 Craft fun for the Fourth of July! And it's not just for kids. I write this blog for grandparents and their grands, but these crafts can be done just by grandparents. If your kids are out-of-town or just unavailable, there is no reason grandparents can't do these on their own. It's too darn hot in Texas to be going outside, so if you're looking for a craft to do inside, these might be the ticket! What was it John Adams said about Independence Day? "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival...It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade..." And this from the Pennsylvania Evening Post on July 5, 1777, "About noon all the armed ships and rallies in the river were drawn up before the city, dressed in the gayest manner, with the colors of the United States and streamers displayed." And that's what I try to do at my house--dress it in the happiest style, with red, white and and blue and streamers displayed! And I love to involve my grandkids in this endeavor. This year we did another craft. Instructions follow.  Red, White and Blue Wall Hanging. The first craft we did was the star door or wall hanging pictured above. It is made of popsicle sticks and raffia ribbon. It's pretty straight forward--create the stars from craft sticks, paint them in patriotic colors, and attach to raffia streamers. My grandson is eight years old, so this was a fairly easy craft for him. You'll need these supplies: acrylic outdoor paints in red, white and blue, raffia ribbon, a hot glue gun, and craft sticks.  Red, white and blue patio/outdoor paint available at craft stores.  Six-inch craft sticks also available at local craft stores.  This raffia ribbon came from a big-box discount store.  I had to get online for instructions on how to create stars out of five popsicle sticks. LOL.  Finished stars ready to be painted.  And so the painting begins. These are water-based paints so the clean-up is easy. It was a fun activity. After we made three patriotic hangings, we sent one in the mail to his great grandmother; we delivered one to his favorite great-aunt who lives here in town, and then we presented his dad with one to be displayed on their front porch. Next up--a 4th of July porch display!  Wooden firecrackers just for the fun of it! Another straight forward task. His grandfather used a leftover wooden cedar post (from a fencing project) for this patriotic display. Adney couldn't help with the sawing of the posts, but everything else, he did, from the painting to the shopping for ribbon and sparklers. This craft requires one cedar post cut by an adult in various lengths. You'll also need silk ribbon in red, white and blue, paints in those same colors, and some sparklers  You'll need those same paints as mentioned for the star project. You'll also need silk ribbon in patriotic motifs.  My husband cut the cedar post (grandson did NOT help with this), but if you go to Lowe's or Home Depot, I think they will cut it for you in desired lengths.  Some of the sparklers/picks we found to embellish our wooden firecrackers.  Forgot to add that the cedar posts need a small hole drilled in the top to accommodate these red, white and blue picks.  Grandson and his Poppa painted the posts in the garage.  Posts (for firecrackers) drying in the garage.  The finished project! Many blessings to doing this craft with your grandkids (or sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, friends and other relatives). Decorating your home shows to your grandchildren the importance of love for your country and the blessings and freedoms we enjoy here. It's such a great bonding time when you can do some craft or art activity with them. They tend to share their thoughts and feelings during this time of working together. It shows them you value their expertise and opinion when you take them to the craft store to pick out any items you might need. And I try not to do any craft "in and of itself." I always try to provide an avenue for them to share their finished product with others. We usually send our crafts to his great-grandmother and other family members.
Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Celebrate and festoon your own home the way our forefathers suggested!
