Easy 4th of July personalized Lollipop favors (And I mean personalized)

Looking for an easy (and we are talking minutes here) craft to keep the kids busy before the holiday?  Look no further.  Honestly I often get my craft supplies from unlikely sources, this being no exception.  Grab some 4^th of July Holiday cupcake liners, ribbon and few other supplies you probably have on hand and whip up some cute personalized Lollipops.  Wouldn’t these be cute using the group photo from last year’s celebration?

You will need:

4^th of July cupcake liners

Lollipops (I used dum dums but for adults you can use the fancy gourmet ones too!)

8 inches of 1/8” ribbon for each lolly

Double faced tape

Scan or use saved photos on your computer

Printer and paper

Scissors

1.     Cover the top of the lollipop with the cupcake liner. (Printed side facing out)  Gather the cupcake liner around the stick of the lollipop. 

2.     Tie an 8-inch piece of 1/8” wide ribbon tightly around the lollipop to hold the liner secure.  Tie in a bow.

3.     Print your photo on all-purpose paper making sure the faces are around the size of the front of the lollipop.  Cut out each face all around.

4.     Attach a piece of double-faced tape on the back of each photo face and stick to the front of the lollipop.  Smooth with your fingers to secure.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

Duct tape decorative guest soap sleeve

When I received the duct tape from Scotch duct tape in a tutorial exchange program on Totally Tutorials, I just couldn’t stop with only one project.  This adorable lacy duct tape pattern practically screamed at me to create something with it…so, you have not one, but two duct tape tutorials.

If you have extra soap in your guest bathroom, why not decorate them with a reusable sleeve until they are ready for use?  It’s quick, easy and fun to make.  Kid’s can even help with this too. You can even make this sleeve to use with scented home made soaps for a cute gift basket idea!

You will need:

3” x 1” bar soap

Cardstock in a color to match your bathroom

Scotch Lacy duct tape

Scissors, ruler, pencil

All purpose tacky glue

Stylus (Or dried out ink pen)

Clothespins

Bauble, cabochon, rhinestone or other embellishment for the top of the sleeve. (Optional)

1.  Measure and cut the cardstock   3” x 7”.  Working down the 7”length on the inside of your sleeve, use the pencil to make lines across as follows:

15/16” (The mark just before the inch mark),

2 inches

1 inch

2 inches

15/16” inch

2.  Use the stylus alongside the ruler to score and fold all the lines.  (See photo)

3.  Adhere a strip of the duct tape down the 7 inch length of the cardstock leaving a ½” extra at each end. (Outside of sleeve)   Fold the excess duct tape to the back (inside of sleeve)

4.  Spread some glue on the edge 15/16” margin on the side and attach to the opposite side.  Use some clothespins to hold the sides together till dry.

5.  When dry attach a bauble, cabochon, or other embellishment to the top.  Slide soap in the sleeve and enjoy.

Note:  There are tons of cool colors of duct tape so the sky is the limit!

P.S.  I've just joined the bowdabrablog.com design team and I'm looking forwards to creating fantastic bow crafts.  You should check out their awesome website and blog!  After all anything looks better with a perfect bow on it!

Woven duct tape reversible place mat

I recently received an awesome package of five rolls of duct tape from Scotch Duct Tape for the tutorial exchange held on Totally Tutorials and I couldn’t wait to start creating a few projects.  Check out their site for more fun projects using duct tape. If you use scissors to trim the edges instead of an X-Acto knife this is a great family project!

You will need:

Poster board

Scotch Duct tape, solid red and kiss print

Ruler, scissors, pencil

X-Acto or craft knife (Parents only)

Self-healing cutting mat or cutting board to work on

1.     Measure and cut two pieces of poster board, one 13” x 13” (For the strips) and the other 16” x 13”.(Placemat base)

2.     Work on a cutting mat or cutting board.  Place the 16” x 13” rectangle (Placemat base) on the board and apply a strip of red duct tape across the short side. Fold the top edge of the duct tape to the back.  Trim the sides with the craft knife or scissors evenly. 

