How To Make DIY Fourth of July Decorations With Your Brother ScanNCut

It's almost the Fourth of July!  It's a holiday that basically demands red, white, and blue decorations for a backyard barbecue.  As a crafty gal, I love to decorate for the holidays.  However, I'm in a season of life in which my DIY decorations need to be quick and easy or they won't get done at all.  I'm sure that as my son gets older, I'll be able to return to more elaborate DIY craft projects, but I'm keeping it simple for this year's 4th of July festivities.  Thanks to my Brother ScanNCut, I can make beautiful things quickly. 

 I cut my shapes out of paper, but you could make it weather-proof by cutting them out of colored plastic.  (I would recommend plastic file folders or something similar.)

Here's what you need:

•    Paper (or Plastic)

•    BrotherScanNCut with Standard Blade

•    BrotherScanNCut Standard Mat

•    Sewing Machine

 

And here's how you do it:

ONE:Cut out lots and lots and lots of red, white, and blue stars. I used one of the star designs built into my ScanNCut.

How many exactly?  Depends on how grand a garland you want to create.  Generally speaking, I recommend cutting more than you think you'll need.  You can cut them all the same size or make them different sizes -- totally up to you!

I also cut out a bunch of yellow circles for a secondary garland. Again, this is a built-in design.

I used a double-sided paper that had light yellow on one side and dark yellow on the other side.

TWO: Sew the stars/circles together, leaving a gap between each shape as you sew.

I don't do anything special when I'm sewing through paper.  (Though, I do recommend changing your needle before you start a fabric project!)  If you decide to use plastic, consider using a teflon foot or walking foot for your machine.

Two Tips:

1.Leave some extra thread at the beginning and end of the garland to make hanging it up easier.

2.To store your garland without it tangling, wrap it around an empty tube, such as a paper towel tube or the tube from inside a roll of vinyl.

 

Ta da!  As I said, it's an easy project with a fun and festive result.  If you want to keep the look even more clean and simple, leave out the yellow circles and just use the stars:

 

Whichever way you decide to style your decorations, I hope you'll join me in taking a simple approach to 4th of July decorating.  You can even reuse these garlands on your Christmas tree, especially if you store them carefully using the tube method.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!