{4th of July Wood Crafts} {flag and fireworks}

I got together with some ladies from church at my house this morning for a craft day.

I whipped up two 4th of July crafts in a couple hours...would have been quicker if I hadn't been blabbling away, but I didn't mind the distractions.

I've seen various versions of wooden fireworks floating around the blogosphere, so I decided to make a set..

I love how they turned out...so much that I made two sets...

All chippy and distressed...

Love. Love. Love.

It was such a simple craft!

I cut up a 2x2 8ft board into 4.5", 5.5", 6.5" inch pieces, drilled a little hole in the tops, curled some wire and stuck it in the holes. You can get 2x2 for a couple bucks at home depot, and if you don't have a saw at home, you can ask them to cut it there. I made 5 full sets out of one 8 ft board and then went through my scrap wood pile for the last piece for a 6th set.

The other decoration I made was this little hanging flag... 

I saw a similar idea at How Does She?

I didn't want to have to cut out mdf, so I used 1x2s instead and made a smaller version, it came out to be about 10"x8". A 1x2 will cost you around $0.80 or $1...I used two and made 3 full sets and one somewhat wonky set...I was having user difficulties with the saw and they didn't come out all even, the 5 piece on the last set was shorter than the rest, but when used on the top stripe and topped with the blue 1x4, you couldn't really tell...

I cut up a 1x2 into 10" strips, painted the stripes and used wood splints and a staple gun on the back to hold together the pieces..

I drilled a hole on both sides at the top and strung some wire through...

And finished it off with a 1x4 board I cut square and topped it with a star and button...

{love}

I picked up the star at Michael's for about 60 cents, and repainted it (it was orange and yellow before).

Such simple and inexpensive crafts, but I love how they turned out!

My daughter's favorite part was getting to paint all over the old wrapping paper I had covered the table with...

Mom might have had a little fun too...

I think I'll have to cover the table and let her go to town on it more often.

Each decoration worked out to be about 40 cents a set for the wood, the little star on the flag was 60 cents, and I bought some new paints for it at Michaels on sale for 50 cents a bottle, but I hardly made a dent in them and have tons left for other projects. I had the wire, tulle and twine. So the flag ended up being $1 total to make and the little fireworks were 40 cents a set, not including the paint... Not bad!