3.     Continue adding duct tape strips overlapping slightly until you have one side of the rectangle completely covered. It will take about 10 strips.  Fold the bottom excess to the back. Smooth with your fingers to remove any wrinkles. Use the X-Acto craft knife or scissors to trim any excess on the sides. Turn over and repeat on the other side.  (See photo)

4.     Cover the 13” x 13” poster board on one side with red like you did for the larger poster board.  Trim all edges and fold the top and bottoms to the back. Turn over and cover the opposite side with the Kiss print duct tape.  

5.     Starting 1/3” inch from one edge of the 16” side of the red duct tape covered poster board, measure and cut 1-inch strips across stopping just up to about 1/3” from the opposite end. 

6.      From the 13” square two color duct tape covered poster board measure and cut into one-inch strips. Cut from the opposite directions that you placed the duct tape.

7.     Weave the two color strips onto the larger placemat base piece alternating over and under until you have used all the strips.  Push them tightly together. One side will be two-color and the other will be solid color.

8.     Finish your placemat by attaching a strip of red duct tape across where you ended your weaving and turn the rest of it to the back.  Press with your fingers to smooth out any wrinkles. Repeat this reinforcement around the other three sides to finish.

Placemat is reversible too!

4th of July Recycled water bottle vase

It’s seems like whenever I get the urge to cut some flowers from my garden I can never find a small vase.  Since the 4^th of July is almost here I thought making a few of these and putting around the tables outside would be just the ticket.  You can make this vase in flash and have the most fun ever with the Bowdabra Bowmaker!

You will need:

Empty water bottle

Scissors

Bowdabra mini Bowmaker

Small amount of ¼” satin picot edged ribbon in red

Small amount of ¼” ribbon in white

Small amount of 1/8” satin ribbon in navy blue

1 ½” sheer red ribbon

Ruler, measuring tape

Fast tacking all-purpose glue for attaching the ribbon to the bottle (you may use a glue gun if you are careful)

Glue gun and glue sticks for attaching the bow

Red, white and blue pony beads

1.   Remove the label and cut the top of the water bottle off evenly all around.

2.     Starting ½” down from the top rim of the bottle, measure the circumference around and cut a piece of red ¼” ribbon to fit. Run a bead of glue all around and attach the red ribbon

3.     Working towards the bottom of the bottle, leave a ¼” space from the red ribbon, measure the circumference, and cut a piece of white ¼” ribbon.  Run a bead of glue around the bottle and attach the white ribbon.

4.     Continuing towards the bottom of the bottle, leave ¼” space between the white ribbon.  Run a bead of glue around the bottle and attach the blue ribbon.

5.     Proceeding down the bottle, skip about 1 ½” attach a red, white, and blue ribbon like you did in the preceding steps.

6.     Depending upon your particular brand of water bottle you will have approximately 2 ½” inches of clear bottle at the bottom. Add some red, white, and blue pony beads. (They are not too heavy but they do weigh the lightweight bottle down a bit)

7.     Lay a 9” piece of red ribbon the long way into the Mini Bowdabra to be used to tie off your bow.

8.     Using a 16” piece of sheer 1 ½” red ribbon slide it directly into the Mini Bowdabra from the top.  The ribbon piles up like an accordion.  Scrunch the ribbon until you reach the end.  Use the Mini Bowdabra Wand to scrunch down the ribbon.

9.     While the bow is still in the Bowdabra, take the ends of the tie ribbon and tie it off. (Don’t knot it)

10. Gently pull the bow out of the Mini Bowdabra.  Take the ends of the tie ribbon around to the back of the bow and tie a knot.

11. Arrange and fluff out the bow and bring the two long ends of the tie ribbon to the front.

12. Use a glue gun to attach the bow to the front of the vase.

14. Add water and flowers. You may have to push the pony beads down but they will stay on the bottom.