flag inside in the event of rain or gusty winds


MEMORIAL DAY WIND SOCK

You can make a patriotic wind sock from an oatmeal box, construction paper, string, and crepe paper streamers.

SUPPLY LIST:

A cylindrical cardboard oatmeal box
Construction paper (blue and white)
Red and white crepe paper streamers
Glue
String
Scissors
Hole punch

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut the bottom off a cylindrical cardboard oatmeal box.
Cover the box with blue construction paper and then glue on white construction paper stars.

Cut some red and white crepe paper streamers and glue or staple them to one end of the wind sock.

Punch four holes along the top of the wind sock.

Cut two pieces of string about a foot long. Tie the strings to the wind sock (tie the opposite ends of a string to holes on opposite sides of the cylinder).

Tie a longer piece of string to the smaller pieces - you'll hang the wind sock from this piece of string.

Hang your patriotic wind sock from your window or porch.


May’s Monthly Giveaway!

I have started a Monthly Giveaway. and I will be drawing names from followers that comment.

The drawings will be on the 1st of each month! .

The May Giveaway is

“Eight Homespun Wrapped Clothes Pins and Small Wooden Bowl”



Each time you comment on a new post, it will give you another chance to win.

*If you post about this Giveaway on your side bar you will earn 2 more chances to win + a surprise gift!.
Be sure to tell me you have posted the Giveaway in your comments.

The bowl in the picture isn’t the one you will receive. It is a smaller bowl.


23 comments:

Anonymous said...

great craft patterns, thanks, Sue..I think I may make the flag wreath for our front door.....easy and striking looking....hope your day is great!

Angela said...

Good Morning Sue. I love all the Memorial Day decorations but my favorite is the flag wreath. Such a great idea. This is something my 3 year old granddaughter can do with me. I am off today for more of the picks. I have some on hand already. Thanks so much for sharing.

Rachel said...

What great projects~thanks for sharing! I really like the wreath -gonna have to try that one for sure!

TheCrankyCrow said...

Great ideas Sue! Thanks for sharing - you don't come across Memorial Day decoration ideas very often - and these will work through the 4th of July. The corn one really intrigues me. Going to have to give that a whirl! Smiles ~ Robin

Carol Stuck said...

I have been wanting a decoration for my door and I think the flags have it!! Thanks for such a sweet idea.

hugs, Carol

Anonymous said...

Love the windsock. The wreath is a great idea for the front of my house. Lookls os easy to make with little time involved.
Great ideas.
Tamera
Country at heart

Unknown said...

love the flag wreath! Such great ideas!

hugs! Kim @ Party Frosting!

Anthonette said...

Awesome flag! Someone posted it on Pinterest. Great job.

Cassie said...

Your wreath is amazing! We featured it today on Paper Issues. http://paperissues.blogspot.com/2011/06/flagtastic-wreath.html

Nancy said...

What great ideas - but, I have to admit, I LOVELOVELOVE the wreath!!

Amelia said...

I am new to your site, found you through Pinterest. I just wanted to say that your decorations are lovely! The wreath is just the thing to use up all my flag toothpicks I have hoarded over the years. Thank you for posting your ideas!

Craftmom said...

What a great site. So glad I found it. Thanks for the chance to win this months giveaway.

Susie Buetow said...

Just saw the flag wreath on Pinterest! So awesome! I'd love for you to link up in my Patriotic Recipe & Craft link up! Thank you! Susie
http://cafescrapper-scrapsoflife.blogspot.com/2012/05/link-up-anything-patriotic-25-amazon.html

Elizabeth Post Johnson said...

I love the flag wreath so much and am going to make it, also my Grand Daughter (3) is totally enthralled with windsocks, loves her Papa's patriotic windsock so what fun it will be to make her one of her own together. Thanks!!! Happy Memorial Day!

Create With Joy said...

Dear Sue,

What a wonderful article about Memorial Day - I especially love your wreath, which I saw on Pinterest!

I host a weekly party, Inspire Me Monday, at Create With Joy. Each week I feature a few guests who link up as well as people who inspire me during the week. Congratulations - you've been featured as one of my Inspirations for the week!

I also added your post to my Pinterest boards!

Have a wonderful weekend & I hope you will share your creations at the party!

Create With Joy
http://create-with-joy.com

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home said...

I love your flag wreath! So cute!

Unknown said...

I saw your site on Pinterest and hopped on over. I was looking at the crepe paper flag for the door as a daycare activity - just need to get the streamers. =D Think I have most everything else except the boxes and we'll just let the kids make their own "stars". Very cute!

Tina 'the book lady'
http://familyliteracy2.blogspot.com
http://summersinnebraska.blogspot.com

I'll add a post to my blog showing our activity and link back to your blog. =D Thanks!

Jamie said...

I love all of your patriotic decorations here - everything is so perfect for the Summer holidays :) I finished a wreath round-up on my blog today and couldn't help but feature your flag wreath! You can see it here:

http://crafteronabudget.blogspot.com/2012/06/memorial-day4th-of-july-wreaths-round.html

Thank you so much for sharing all of these beautiful decorations.

Roxy said...

I love your flag wreath! So simple to make and inexpensive is what I like. Love your many craft ideas.

J's mom said...

I love this so much, I've featured you here http://diycraftyprojects.com/2012/06/50-happy-4th-of-july-craft-ideas-diycraftyprojects-com.html . Please stop by when you get a chance & grab a "I've been featured" button from the side bar. You can put it in this post, side bar or both. Thanks so much :)

Rach said...

So, I have ordered my mini flags to make the wreath--too cool to pass up! I found the cheapest flags to be on orientaltrading.com Here's to Memorial Day--in remembrance of those who gave their all!

Family Curator said...

Love the flag wreath. Thanks for sharing this easy idea.

Unknown said...

LOVE that flag wreath! We shared it on our blog today.