The month of June flew by, and here we are, just days away from the 4th of July! Since we LOVE the 4th of July, the kids and I have been busy celebrating and preparing for the big day!
I put together a list of a few of our favorite 4th of July-themed ideas. Although the food is yummy, the kids love the very last idea the most!
Enjoy!!!
EAT.
Patriotic Fruit Kabobs
Dylan and Lily are obsessed with these! They've been eating them all week! I cut up the watermelon at the beginning of the week, and stored all the extra stars in a big bowl in the fridge. To make the stars, just slice the watermelon into thin slices, then use a cookie cutter to cut out the shapes. Put them on a skewer along with blueberries and mini marshmallows.
Patriotic Marshmallow Pops
My mom made these for my kids before, but I didn't realize just how easy they were! Just put a marshmallow on a straw, dip one end in water, then dip in colored sugar. {Here's a great tip: Make your own sugar. It's cheap and easy! Put 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl, add a few drops of food coloring, and stir until all the clumps of food coloring mix into the sugar!}
Patriotic Pretzel Rods
These didn't turn out as pretty as they normally do (I blame the generic white chocolate chips!), but they were REALLY good. We made 24, and between 2 adults, and 5 kids, they didn't even last 24 hours! We make these for every holiday because they're so easy. Just melt white chocolate chips in the microwave, stir, then divide into 3 bowls. Add red food coloring to one bowl, blue food coloring to another, and leave the third bowl white. Dip half of the pretzel rod into one bowl of chocolate, then place on wax paper to dry. You can add sprinkles or colored sugar, but we opted not to this time!
Patriotic Toddler Meals
Liam FINALLY stopped tossing his dishes and utensils off his highchair tray! I was so excited to be able to use our Re-Play plates. (Check out the link! We LOVE them!) I started using them yesterday, and fed Liam a few 4th of July themed meals! The older kids were jealous and want their own Re-Play plates now!
DRINK.
Freeze red juice and blue juice (or Kool-Aid) in ice cube trays. Fill a cup with Sprite or ginger ale and add the frozen cubes. Cut the ends off a red Twizzler and use it like a straw!
OR just keep it easy for the kids and buy red and blue Kool-Aid Bursts. Cut the tops off and put in a Twizzler straw!
DECORATE.
I'm going to be honest. I didn't do much this year! I put wreaths on the doors, and put a few flags in outdoor plants on our porch and in our yard. I wrote on the chalkboards, put some flowers in mini patriotic pails, and added a few mini flags to the all the pails and vases in my house. I did borrow my friend's idea of coloring the water in vases with red and blue food coloring (she does this for every holiday). It's so simple, and I love it!
MAKE.
4th of July Ribbon Flipflops
The girls needed new ribbon flipflops for the 4th. I managed to finish Lexie's, but I burned my hand yesterday, and couldn't finish Lily's. I'm going to try to finish them by Saturday!
I've been making fancy flipflops since Lexie was 3. I started with balloon flipflops, then moved on to ribbon flipflops. They're SO easy to make! I always buy 3 different styles of ribbon. Cut the ribbon to a 6 inch length, then double-knot each strip of ribbon around the flipflop. Tie the knot on top and use an alternating pattern. Trim excess ribbon when you're done.
I know some people use clear nail polish on the ends of the ribbon to keep them from fraying, but the flipflops get so dirty that it's hard to reuse them anyway. It's best just to buy a pair for less than a dollar the following year and remake them!
Patriotic Headbands
This is another easy DIY! I buy the shabby flowers and elastic headbands from The Hairbow Company, then quickly stitch the flowers onto the elastic headband. I made 2 headbands in less than 10 minutes!
CREATE.
Fireworks Paintings
Dylan kept it simple, but added a few personal touches!
Lily got CRAZY!
And Lexie piled on the glitter!
We used forks and toilet paper tubes (with the end cut into strips) for the brushes. A quick Google image search will give you many more ideas!
STYLE.
Star-Styled Hair
This one was actually from a list of hairstyle ideas I bookmarked a long time ago. I recently saw it on Pinterest while I was searching for birthday party ideas, so I decided to give it a try. It's really cute and not difficult to do!
EXPERIMENT.
Fireworks in a Jar
Dylan did this in school a few years ago. He brought home a paper with the instructions, but I filed it away and never thought about it again. This was another thing that popped up in my Pinterest feed while searching for party ideas, so I decided to find the paper and give it a try!
Just fill a large jar (or cup) almost to the top with water. In a separate small bowl, add 2-4 tbsp of oil (just enough to cover the bottom). Use 4 different colors of food coloring. Add 3 drops of each color to the oil. Use a fork to gently smash the drops of food coloring so that each drop separates into smaller drops. Now S-L-O-W-L-Y pour the oil mixture into the water. If you dump it in, it will blend really fast. The slower you go, the longer it takes to mix, and the better it looks!
It was so simple, but SO captivating. The kids did it over and over and over again!
We are ready for the 4th!
We'll be celebrating all weekend! Our annual picnic is on the 4th along with a parade and fireworks, and we have a birthday party and another picnic on Sunday. We're looking forward to a fun weekend with our family and friends!
What are your plans?
I hope you all have a fun, safe weekend!
Happy 4th of July!
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