~Fourth of July Craft Idea - Part Two~

Yesterday, I showed you how to make these festive centerpieces for the 4th of July holiday but I couldn't decide if I really liked using the bright red paper and fireburst decoration and so I thought I'd sleep on it.  Well, I couldn't wait that long.. .it was really eating at me that I could do better.  Of course, it may work for some but it wasn't the look I was wanting..so, I took off the fireburst display.  I'll save that for something else.  I took off the red wrappers that were supposed to be whipped topping since everybody knows there ain't no such thing as red whipped topping...unless you use loads and LOADS of red food coloring, but let's not go there.  Just agree with me, okay?

New cast of characters:
*White tissue paper cut into about 4- to 5-inch squares
*Several red and blue plastic straws
*Red candy for "cherries"

I thought maybe I could use just two squares of paper but decided that wasn't enough so I am using four squares of tissue paper.  Layer them kind of like I have shown above.

Cut two straws...I am using one red and one blue...and cut into about 5-inch lengths.  You can make yours longer if you want to.  Oh, I decided to change the straw colors.  The white ones just didn't have enough 'umph'.  That's the beauty of making these types of crafts.  There's nothing written in stone about how they should be done.  You can even use different colored straws if you want! Diversity is a good thing. Isn't that great???

Now take your two trimmed straws, overlap them slightly - they don't have to be exactly centered.  In fact, I like it better if they are just offset a bit.  Anyway....take a T-pin and secure the straws together.

I didn't take a picture of this step, but take your four or so layers of tissue...kinda scrunch them in the middle making a point (just like we did the red paper in yesterday's post).  Using a T-pin on the outside, secure it on the bald spot of your "sundae".  Then put your straws down in the middle of your new "whipped topping", which is white and looks more like whipped topping is supposed to look. :)  Push them in as far as they will go...you might want to use something a little more narrow than your thumb so that you don't flatten your design.

I didn't bother taking out my other decorations but I did reposition them just a bit.  I found some red Blow Pops that I could use for cherries even though they are a mite larger than what a cherry would be.  I unwrapped the candy just a bit so that I could cut off the stick, rewrapped it and secured the bottom of the wrapper with a T-pin.  I think red sour balls would look better though but I didn't have any and I wasn't going to go all the way into our small town...about a 20-minute drive to Wally World... just for a few red sour balls!
Tip:  Are your straws kinda lying down flat and not standing up like you want?  Take a T-pin and stick it in partway in under your straw for support.  Make sure you do it under the tissue paper so it doesn't show.  No one will know the better for it.

I changed out the white star for a red one.  I thought it showed up better.  Tada...and there you have it....two beautiful patriotic "sundaes" for your holiday setting!!!  So tell me, do you think the white tissue paper looks better or not?

I just bought the stacked American boxes at HL and found the other two in storage...quite by accident.  I forgot that I had them!  Guess I had better find me a better storage box for this stuff and LABEL it!  Ha!
I wanted to make a little vignette with my new patriotic "sundaes".

I could have put them on my beautiful table in the dining room, but we're not in there much.  So, I decided to put them on the island in the kitchen where we can enjoy them everyday.

Now back to the subject of diversity on this craft idea.  You could put some more of the candies in your sundae glasses if you wanted instead of the shredded paper.   Use whatever decorations you have...more or less...whatever floats your boat.  Put your own twist on the design just like I did when I "borrowed" this craft idea from Between Naps on the Porch.  By the way, if you haven't done it yet, you might want to meander over to her site to see how she made her beautiful "sundae".

This craft idea also works for other holidays and seasons...Easter, Halloween, a birthday, Christmas, a summer cookout...the ideas are endless!  And this would also make a great little gift for someone who is under the weather or returning home from the hospital...  Use your imagination and share your ideas with me, won't you?  I would love to post your pictures on my blog!  Enjoy.