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 We all have memories to share. Let's do this! It happened again. There was an article in a local newspaper about sharing and preserving your story as well as your family's stories. And then a fabulous story on "60 Minutes" about StoryCorps which seeks to record videos of people telling their stories in order to preserve this informal history. It put me in a mind to continue writing stories of my time on this earth. You might be thinking--who wants to read my story? Plenty of people do! We need to do this for our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, our nieces and nephews, and beyond. And everyone, EVERYONE, has a story to tell.  Three of my grandchildren looking through old scrapbooks. I'd say that's a pretty high interest level. Your family will want to read yours too. A list of questions to answer seems a good way to begin. Several years ago, my son and daughter-in-law gave me a book to begin to write my story. It's entitled, Legacy, A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Personal History by Linda Spence. (I notice it's still available on Amazon.) Now you can find sites online with questions for you to answer, but they are often generic and don't go much further than, "Where were you born?" Or where did you go to high school." That's fine and that's a start, but this book and other online sites go a little deeper and ask questions that are much more fun to answer. A sample list of questions that dig a little deeper~
I cannot stress this enough. Someone will want to read your stories. I was once at a dinner party in Round Rock, Texas, The hostess had just received an old letter from a relative that was quite a treasure, and she shared it with us. It was a letter from one of her ancestors who had fought at San Jacinto with Sam Houston! Now I realize most of us won't be sharing events like that in our memories, but I've loved my husband's family letters on life on the farm here in Texas in the early 1900's. I repeat.......someone will love reading your letters or memoirs. Take a look at this picture from a friend as her children and grandchildren read their great grandmother's letters.  It's a fairly quiet January, and many of us have some time to spare. Write your memories, or add to your memories. It's good exercise for your brain! Let's do this:  O Book described above, and it's a good one: Legacy~A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Personal History by Linda Spence. O Article from the Houston Chronicle on preserving your stories: www.houstonchronicle.com/home/article/You-re-living-history-Preserve-it-Here-s-a-16757976.php O Online article with useful questions to answer in order to write your personal essays: authority.pub/memoir-writing-prompts/ O One of my previous blogs about writing your story: www.gigisseasonings.com/blog/telling-your-stories-part-iii  Making Christmas ornaments with the grandkids, and making them out of a wooden block from the craft store. And if your grandkids aren't around to do this, just add it to your own craft list. It's very fun. I saw this idea on Pinterest. I simply got what I thought would be the needed supplies, including a package of wooden craft blocks from the hobby store, and let my grands do the rest. They are teenagers now, so I could turn them loose. They are so creative! You'll need the aforementioned wooden cubes, pretty Christmas-themed papers, an assortment of ribbons and embellishments, hot glue gun and Mod Podge. Here we go!  Wooden blocks from the craft store.  You'll need some Mod Podge and pretty scrapbook papers too!  While you're in the craft store, get some charming embellishments for the ornaments.  My grands and I have done Christmas ornament-making for about three years in a row. They always suggest raiding the old costume jewelry box (which is part of our costume box) for other embellishments.  We got hooks and eyelets from Poppa's workbench.  The finished products.  The girls sent me pictures of the ornaments hanging from their tree. Calling all grandparents! If your grandkids aren't in town, or they're in town, but much too busy for this project, I suggest doing it yourself. It can fill up your cozy December evenings, and you can turn it into a keepsake ornament for your own tree or to gift to them for Christmas. Especially if you use their photos. I'll include a website for this at the end of this blog.  Decoupaging photos on the wooden cubes! You'll find blog spot link at the end of my blog. More ideas! You can have a tea with your grandkids, and then make the ornaments. Just another fun get-together for you and your grandkids. We did that last year. I got the treats, but the girls made the canapés and set the table for us. Then we simply cleared the table and got busy creating. It's just another fun time that one hopes all involved will always remember!  The foods for tea created by my granddaughters.  