Welcome back to day 3 of the 4 Days of the Fourth of July! Today we are going to look at a few wreaths. Both of these are made with items you might not think to use. I love a great wreath. I am not much on the big puffy ones though with lots of tulle. I had a lot of fun thinking outside of the box for these projects. Keep reading to see how far out of the box I went.

Lets Get Started

Project 1

Supplies

For this first wreath you will need some kind of wreath form. I got these small ones at Dollar Tree and they come 2 to a pack. To fill in the wreath I used scarfs from Dollar Tree. I also used wooden letters and a garden stake.

The first thing I did for this project was to paint my letters. If you do not want to paint your letters, that’s okay. My USA was black and I wanted them to match the scarves better. The next thing I did was start on the wreath. To do this I took a small piece of the scarf and pushed it up through the back of the wreath form and slid it to the edge of one of the side wire pieces. Then I took another small piece of the scarf and pushed it though the inside piece of the wreath. You will be creating loops alternating between pushing them through the bottom and top sections of the wreath form. I used 5 scarfs to go around this small form. If you get a bigger wreath form, you will need more scarfs. You repeat these steps all the way around the wreath. If you smash the scarfs together tight enough in each section (there are 4 sections) then you will not need to glue the scarf to the form.

The truck on the wreath is from a Dollar Tree garden stake. I just pulled the stick off of it. Then I hot glued the truck to the scarf wreath. Finally I glued each wooden USA letter on the top and that was it.

The old truck is still one of my favorite things. What do you think of the scarfs?? They make a really full wreath. If yours is not looking full then open the scarf loops and it will fill out. Keep your eye out for the small garden stakes too especially at Christmas. They can be the perfect addition to a craft project.

Project 2

Supplies

Lets move onto Project 2. You will need a cross wreath form or you can make one out of cardboard or foam board. A wooden plaque in a shape you like. I also used to tulle and paint. The unexpected item I used was a pair of blue jeans. I got a pair from a thrift store.

I started this project by painting the wooden plaque I had so it could be ready when I needed it. I painted it white with Waverly Chalk Paint. While that was drying I cut two strips from the pair of jeans. I made sure I laid the wreath form on the jeans and then cut the strips at least an 2 inches wider than the wreath form. That way you have enough material to wrap around the wreath form. I used two strips because it was much easier to do, one for the long side and one for the width. Once cut, I laid the jean strips right side down and placed the wreath form in the middle of the strip. After that I would pull up small pieces of the jean strip and start gluing it to the back of the form. I did this all the way around the wreath until the whole thing is covered.

I wanted to words “All gave some, Some gave all” on the plaque. I used Cricut Design Space and my Cricut Joy to cut out the words and then applied them to my plaque after it was completely dry. The last thing I did was cut strips of tulle in red slightly longer than the plaque and in white slightly longer than the red. I hot glued the tulle in the middle of the cross, white first then the red. You will need lots of glue for this. Once the tulle is glued down then glue your plaque on top of that. And your done!! The bow is optional. I thought it needed something more. You could add flowers if you wanted.

This cross touches my heart. The words on the plaque are very dear to my family. We understand what that sacrifice is like. My husband served in the US military for over 15 years and we lost a few friends a long the way. I am proud to have this hanging in my home and I just love what it represents.

I truly hope these wreaths give you some inspiration to try out some different materials when crafting. I am going to try and use other new materials to stretch my creativity. You could use old scarfs from family member or old jeans from a child. Make wreaths into memory pieces. That would be amazing!!

I hope you have a wonderful day and join me on the 4th of July for one more project. Please find me on Instagram and Facebook under Yellow Butterfly Craft Designs and Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe to all of my media platforms.

