Election Day Cookies

Happy Election Day everyone! Please go out and vote! Here are some yummy cookies to entice you to do it:

Cookies from a mix. Frosting from the Better Homes and Gardens.  (Any tips on getting RED and BLUE frosting with food coloring?)

Short and sweet from me today so don't waste any time---VOTE!

WGC Independence Day Craft Roundup!

Last year on Wayward Girls' Crafts, we were very excited to celebrate Independence Day. Here are some of the Americana-themed crafts we shared in 2011!

Fourth of July Patriotic Word Art Printable

Patriotic Pinwheels

Festive Fourth of July Nails

Red, White and Spangled Candles

Red, White and Blue Baby Clothes Upcycle

Hope you found something to love in this

Wayward Weekend Roundup!

What will you make for Independence Day?

Fourth of July Candles

In keeping with our patriotic theme, these embellished candles could serve as a great 4th of July centerpiece. They would look nice with Jaime's pinwheel garland. You could even print out Jordan's graphic and apply it around a  blue candle using the same method as used to apply the stars.

To complete the candles, you will need:

1 tall white candle
1 medium red candle
18" of a blue plaid (or other blue and white design) ribbon, and 18" of 1/8" blue satin ribbon
2 star charms
blue tissue paper
hair dryer or heat gun (follow the directions for your gun and don't get burned!)

For the red candle:

It's pretty obvious-- just tie the ribbons around the middle of the candle. Tie the charms on the thin ribbon. Done!

For the white candle:
Cut  stars of various sizes out of tissue paper (I printed some stars from my computer for a pattern.)
If you have a star punch, use it!

To apply the stars, you can either lay the candle on its side and rotate it or stand it upright. Either way, be sure to put something under it to collect any drips. Start heating up one small area with either the blow dryer or the heat gun. The blow dryer could take a couple minutes for the wax to start melting.

Once the wax begins to melt a little, the surface of the candle should get  shiny. While it is shiny, apply a star and gently smooth it onto the surface. Continue heating the star until it adheres. A layer of wax will form over the stars. Continue applying stars on the rest of the candle. Sometimes the heat will blow off a star that you have applied. No worries, just stick it back on!

It's that easy!

Happy 4th of July!

PS-When burning the candles, make sure the tissue paper doesn't get near the flame.

Fourth of July Patriotic Word Art (Free Printable!)

Don't forget: tomorrow is the last day to enter the month-by-month onesie giveaway!

Since our Founding Father shares a name with one of our country's Founding Fathers, the Wayward Girls have been brought up with a love of our homeland.

To celebrate the Fourth of July this year, I decided to try my hand at my first "formal" word art:

To print this free printable, click on the picture above. (You might want to open the image in a new tab or window.) Make sure that the image is full-size: it should be bigger than your screen. If it isn't full size, click on it to blow it up. Then, from the menu of your browser, select print preview. The image is designed to print at 7"x9.1" (I had it at 8x10 but it was giving my printing program troubles still. Plus you can use a mat this way.) Make sure your page orientation is set to landscape and scale the picture to fit the page.

(Or you can fiddle with the settings to get it to print however you like.)

I think the "of the" might be my favorite part. The font looks like it's from a dollar bill!

How are you planning to celebrate (or decorate for) the Fourth of July? Or what's your favorite patriotic holiday?