These were the ornaments created last year. Instead of wooden blocks, they were made from wooden hearts and stars also available at your friendly local craft store. And that's it! This is a blog for and about grandparents and grandchildren. And today's blog can work for grandparents only. If you're not able to do this with your grandchildren, it's a fun project just for YOU. Or invite some friends over and create a keepsake ornament. It's all good! Another of my blogs about ornament making: www.gigisseasonings.com/blog/making-keepsake-ornaments Blog about making photo ornaments: wmcraftgoodies.blogspot.com/2010/11/day-29-photo-memory-block-ornament.html?m=1 Happy Christmas season to you and yours!  I have more crafts for the family. As it says on the box, for kids as young as three and as old as 103. So here we go. After this pandemic, I think we're all ready to celebrate the 4th of July in a big way. Involve those kids and grandkids in the home decorating with these crafts. The first one is just a matter of buying some "Do-A-Dot Art®". Or you can get some finger-paint and some sponges. I think the "Do-A-Dot" markers are much easier. You'll also need a star stencil or pattern and let them paint around it. Very easy for even three-year-olds.   It says right there on the box that 3-year-olds can handle this art. It's also washable.  Apparently it requires opening your mouth as you go around the stencil.   We tied it to make a mobile. We hung it in the entry hall.  It can also be hung in a window. The next one is for the older kids. It involves hammering nails in wood and stringing embroidery thread so you'll have to be the judge for what your grandchild can do. Our grandson is seven and going on eight, and he was just fine with this craft. It might be easier to show you the finished product before I go into any kind of explanation, so here is it.  Here's the finished string art craft. Much easier to explain if I start with the end project. As you can see, this involves a 5 inch by 16 inch piece of lumber, nails, red, white and blue string, and a 4 inch star pattern. Simply trace the star pattern on the board in three places, mark where you want your nails, hammer them in (but not all the way of course), and string the heavy thread. Voila! You've got yourself a pretty decoration for home or patio.  Supplies: heavy embroidery thread, nails, and a 16 inch long board.  Yes, grandson did MOST of the nailing.  Here's the stringer in action.  Finished display. By the way, I did the red star, and my 7-year-old did the white and blue stars. As you can see, I made mistakes--he didn't. And there you have it--two more crafts you can do with your children or grandchildren. They love it when you make decorations together and love it even more when you use those decorations in your home. They beam with pride. We sent the string art home with our grandson so he could hang it in his house. We also put a sticker on the back telling the day it was made and signed it. If it survives his childhood, he'll have something to hang in his house and tell his kids that he made it when he was a boy.
 Creating handmade items for this big summer holiday with the kids and grandkids! I keep my seven-year-old grandson in the summer. And I recently had my 13-year-old granddaughter come to visit as well. I decided to plan some crafts for us to do while they were here. I thought I probably should use the time with my granddaughter to work on her sewing skills. She spent the night one night so we could work at the sewing machine without her 7-year-old cousin underfoot. We would do a craft with him when he came the next morning. Making Pillows out of Tea Towels: My granddaughter's family has a lovely outdoor sectional on their patio. We decided it would be great to make some patriotic themed pillows for that couch. I took the easy way out and just bought some 4th of July tea towels. That way my grand just had to fold, sew up the sides and bottom and we were ready to stuff those pillows. Easy as can be!  The finished products. I think the tea towels made great pillows.  They look great on my couch outside, but they went home with my granddaughter. A Patriotic Ribbon Banner: The project we all three did together, and that's suitable for the younger kids (at least if they know how to tie a knot), was a 4th of July ribbon banner made of red, white and blue ribbons. We started by walking in the woods to find some sticks and twigs that would be suitable for us to tie our ribbons to. After we settled on the size and look we wanted, we brought them back to the craft room and began to cut our ribbons. We had an assembly line to measure each strand of ribbon and cut. I had already bought the ribbon when the craft store had rolls on sale at half price. Then we were ready to simply tie the ribbons on the stick in any patterns we chose. An easy craft for young and old alike.  Hopefully a fun bonding time for these two cousins.  Concentrating on the task at hand.  Even 7-year-olds can tie knots--the task required for this craft.  Our finished product. One can find wonderful ribbons at the craft store. We used twine for the hanger. This can be hung indoors or outdoors. I've even seen them pictured on the garden gate.  We made enough for each kid to take home and send one to their great-grandmother for her porch.  I think he's proud of his creations.  There you have it. Two easy summer crafts with the kids or grandkids. And it's a fun indoor craft--too hot in Texas right now to do anything outside.
