Red, White and Blue Centerpiece

Looking for an easy and inexpensive 4th of July centerpiece!  I have made red, white and blue tissue “fireworks” and felt stars, in painted jars, so simple your children will want to help.

Materials:

• Tissue paper: red, white and blue
• Felt: red, white and blue
• Small wooden dowels painted white (I used 3 dowels 1/8 x 36”)
• Jars/bottles
• Acrylic paint: red, white and blue
• Tacky Glue
• Scissors
• Old newspaper or box
• Optional: Red star wired garland, American flag

Directions:

Start with the jars so they have more time to dry.  You can use any size or shape, glass or plastic will work, clean off any labels, clean inside well and dry.  Pour paint inside the jar, rolling paint until the inside is coated, turn over jar onto old newspaper or a box letting the extra paint drain down, then turn over and let dry.

For the tissue paper “fireworks”: cut the wood dowels to the length you need (mine are 10″ to 14″) and paint white.

Cut tissue paper into strip 4″ by 12″ this will be your center color (start with any color).

Make cuts about every 1/4″ but not all the way though the strip.  Run a thin line of Tacky Glue along the edge that was not cut, place end of dowel in glue and start rolling.

You want to roll around the dowel not down.

Your next strip needs to be wider, about 5″ to 5 1/2″ and the length 12″ (you can make it short or longer, up to you!).

Make the 1/4″ cuts, run glue on edge and roll on your next color (red).  Last  strip cut a little wider, 6″ by 12″, cut and roll on.

Quick and easy!  I just changed up the order of the colors and made my tissue strips different widths, that way they all look a little different.

For the stars I used felt but foam sheets would work great too.  Cut 2 stars from each color (used my star cookie cut for a pattern), glued one side to wooden dowel and then glued the other star on top (made one of each color red, white and blue).

I placed a small American flag in the third bottle.  On the white jar I wrapped red star wire garland (yes it was from Christmas!!) around to top and done.

Have a wonderful 4th of July.