4th of July Wooden Block- great for Craft Night! | Occasionally Crafty: 4th of July Wooden Block- great for Craft Night!

Monday, June 20

4th of July Wooden Block- great for Craft Night!

I am leaving TOMORROW (!) for a trip to Mexico!  Grandma is staying with the kids while hubby and I get a whole week to ourselves on the beautiful beaches of Tulum and the Mayan Riviera!  I can't wait!  I do have some posts scheduled while I'm gone, though, so I hope you'll keep visiting!  Just know I won't be able to answer emails or respond to comments until I'm back in town!

So, on to today's post:

Last year, when I was browsing 4th of July Crafts, I came across a really cute wooden block from Savvy Chic Home.  She didn't post directions, but I knew I could put it together myself.

Then, surprise!  This year for the women's group at church, called Relief Society, I was asked to put together a 4th of July-themed craft night for the ladies.  Wow- I love crafting for myself, but have never done something like this before!  We have ladies of all ages, from 18-80, at all crafting abilities, so I wanted to keep it simple, but cute.  I knew the 4th of July block would be perfect for a group, with a little advance work.

Here's the sample I made for the group:




Want to make one?  It's easy!  I don't have step-by-step pictures, but really, you can figure it out just by looking at the picture.  They didnt' really need my help to put it together!

Time required:  about an hour
Supplies needed:
1 wooden 2x4 block, cut to 12 inches.
Red paint, paintbrush
Blue cardstock or patterned paper
White cardstock- for stars
Red cardstock- for letters or letter stickers, or red marker!
Craft Cutter (Silhouette, Cricut, etc), star die-cut, or scissors
Glue, Mod Podge, glue stick
Buttons or other embellishments.
Twine- cut to fit your block
Red Ribbon- about 10 inches

First, sand your block.  Most of the wood will be kept bare, though you can stain it if you want.

Next, paint one of the 4 inch wide sides red- one to two coats, depending on your paint coverage.

Third, Cut your blue cardstock into three rectangles- mine were 3.25 in x 3.75 in.  Glue them onto your block, leaving a border of red on each side and between the rectangles.

Fourth, cut three stars from your white cardstock.  Make sure they fit into your rectangles.  I used my Silhouette for this, so it was easy to make them the right size.  Glue your stars onto the blue rectangles.  I kept mine straight and even, but some of the women made theirs angled for a cute, fun look.

Fifth, cut the letters "U", "S", and "A" from red cardstock.  Alternately, you could use letter stickers, vinyl, or even just freehand it with a red marker!  Glue or write your letters into the center of each star.

Sixth, embellish with buttons.  I used star buttons and regular buttons.  You could even cut out paper stars and use glue dots or foam tape to make them stand out.

Finally, wrap a length of twine around the block and tie a knot at the top.  Leave the ends long.  I used a little hot glue to hold the twine tightly in place.  Finish by tying your red ribbon into a bow, heat-sealing the ends, and glueing it on top of your twine knot!

When everyone came, I had everything cut out for them already-- another way the Silhouette makes my life so easy!  I also precut the twine and ribbon, so all they had to do was a little paint, some gluing, and embellishing.  Easy peasy.


They all turned out so cute- everyone did a wonderful job!  We finished up the night by eating these patriotic cupcakes.  They are a simple vanilla cupcake recipe, with buttercream, red sprinkles, and candy melts molded into stars.  The wrappers are from Michael's- on clearance for 99 cents!


It was great fun for me to create with/for other people.  I hope they'll call me again (crossing fingers)!




Photobucket