As I always say, doing arts-and-crafts with the young kids is such a great bonding time. You can talk, share ideas, and learn what's going on in their lives. And you have cute pillows and a wall-hanging for Independence Day!  The best gift for Mother's Day? Something written or created by her children or grandchildren of course! I was reminded of this recently. It was my youngest son Travis' birthday. My husband asked our grandson (Travis' son) what he would like to get his dad for his birthday. He went through the usual list of daddy-gifts, and then said, "My dad has everything. I want to get him a card and write on it, 'I promise from now on I will listen to you.'" When my husband told me that, my heart melted, and I told my husband, "That's exactly what he'll get him." Poppa took him shopping that day to pick out a card, and I helped my grandson write his promise to his dad. What a treasure that is. I think things like that are the best gifts of all. A heartfelt promise written in your own hand. A poem to your loved one that you compose. A sweet essay about your mother. Those are wonderful gifts!  A questionnaire about mother for older kids~ I did this a few year ago with my grandkids for their dad on Father's Day. There are some great questionnaires online. They were older, so I printed out the questionnaire and had everyone go to their own corner and answer the questions. Then I printed their answers in a book. But you wouldn't have to go so far as to publish an online book. You could simply have them answer the questionnaire and fold it up in a sweet Mother's Day card. I'll post a website with appropriate questions about mother at the end of my blog. Some examples are:
 A questionnaire about mommy for the younger kids~ There are online questionnaires that are more appropriate for younger children. You can ask the questions and record their answers. You can do it in person, or over the phone or during FaceTime. And once again, tuck it inside a card and send it to their mother. Also, I'll give you a link for these questionnaires for the younger kids. Some examples are:
 Asking the younger kids questions about their parents, turns out to be the best fun of all. When my oldest son was four, he went to a child development lab at a local high school. At Thanksgiving, he was interviewed (as were all the students) for a cookbook for their mothers. One of the questions was to share a recipe from his mother. I can't remember the recipe, probably how to cook a turkey, but his recipe began, "My mother washes the dishes once a week and then she . . . " I still laugh about that one. So I hope you'll interview your kids, grandkids or even great-grandkids. Their responses to such questions are priceless!  Sample questionnaire for the older kids: www.imom.com/printable/15-questions-for-kids-to-answer-about-mom/   I found another craft idea for us retired folks! Painting bricks or pavers. Yes, it happened again. I paint kindness rocks, and I was on Pinterest looking for more ideas for my simple, little rock art. And lo and behold, I found an idea for painting on bricks. So if you're looking for a hobby, or simply want to mix things up in your craft room, you might want to try this. My husband is a gardener, so I knew I had to paint him a brick to place in his garden.  Very simple directions for this little craft. You can buy bricks or pavers at your home supply store. You might even have some stashed in the corner of your yard or in your garage. Then just get some craft paints specifically for outdoor use, and some acrylic to seal it when you're finished, and you are done. You might want to make one for your yard, garden or front door. Or perhaps a friend or relative for use in their garden or entranceway. I think they are really sweet.  You'll need bricks or pavers and paint and paint pens.  Don't forget the top coat to seal it!  My finished product. After I completed the paver, I looked for a place to put it in one of my husband's gardens. I tried several locations.  I tried out several spots around the yard and garden.  More spots I tried out. Then I realized I really should let my gardener husband choose the spot. Next you'll want to decide on the sentiment or quote you want to write on the brick. I considered several, and I'm sure you'll know exactly what you want to write. I tried to keep it as short as possible. Here are some ideas:
 I found this pretty one on Pinterest, but there was no credit or website given.  Love the addition of a ribbon on this one. And there you have it--another craft idea to add to your repertoire. Retirement can be the best time of your life. It's fun to fill it up with lots of crafts, sports, travel, and other activities. Go for it!
