4th of July Decorations: Patriotic Firecrackers & Ribbon Bunting

I have another fun, crafty idea for your 4th of July decorations using gorgeous ribbon from The Ribbon Retreat, scrapbook paper, tissue paper and a household item we all throw away when it’s used up. (Well, unless you’re a crafter, then you probably hoard these! You might even take them from other people’s trashcans!)

Did you guess? These patriotic firecrackers are made using empty toilet paper rolls!

I have to thank Martha for the original inspiration for this craft. But I had to craft it up a notch and embellish my firecrackers with gorgeous patriotic ribbon from The Ribbon Retreat, sponsors of this month’s Crafty Hangouts series.

If you love ribbon like I love ribbon, be sure to check out The Ribbon Retreat. They sell lots of gorgeous grosgrain, velvet and satin ribbon, plus ric rac, trim and more in every color and pattern imaginable.

Through Sept. 30, The Ribbon Retreat is offering Crafty Hangouts viewers a 10 percent discount on all purchases. Just use code CH10 at checkout!

Twelve bloggers are sharing some fabulous patriotic crafts that you can make with ribbon as part of our #ribbonhoa series. You can watch the full playlist on YouTube.

Now, let me show you how I made my toilet paper roll firecrackers!

Instead of just making party favors out of my firecrackers, I decided to use them as 4th of July decorations.

I used hot glue to attach clothespins to the back of each firecracker. Then, I clipped them on a length of red chevron ribbon, looped at each end to create a patriotic bunting.

I made sure to alternate the direction of the clothespins so I could have some firecrackers facing up and some facing down.

You may also notice that the tops of these firecrackers are slightly different than the ones I showed in my video. I made these using 4-inch circles of scrapbook paper, with a slit cut halfway through each one, so I could shape them into cones. Either method works well; you can use the pattern here, or cut out circles. It’s really a matter of personal preference.

Be sure to pin this craft so you can make your own patriotic fire crackers.

If you like these firecrackers, you may also like these:

Spicy Fire Crackers (a great party snack!)