Thank you for joining me,

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

Project 1

Small Wreath Forms- Dollar Tree

5 Scarfs- Dollar Tree

USA Wooden Letters- Michael’s Craft Supply

Truck Garden Stake- Dollar Tree

Crimson, White, and Ocean Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Project 2

Cross Wreath Form- Dollar Tree

Tulle- Hobby Lobby

Wooden Plaque- Dollar Tree

Jeans- Thrift Store

White Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Welcome to day 2 of the 4 days of the Fourth of July!! Today we are going to make a few things for a 3-tiered tray or just a table top. I can not wait to show you how I created these 5 projects!! I love them all!!

I am going to show you how to do each project and at the end of the blog post I will show you how I styled everything.

Lets Get Started

Project 1

Supplies

Lets dive into Project #1 and the supplies you will need. I found the house card holder at Dollar Tree along with the paper trays. I also used my Cricut Joy, white chalk paint, and hot glue. If you do not have a Cricut or other kind of cutting machine then you can use stickers, stencils, or print stuff off of the computer.

The first step is to pop off the door and the roof of the house. That makes it easier to paint it. I do not like the heart in the middle of the house and it does not go well with my Patriotic theme. I had to do some thinking to fill in that heart. I tried wood filler but it would not dry. So I put a piece of tape on the back to cover the heart and then filled the heart little by little with hot glue leaving a bit of room at the top and added wood filler to fill the heart the rest of the way. Once it was dry, I sanded the front of the house and I painted the house with White Waverly Chalk paint. I did 2 coats of the paint and the second coat was really thick because I wanted some texture to the house.

After it dried completely, I cut a truck out of one of the paper trays. Then I hot glued it to the front of the house. I wanted to add words to the house that said “Home of the Brave”. For the words I used my Cricut Joy and some 651 Black Vinyl. To do this I measured the open space on the house, sized my saying to the right size and cut it out. I used Dollar Tree contact paper as transfer tape to apply the words to my house. I also hot glued the roof piece back on and the card holder is done!!

Project 2

Supplies

Amazon to the rescue for Project #2! I love the little rolling pins that everyone has in the 3-tiered trays so I got on Amazon and ordered some. To go a long with the Patriotic theme I used some red and white chalk paint and some navy blue acrylic paint. My Cricut Joy helped with the words but you can use stickers, stencils, or print things off the computer to add to the rolling pins. I also added some twine and tulle.

Like I start most of my projects, I painted the rolling pins. You can use masking tape and tape them off but I just free handed it and took my time. The first thing I painted was the middle of each rolling pin. One with Waverly Chalk Paint in Crimson and the other in Navy Apple Barrel Acrylic paint. Once they were dry, I used Waverly Chalk Paint in White to paint the handles. If I got any paint where I did not want it, I just touched it up.

Cricut Design Space is a great please to look for words and saying. That is where I found the “Honor” and “Freedom” words. Just like the last project, I cut the words out of 651 vinyl and used Dollar Tree contact paper to apply the vinyl to the rolling pins. The final step for this project was to tie some tulle on the handle of one pin and wrap the handles of the other pin with twine and hot glue it in place. We are moving right along!! On to Projects #3 and #4

Project 3 and 4

Supplies

We are going to talk about Projects 3 and 4 together. They use the same supplies. On both projects I used red, and white chalk paint, and rub on transfers from Dollar Tree. I also used navy acrylic and blue chalk paint. Project 3 is a small tray from Dollar tree and Project 4 if a calendar also from Dollar Tree.

With both projects I started by painting them. The tray I painted the inside with White Waverly Chalk Paint, the inside edge with Ocean Blue Waverly Chalk Paint, and the outside of the tray with Crimson Waverly Chalk Paint. The calendar is painted with Navy Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint, Crimson Waverly Chalk Paint, and White Waverly Chalk Paint. To do the edges of the calendar red I put down some masking tape and painted the red on. Then took the tape off. Each piece took 3 coats of paint to cover it.

