Patriotic Fireworks for the Home

This post was inspired by the Pike Fam blog that I found via Pinterest. I really loved the dynamite decorations in that blog post that I found, so I decided to create them and put my own twist on them for one of my craft swap crafts!

Here's what I used:

--Plywood

--Hacksaw

--Sandpaper

--Measuring tape

--Pen (not shown)

--Plastic sheeting

--Wood stain

--Red, white, and blue paints

--Red, white, and blue paint pens

--Paintbrushes

--Paper cup (not shown)

--Water (not shown)

--Glue

--White, red, and yellow tissue paper (only white is shown)

--Scissors (not shown)

Start by measuring the lengths you want for your fireworks. I was working with 24 inches so I made mine 6", 8", and 10". I measured out the lengths and marked them with a pen (both at the top and bottom of the wood so I could cut a straight line). Then I sawed them. I did not take a picture of this process because my sawing skills are pathetic. :) But I finally got it done! And then sand down all your rough edges. 

I wanted my fireworks to have a vintage look, so I used some stain that I had on hand to give the wood a darker color that would show through the paint. I was doing this inside so of course laying down plastic sheeting was a must, but it's generally a good idea anytime you paint--inside or out! :) 

Once the stain dried, it was on to COLOR! In order to get that vintage/distressed look, I added some water to the paint so it would go on thinner over the stain. So  for each color, I squeezed some paint into a paper cup, poured in some water, and mixed it with my brush. I basically went with 2 parts paint to a little less than 1 part water. You can play with the ratio depending on how thin you want the color. 

Yay painting! See how it goes on thinner and has that distressed look without the sanding? Love it!

The type of wood that I used is also quite absorbent so the colors dried even a bit lighter than they did when I first painted them. Now it's time to add the words! I decided that I'm going to put something on each side...one would say "Snap, Crackle, Pop" like my inspiration and the other side would say 'USA." So I set to work with my paint pens and just tried to freehand it the best I could! 

Now for the fuse. I grabbed some fairly small strips of white tissue paper and then layered some red and yellow on top.

Then I rolled the strips up, but not too tightly.

Then I twisted my rolls of paper until that had a more twined look. 

Then I took my glue and glued around the edge of the roll in hopes that it would keep the roll closed as well as in its twisted shape. I also glued one side of the roll to the top of the wood. Then I proceeded to do this for the other 2.

Last step! Once my glue was all dry, I did a little bit of snipping right at the top of my tissue paper "fuse." I fanned the shreds out and trimmed down some of the white pieces so it looked like there was a flame at the top of each firecrackers.

All done! One side for Snap, Crackle, Pop; and one for USA! I'm really pleased with how these turned out! I hope my craft swap person enjoys them as much as I do! And now I just have to figure out where to put my set. Hmm...

Until next time, love y'all!

-Kittye