21.6.10

Fourth of July Garland







I've been working on a little Fourth of July project for you. There are so many cute garlands around the bloggosphere that inspired me to try one out for myself. These stars are crocheted and then attached to a crochet chain, stiffened and voila you're ready for a celebration.

I tried another version and sewed them onto a red, white and blue ribbon but they didn't hang right, so I've decided to use them to run down the middle of my table and I'll take some and tie them around some napkins for napkin rings. It will be very festive.

The great thing about them is they take no time at all to make and you can whip up one of these garlands, or at least all of the stars while you are watching your kids at soccer or during a T.V. show. If you are not a crocheter here is a link to some good directions, including a video! Here are the directions for the stars.

Fourth of July Stars
Materials
1 skein red and 1 skein blue Size 5 Perle Cotton
Stiffy fabric stiffener
wax or parchment paper
buttons (optional)
Size 1 crochet hook (or whatever guage you want)

Make 7ch, sl st into first ch forming a ring.

1st round 1 ch, work 15 sc into ring, sl st into first sc.

2nd round 9 ch, work 1 sc into 4th ch from hook, 1 hdc into each of next 2 ch, 1 dc into each of next 3 ch, skip first 3 sc on ring, sl st into next sc, *9 ch, work 1 sc into 4th ch from hook, 1 hdc into each of next 2ch, 1 dc into each of next 3 ch, skip next 2 sc on ring. sl st into next sc; repeat from *3 times more placing last sl st into same st as sl st of previous round. Fasten off.

I made 13 stars (7 blue, 6 red).
To attach to chain. With red make a chain about 4 inches long. sl st into the top of a blue star, ch another 3.5-4 inches, sl st into the top of a red star. Continue alternating red and blue stars finishing with a blue star and make a 4 inch chain beyond the last star.

The stars will curl a bit so I used Stiffy and diluted it with the same amount of water. I painted it on both sides of the stars being careful not to get it on the chain and laid them out flat on wax paper to dry. You can sew or glue a button in the middle of the star if you want.

Now to get the picnic gear!!!!

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