Now lets look at these rub-on transfers. When you take them out of the package the have 2 sheets. The top sheet holds the transfers and the bottom protects the transfers from transferring until your ready to use them. Make sure they stay together until you are ready. For both projects I cut the words and shapes out that I wanted and then laid everything out to make sure they all fit on the tray and on the calendar. Once I was sure everything would fit, I pulled the backing off the transfer, laid the transfer on the project and used a Popsicle stick to put pressure on the transfer. After rubbing all over the transfer, slowly pull up the top sheet and make sure the image transferred. If it did not, lay it back down again and rub on it some more. If something transfers that you did not want, use an eraser to remove it. Once you add all the transfers you want you are done!! YAY we are onto our final project!!

Project 5

Supplies

For this last project you will need three books. I also used stamps, black ink, paint, and ribbon.

To start this project, I ripped the covers off the books. One of the spines of the books was rough and bumpy so I used wood filler to smooth it out. Next I used a glue stick to glue down a few pages of each book on the top and bottom. After the glue dried, I started painting. The top book is in Crimson Waverly Chalk Paint, the middle one is White Waverly Chalk Paint, and the bottom book is done in Ocean Waverly Chalk Paint. Each book took 2 coats of paint. Once the books were dry, I used a letter stamp set to stamp out “BECAUSE and BRAVE” in black stamping ink. The words “of the” I wrote out by hand. First in pencil and then over the pencil with a black Arteza Paint Marker. If the stamps did not stamp clearly, I went over the letters with the paint marker too.

The final step for these books was to wrap ribbon around them and glue it with hot glue. I just used one piece of ribbon. You could layer ribbon or make a bow to add to the top of the books. I wanted to be able to stack stuff on top of the books without any issues. We are done!!!

How amazing does all these projects look together? I put all the projects on a cart in my dinning room. They are with the flower arrangements I had on the blog from yesterday. Each piece is unique and special. Even though I used different shades of some of the blues and reds, it all goes together and complements each other to make one cohesive look. The smaller pieces could easily be put on a 3-tiered tray or on a small shelf. The possibilities are endless.

Thank you so much for joining me on day 2 of the 4 days of the Fourth of July! I hope you are finding some great inspiration and motivation to get crafting.

Have a wonderful day and I will see you tomorrow for some wreaths!

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

Project 1

House Card Holder- Dollar Tree

Paper Trays- Dollar Tree

White Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Cricut Joy- HSN

651 Vinyl- Michael’s Craft Supply

Project 2

Rolling Pins- Amazon

Crimson and White Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Navy Apple Barrel Paint- Walmart

Red Tulle- Michael’s Craft Supply

Twine- Hobby Lobby

Cricut Joy- HSN

651Vinyl- Michael’s Craft Supply

Project 4 and 5

Calendar- Dollar Tree

Tray- Dollar Tree

Crimson, Ocean, and White Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Navy Apple Barrel Paint- Walmart

Rub-0n Transfers- Dollar Tree

Project 5

Books- Dollar Tree

Crimson, Ocean, and White Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Ribbon-Michael’s Craft Supply

Letter Stamp Set and Black Ink- Hero Arts

Black Arteza Acrylic Marker- Amazon

Hello again!!! I know it has been a while! Life happens sometimes and I had to step away for a bit but now I am back and we are jumping right into Patriotic decor. The 4th of July is a big deal in my house because we are a retired military family. My husband served our country in the air force for over 15 years. He was deployed or had to work over the 4th of July so many times so we would celebrate it when ever we could even if that meant we went to the fire station to do it.

Over the next 4 days I will be posting some Independence Day inspiration. Keep in mind just because this decor is all red, white, and blue you do not have to use the same colors. Today we are going to start with flowers!! I have 3 different fake flower arrangements to show you.

Lets Get Started

Project 1

Supplies

We are going to start with the simplest project. For this first one you will need some red, white, and blue flowers. I also filled in with greenery so that the buckets looked fuller. I am using Dollar Tree buckets as my flower pots. Finally the last thing you will need is either flower foam or a pool noodle.