The link to that last brick idea: bkwilliams-catskidsandcrafts.blogspot.com/2011/08/brick-craft.html  Calling all grandparents! I found another way to use those photos on your phone! I recently did a blog about using your phone camera to take pictures of gratitude. You can either create a photo gratitude journal, or simply scroll though them at the end of the day to count your blessings. www.gigisseasonings.com/blog/pictures-of-gratitude Then I realized I had a lot of photos on my phone, and that I really should do something with them. I found numerous websites, and tried out some of those ideas. I shared them with you in another blog: www.gigisseasonings.com/blog/making-use-of-the-photos-on-your-cell-phone With this week's blog, I'm sharing another idea I found--decoupaging photos on a block of wood. My husband had some 2x4's that I decided I could use. I had him cut me blocks that were 4x8. That turned out to be a good size for this project. I stained them before I proceeded.  My hubby cut me some 4x8 blocks. I stained them with various colors of stain we already had on hand. And then I sealed them with some acrylic. Next I played around with various photos I wanted to use. I opted for a favorite photo of my grandkids. Then I searched through vacation pictures and pictures I had taken on walks around my neighborhood.  I knew I wanted to use this photo of my grands.  I searched through vacation pics of a vacation trip to Utah. But you can certainly use favorite pictures you take on your walk.  Mod Podge (available at craft stores) is perfect for this task. There are various videos online with step by step instructions. Simply google "how to decoupage on wood."  I printed the photos on card stock. I played around with various sizes that I thought would work on the block of wood.  After I completed the task and they had dried, I searched for just the right spot in my home where I could showcase the photo.  In my search, I opted for this spot.  I did the same thing after I finished with the photo blocks of my vacation trip.   But wait! There's more! There are other materials you can use for your decoupage. You can use a stretched canvas that you get at the craft store; a slate tile, and even a 12x12 terra-cotta floor tile. The list is endless.  My sister-in-law took this one of her father's beloved cactus garden.  The cactus garden in bloom was simply done on stretched canvas.  I found this one in a shop in New Orleans. It was decoupaged to a slate roof tile. So there you have it--more craft ideas with those photos on your phone. Besides enjoying them as you scroll through your phone, or placing them in a gratitude journal, you can decoupage them to display around your home and enjoy again and again.
And if you're looking for a craft idea to fill your days, this just might be it. Until next week!  Tell your family's stories. George H.W. Bush said it best: "You are the living link to the past. Tell your grandchildren the stories of the struggles waged, at home and abroad, Of sacrifices they made." I've written about this subject before, but I don't hesitate to write about it again, as I think it's that important. And some of my readers weren't interested before. But perhaps now, in this time and place, you might give writing and telling those stories a try. The seed for this blog came about through Facebook. During Black history month, there were some great stories posted. And now it's Women's History month, and again, wonderful stories. We all have some great women in our own families--strong women--with wonderful stories that should be told to our children and grandchildren. And no matter how small the stories may seem, it makes those ancestors come alive for all of us. Do you have some relatives or friends still alive who were part of the Greatest Generation? Interview them and tell their stories while we still have time! My husband and I have one parent left from that generation. It's my mother-in-law, and she's sweet to let me interview her. We all know how the older generation loves to reminisce, so I actually think she enjoys it. Ask questions about some world event. You get a lot of insight into their soul when you frame questions around some struggle they went through. For my mother-in-law it was World War II.  I loved asking her this question. I need to know and certainly my children and grandchildren need to know. That war was certainly much more than the facts we memorize in school. These were real people, OUR people, that went through this. And their tales are not about the glory of war, but of the day to day struggles of ordinary people. She told me about rationing and food scarcity. She recounted how German planes were shot down in the area of her farm, and how they feared that an enemy might be hiding in the countryside or in a neighbor's barn. She told about sirens going off which meant you had to take cover.  My mother-in-law. . .a young English girl who lived through a very BIG war.  My father-in-law who was stationed in England during the war. He had a lot of stories to tell as well.
