4th of July Rockets

We had to find an inside project to keep Sophie entertained today because it's been raining non-stop. Not only raining but POURING!! My husband Robbie was inspired to make these cute Fourth of July rockets from toilet paper roles after seeing a similar project at Alpha Mom.

Sophie was happy to help! Here are the two of them deep in concentration.

Here's how you can make some:

Supplies:

• Toilet paper roles
• Red, white and blue fabric, construction paper or scrap book paper 
• Red, white and blue ribbon
• Things to decorate your rocket: stickers, sequins, tissue paper, markers, paint, pipe cleaners, etc.
• Yarn or string 
• Stapler
• Glue 
• Tape
• Scissors 
• Pony beads - 1 per rocket
• Hole punch

Directions:

1. To make the rocket body, cut fabric, construction paper or scrapbook paper to the size of the toilet paper role and staple or glue in place. 

2. Cut a 3.25 inch circle and cut a slit from the edge to the middle. Fold it into a cone shape and staple in place. 

3. Decorate the cone and rocket with stickers, sequins, markers, paint, tissue paper or anything else you wish to embellish it with. This of course was Sophie's favorite part. 

4. Use tape or glue to attach ribbon streamers to the bottom of the rocket. I think crepe paper would also look cool but we didn't have any on hand. 

5.  Use a hole punch to put 2 holes on either side of the top of the rocket and run a piece of yarn or string through the holes.

6. String the 2 ends of the yarn through a pony bead and up and out of the center of the cone. The bead keeps the yarn centered so the rocket will hang straight. Make sure the yarn is long enough to hang the rocket. 

Here they are with the finished product:

Obviously kids will need adult assistance to make these but the decorating part is perfect for little hands. 

Sophie also enjoyed wrapping the yarn around everything in our dining room. And dancing to patriotic music her Daddy had playing. It was a good distraction from the rain in more ways than one.

Alpha Mom  has instructions for making these as popper rockets that will "explode" and release confetti. I'm sure any kid would love "popping" those but we decided to simply make them as decorations. We're busy enough with a newborn without having to vacuum up confetti from all over the house! 

And this has absolutely nothing to do with this craft project but I happened to snap this really cute silly picture of Sophie! I love this kid! (And she's a great big sister too!)

Hope everyone has a happy 4th!

Linking to these parties!