Pages

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Happy 4th of JULY!

What are you doing for the 4th? I'm cooking out and then heading to a tiny town near by to watch the fireworks. Does anyone have any 4th of July traditions? I would love to hear about them!

Now, Look what I found on Martha.com!
*********************************************************

Add a burst of patriotic spirit to summer sips with these red, white, and blue umbrellas. Pop one into every beverage you serve for an instant air of festivity. Besides doubling as stirrers, the little paper parasols help identify each guest's glass. Once you've fashioned our patterns into umbrellas, grab yourself a drink, sit back, and get ready to watch the sky.
Parasol How-ToYou'll need wooden skewers a couple of inches longer than your drinking glasses are tall. Download and print umbrella designs onto plain white paper. Cut out with scissors, then cut along the dotted line on each. Create a cone by slightly overlapping edges; secure using a glue stick or tape underneath. Poke a skewer through the underside of the cone's point.
************************************************************

Fashioned from red, white, and blue paper stars, this festive garland adds a patriotic touch to a doorway or mantel. Easy and inexpensive to make, it's a great holiday project for both children and adults.

Tools and Materials
Letter-size, stationery-weight paper in red, white, and blue
Paper cutter or scissors
Ruler
Pencil
Bone folder
Mini-stapler
1/8-inch hole punch
White cotton string
How-To

1. Cut paper to 6 by 11 inches. Using a bone folder to make crisp folds, fold the paper in half; then, fold it in half twice more. Open the folded paper, and use the creases as guides to accordion fold the paper to resemble a fan.

2. With the paper still folded, find the center, and mark it with a pencil. Use a desktop stapler to staple the center. (The staple should be perpendicular to the folds.)
3. Make a mark, 1 inch from each end on the folded side of the fan. Using scissors, trim both ends of the paper on an angle, starting from the 1-inch marks and cutting to the paper's edges.
4. Fan out the paper to form a star, and bring the ends together. Staple the ends together with a mini-stapler.

5. With a 1/8-inch hole punch, punch 2 holes, one fold apart from each other. Thread cord through one hole, around the back of the star, and then through the other hole.


**********************************************************

This string of votives will shed a soft glow over your Fourth of July celebration. Place tea candles in translucent red, white, and blue colored-glass votives, and tuck each into a tiny wire basket.


To make a basket, cut a 21-inch piece of 20-gauge annealed wire with a wire cutter. Fold the wire in half, and crimp just below the fold with round-nose pliers. Wrap crimped end over a pencil to form a hook.

Hold the base of the hook tightly with pliers, separate the two lengths of wire, then twist tightly around each other three times.

To form the cuff that will hold the votive, use pliers to make a 90-degree bend,4 1/4 inches from the hook base, on each length of wire. Situate the bendson opposite sides of the votive, about two-thirds of the way from the bottom of the glass.

Bring each cut end around to meet the opposite bend. With the tip of the pliers, make a tiny loop at each cut end. Hook the loops to the bends; use pliers to close loops tightly. Insert votive into the circle formed.
Hang several candle lanterns from their hooks on a taut wire strung between two points. Be certain flames are not near any flammable surfaces, and never leave votives unattended.

1 comment:

sil said...

too cute ryan! i will be here in atlanta, at the 311 concert, and then also doing some swim workouts...have a safe fourth!!