Patriotic Firecracker Display

We are in the middle of the Summer celebrations at my house! I love decorating for every holiday, and the 4th of July is no exception. Today I’d like to show you a decoupaged project – a patriotic firecracker display for my mantel using scraps of wood and CutCardStock paper.

I went to a local home improvement store, asked to dig around in the scrap bin, and found 3 blocks of wood in varying heights. The first step was to sand them and base coat them in white acrylic paint. I like to sand them again after a base coat which helps smooth out bumps and gives them an older appearance.

Then I cut small strips of Pop-Tone Wild Cherry to fit 3/4 of the length of my wood. I’d recommend choosing the length of your stripe first then laying them out to determine proper width. With the top 1/4 of the block, I cut the same width as my 3 stripes in Blast Off Blue. And for my stars, I used a small star punch and the Classic Linen Solar White.

Decoupage is an easy and forgiving medium because it acts like glue and dries clear, like a sealant. First, I did a base coat of decoupage on the bottom. Then, I laid out the Wild Cherry Pop-Tone stripes and the Blast Off Blue panel.

After allowing it to dry, I glued the Solar White stars on the panel with decoupage and set them aside to dry. When that was secure, I went over the entire front panel with a coat of the decoupage and set it to dry again.

Now I needed to add some “sparkle!” I took some brown floral wire and wrapped it around the handle of my paintbrush, to give it a squiggly look.

I wanted the wire to stick out of the top, but I am not great with power drills – haha! Fortunately, my wood was soft because I took a simple push pin and poked holes in the tops of my firecrackers. Then, I inserted the wires inside. I recommend hot gluing them into place if you will store them after the season is over.

Taking several sizes of die-cut stars, I cut out shapes in Silk Glitter Silvermist and glued them to the tops. If you want, you can cut twice the amount and back them together. This would be great especially if your display will be seen from both sides.

The last step is to tie a colorful twine around the middle of each and put them on display! I love the bold colors from this project, and I hope you do too. Feel free to pin this on Pinterest for an easy craft project if you so desire. Thanks so much for being a CutCardStock friend!