A couple days before the 4th of July I saw a friend of mine post this awesome craft that she did while camping with her family. I knew that we had to do it with the kids for the 4th. We went down to my parents house on the 3rd and my mom and I went shopping for everything. Mom bought all the kids shirts, paint, brushes and freezer paper!
On the 4th I got to work making the templates for each shirt. This was the part that took the longest, but it was SO worth it. It made the painting part so much easier and less stressful for the kids. Oh who am I kidding for me...I hate it when crafts get all messy and wild and this made sure that the craft had some order to it and I need order in my life!
It took a couple hours to get all the templates drawn, cut and then ironed into place and then we waited until after the kids were done eating dessert before we had them start on their craft.
Jackson had been ready to start his for some time now!
In order to not have the paint bleed through to the other side of the shirt I ironed a piece of freezer paper to the inside of the shirt and then I ironed on the template on the front of the shirt. Who knew freezer paper was actually a craft product!!!
Zeke started at the bottom at first, but then I explained how it would be better to start at the top and work your way down so you didn't get red paint all over the shirt you were wearing.
This was actually such a perfect craft because it really didn't take the kids all that long and it was fun to have something for the kids to do inside since the weather was a bit cruddy out!
Zeke red lips almost match the red paint!
Victoria was the next one to get to paint. I actually completely forgot she was coming. My brother and Stephie don't always bring her....she's Stephie's niece from her side of the family. When my mom and I went shopping we didn't buy a shirt for her and I felt awful the moment I saw her. I knew she would feel left out if she didn't get to make one. The first thing we did was ask her if she even wanted to make one and of course she did and then I apologized for not remembering she was coming. Stephie ended up running up to Wal-Mart and that ended up being a stressful situation in and of itself. Again I felt awful! In the end though Victoria had a shirt to paint and Stephie bought another bottle of red paint which we would have completely run out of if we had only had the one so that was SO helpful!
The reason I only bought one bottle of red paint was because the pin I found on Pinterest only showed the shirts having about 5 red stripes. Once I started making the templates I realized that I could fit all 13 stripes on so it just made sense to make it look like an actual flag. So that called for about twice the amount of red stripes on each shirt and there were 8 kids!
Caleb was hard at work....he was super speedy too! I think he might have finished his the fastest! Jack and Caleb were playing so good all day so I'm sure he was just eager to go play some more!
Beautiful Ella Grace almost done with her pretty shirt!
Anna started at the very bottom of her shirt so to make it so she didn't get red paint on her clothes we just flipped her shirt around and then she worked from the "top" down.
Addison was the last kiddo to paint her shirt and then it was off to play more.
We wanted the kids to be able to wear their shirts later that day so I actually got the hair dryer out and started drying them. Once they were dry we were able to pull up the freezer paper on the front of the shirt and then the kids were able to come in and finish up the flag with a blue handprint!
Isn't it the cutest thing!!! The freezer paper template made the stripes look so crisp and then the cute blue handprint! The blue was the best color of blue too....it's just so festive! I love it!
We took the kids outside to get pictures with their homemade shirts!
Some were more willing that others to have their pictures taken.
The we realized...hello....there are decorations on the front of the house so we should have them stand in front of those!
We had enough props for 7 kids so Anna didn't have anything to hold for picture.
She was still a happy girl though!
They are just so cute!
And I'm pretty sure this will now be a 4th of July tradition. I already have the shirt idea pinned and ready for next year.
Individual picture time!
Ella Grace
Addison
Victoria
Caleb...I can't get over that toothless grin! Love it!
Owen Michael
Zeke Russell
Jackson Daniel
Anna
After a few tries I actually got a super great picture of all four kids. I think I might have to frame this one!
All my blessings!
Festive 4th of July!
Caleb & Jackson were major buds all day!
Me and my Mama!
Me and my Dad!
He looked quite patriotic in his eagle/flag shirt. Unfortunately he couldn't wear it like he normally does....tucked in. This was due to the fact that he just had his gallbladder removed on July 1st!
Ga-Ga & Pa!
Christina, Mom and Carrie.
Christina invited Carrie to come join us for the day. She is the sister to one of her neighbors and they just were chatting and Christina found out she was going to be by herself on the 4th. Well that just wouldn't do! It was so fun getting to meet her and talk about all the fun adventures she's had and going to have.
Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie!
All those pretty girls!
Cute Zeke boy!
I wanted to get a picture of all the boys together, but this was about as good as I could get! Boys!
After pictures it was time for fireworks!
Sparklers freak me out since they are so hot! We used the Solo cups to help shield the sparks from the kids hands.
We had a really hard time even lighting the sparklers since it was so windy. Michael finally had to go to the other side of our van so it would shield the lighter from the wind.
Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie were the ones that actually brought all the fireworks to share. It was so nice since we didn't buy any this year.
The Solo cups worked really well until Jack decided to hold 5 sparklers at once.....it pretty much melted! Thankfully he wasn't hurt!
Scooters and then smores and smokies out in the backyard!
It was a great time with family and friends as always! The 4th of July isn't just about bbq's, fireworks, smores and handpainted shirts though. I'm so blessed to live in this country where I can freely worship my Savior. America is going through some tough times, but no matter what, Christ is still on the throne and that's the only position of power that truly matters!
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