fast & festive for the fourth

ready for a quick idea to brighten up your home for this holiday weekend?  we were in need of some serious mood lifting this morning and in under an hour we whipped up some child-friendly craftiness.

using scrap papers in reds, whites, and blues and our large punch, the littles and i made a stack of stars. 

(keeping scrap paper is a must for me,  i have two expanding file folders full of organized-by-color pieces.  i also think  punches in all shapes and sizes are so handy - the possibilities for their use is really endless.) 



we came up with our lay-out by randomly arranging and rearranging stars on a large table until we each gave approval.  then i ran each star through the sewing machine.  i grabbed a few at a time, so i wouldn't constantly be stopping and starting.  i also sewed towards a point, not from one, in case the point would get caught or bend.  it took less than 10 minutes.  (not forever as luca predicted.)



one of the custom banners i made for the shoppe last month had lots of reds and blues and i remember storing away this idea for a paper garland when i saw the scraps on my work table. 



luca kept watch as they fell off the back of the machine.  quality control folks.



i didn't plan out the length or anything, we just punched until we were bored (which only took about 10-15 minutes.)



right now our front porch is sporting a starry welcome.  they spin and flutter in the wind.  so pretty.

i will move the garland to the backyard for our bbq on sunday.  i think they would look so neat hanging over the picnic table.



then i asked luca if he wanted to try it out himself.  first time using the sewing machine!  he was super duper excited.  after punching out some stars of his own,  i showed him how to run them through. 



we decided to hang it in their room.  this boy is proud of his work.



i don't think we have seen the end of sewn paper garlands in this home.