First thing I did was put floral foam in the bottom of the buckets. If you need to use some glue to hold it in place. I used hot glue. If you do not have floral foam, you can use a pool noodle. Next I arranged the red, white, and blue flowers in the buckets. Once I liked the way they looked, I thought it looked bare. As I looked around my flower stash I saw a big bunch of greenery. It was all from Dollar tree and I used several different kinds to fill out the buckets.

I will show you how I did each set of arrangements and then at the end of the blog post I will show you how I styled everything.

Project 2

Supplies

Time for project #2! You will need some more flowers, flower foam, and twine. This time I used terracotta pots. I also used some white chalk paint and some navy acrylic paint.

We are going to paint these pots. First I painted the navy blue acrylic paint on the pots. It only took one coat of paint to cover the bottom half of these pots. Once that was dry, I used masking tape to protect my navy paint and then painted the top part of the pot with white chalk paint. Please pick the paint colors you like.

Next I glued some twine around the pots right under the white top. I wrapped it around twice and glued little by little as I wrapped the twine so that it would not slide down and off the pot. Then I tied 2 simple bows and glued them onto the twine that is on the pots.

The last thing I did was hot glued some floral foam to the bottom of the pot and added the flowers. I cut the flowers off of the big stem that they come on so I have individual stems and not one big one. That way I can cut the stems as short as I need to. And with that, project #2 is done!!!

Project 3

Supplies

We are going to use a different product for this project. We are going to use alcohol inks and a blending tool. I also used a small pitcher from Dollar Tree. You can use any container that has a non-porous surface to do this project. So something that is slick like metal, glass, or something that has a clear coat on it. And just like the other projects you will need a few flowers.

To start our final project, I took some fingernail polish remover and a cotton ball and used the polish remover to get the words and animals off the pitcher. Next I took a Tim Holtz blending tool and felt pads to apply alcohol ink to the pitcher. Alcohol ink gives a marbling affect. If you do it on clear glass, it will look like it is stain glass. It is a really fun and cool to use. To use the ink, add a felt pad to the blending tool then put a few drops of ink on the felt pad and pounce it around the pitcher. The ink drys quickly. Once the first color is dry, on a clean felt pad, add a few drops of the next color of ink and pounce it around the pitcher. You can go back and forth as many times as you want between the two ink colors. Keep in mind the more ink you add, the more it will blend. Since I used Denim and Watermelon alcohol ink, I had to make sure I did not mix them to the point that the ink was purple.

Another thing you can do is use the blending solution to spread the ink out more or blend it together. Now if you do not like how the pitcher is looking, you can put rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and wipe down the pitcher. It will remove all the ink. Then you can start all over again!!

You can see the picture on the left how the ink blended but you can still really see the red and blue colors individually. Alcohol inks are really fun and you can use them in a few different ways.

Since this pitcher is so small I only used 3 flowers. And that’s a wrap!!! Project #3 is done!!

Styling the Projects

What do you think? These small flower arrangements are so cute!! They are simple and easy to do. Each has its own character and can be switched up to fit your style. In our home our decor is Patriotic themed so these flowers I could keep up all year long if I wanted to. I have these on a cart I have in our dinning room. I use candles sticks to add some height to the flowers so that the flowers are not all the same height and it has some interest.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Remember I will be posting 4 days in a row so please come back tomorrow for day 2!!

God Bless You and God Bless America!

Have a wonderful day,

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

Project 1

Buckets- Dollar Tree

Floral Foam- Dollar Tree

Red, White, and Blue Flowers- Dollar Tree

Greenery- Dollar Tree

Project 2

Terracotta Pots- Dollar Tree

Navy Acrylic Paint- Walmart

White Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Twine- Dollar Tree

Masking Tape- Dollar Tree

Floral Foam- Dollar Tree

Red, White, and Blue Flowers- Dollar Tree

Project 3

Pitcher- Dollar Tree

Alcohol Inks- Hobby Lobby or Michael’s Craft Supply

Blender Tool and Felt Pads- Hobby Lobby or Michael’s Craft Supply

Red, White, and Blue Flowers- Dollar Tree