 Part of my mother-in-law's memories was about some of the fun times they were able to have. She and her sisters loved going to the movies when they could.  My mil told about food rationing which we also experienced here in America. She said the children in England even got candy rations.  Photos I found on the Internet that capture what life was like in her English village.  I added my mother-in-law's story/mini-book to my box of ancestor stories.  But you might rather keep a scrapbook of your stories and your family's stories. A favorite memory (for me) reveals so much of our ancestors' love and humanity. My mother-in-law recounted about some of the fun times that they did have during the war. She and her sisters would walk to town and go to the movies. It was war-time and England suffered from constant bombing from German bombers, so at night, there were no lights turned on--it was a total black-out. The girls would have to walk home in the dark, and as they crossed the final fields to their farmhouse, they could see a tiny light in the distance. They knew it was their daddy puffing on his cigarette and waiting for them by the back gate. My mother-in-law said that would make them feel so safe, to know their father was there waiting for them. I think that is the sweetest memory and speaks to me, and I hope my children, across time and space. A father's love and care--something we can all relate to and makes our ancestors real.  Our family matriarch berry picking in England.  Our family matriarch today with one of her great-grandchildren. I hope they enjoy her stories as much as I loved writing them. I hope you'll interview some of your older (or younger) friends and relatives--an aunt, uncle, older cousin, parent, grandparent, great aunt, or a friend from church or work. Just the asking of questions is important. It's great for the interviewer as well as the interviewee. And then repeat some of those stories to your children and grandchildren. It's all good! And if you're writing your story or stories of your relatives, please share your ideas with me. I love to hear, and I promise to share in this blog.   You have your grands after school, or for a surprise Saturday visit, but you're stuck in the house? And you have exhausted all your usual indoor activities? I've got some ideas for you. Get out your flashlight/s and begin! First suggestion: Go for a search in the dark. This activity is kind of like an Easter egg hunt, but it's in a darkened room, no eggs are involved, and your grandchildren have to have flashlights. Flashlights just add to the fun. You simply hide some items available around your house. It can be anything really. At Christmas we hide Christmas bows in the dark. You can hide ABC blocks if you have them in your toy chest when the kids come to visit. It so happens that at my house, my grandson had a set of small toy dinosaurs which we choose to hide. When he was younger, we used to say we were going on a dinosaur hunt. And you can add to the fun by letting your grandchild hide the items for you sometimes--they seem to enjoy that as well. I'll let these photos tell the story.  Some tiny dinosaurs my grandson collected from a gum ball machine. Okay, okay, there's one ninja in this collection. :)  We store them in a tin box we got at a dollar store.  Hide them about the darkened room.  Grandson finding one of the dinos by shining the flashlight on it. Second suggestion: look for flashcards in the dark. My grandson comes to our home after school. This was a suggestion from his first grade teacher as a way to practice his sight words. You might remember from school or from your own children learning to read--sight words are high-frequency words that you just have to know by sight--a child really cannot "sound them out." In school now they are often called popcorn words because they pop up in your reading a lot. The teacher's suggestion was to make flashcards with them and post on the wall. Then darken the room and give your child a flashlight. You can do several things with them--call out a word and they have to find it with their flashlight; they can read all the words as they shine a light on them. Or you can shine the flashlight on the card and they have to read it. It's such a simple activity, but my seven-year-old grandson loves it. You might not have flashcards to do this activity, but searching for anything could be a fun rainy day activity. Perhaps you could play eye-spy in a dark room with a flashlight. One idea always leads to another. . .  Sight words we taped to the wall. By using Scotch tape, we discovered that tape did not damage the wall.  For some reason, when we photographed the beam of the flashlight on the card, it did not photograph well, but you get the idea. Call out a word and he has to shine the light on the card. Third suggestion: create constellation shape on paper, place on flashlight and project on wall or ceiling. Rather than try to recreate what we did, I'll just share the PBS website from which we got this idea. It's a good one too, and is perfect for a rainy day. www.pbs.org/video/flashlight-constellations-fkad7b/ Spring break is coming! It just might be that you FINALLY get to see your kids. And as always seems to happen during spring break, it just might rain. Now you have some rainy day fun with these suggestions. Until next week! Remember~ An hour with your grandchildren can make you feel young again!  Yes, of course. Making scary faces in the dark with a flashlight is fun too! |
AuthorRetired school teacher and now full time grandmother sharing ideas and looking for new ones about grandparenting! Archives
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