We’re in the full swing of summer here in Northern California! This time of year always means backyard parties, barbecues, swimming, and of course, the Fourth of July!

If you’re throwing a Fourth of July party, why not cut out these cute decorative lanterns in red, white, and blue? Grouped together they make a patriotic centerpiece, or line your driveway with them to welcome your guests.

You can use LED tea lights to illuminate them! I had this thought and then realized my tea lights are in the attic and it’s 100+ degrees here today on the ground and I didn’t really want to die of heat stroke in our attic—so, mine remain unlit.

They are designed to match my 4th of July Pinwheels and my 4th of July Paper Banner, so make sure to grab those, too!

4th of July Paper Lanterns Supplies + Tools

• Red, white, and blue paper (I love the Stardream Metallics from PaperPapers.
• Vellum
• Glue stick
• Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore (there are too large to be cut on your Cricut Joy)
• Tea lights (optional)
• SVG File (download below)

4th of July DIY Paper Lanterns Directions

Setting up the file in Cricut Design Space

These paper lanterns are designed to be cut on a Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore, or other cutting machine. If you need help with your Cricut, check out my Learn Your Cricut ebooks! There’s one for each Cricut machine, meaning you’ll get all the details on your current machine and nothing else.

When you upload the SVG file into Cricut Design Space, you have to do a couple things to make it cut properly on your machine. Start by ungrouping your image.

Then change all three horizontal cut lines (the ones that run horizontally across each lantern) into a score line by selecting each line and clicking the Operation dropdown at the top. Choose Score.

You’ll see that your lines turn to dashed lines, indicating a score line. If you are using a machine that does not have a scoring tool, you can delete this line and just fold by hand.

Then use the Attach tool to attach the corresponding vertical cut and horizontal score lines to each lantern. Each lantern should be nested under an Attach heading in the Layers Panel on the left.

In the Prepare Screen, if you see your cut/score lines on their own mat, go back and re-attach things properly.

Cutting the 4th of July Paper Lanterns on Your Cricut

Once your cut and score lines are attached, you’re ready to cut. Place the paper or vellum on the Cricut mat. Then make sure you have the Fine Point Blade installed, and insert your mat into your Cricut. Press the blinking Go button and your Cricut will cut your lantern pieces.

Assembling Your Lanterns

You’ll have three large lantern pieces, three vellum inserts, and three strips of paper which will become the handles. First, fold the lantern piece in half along the score line. Then curve it around and overlap the two ends, creating the lantern. I found that a glue stick works best to secure it—craft glue rippled the paper a bit.

Curve the vellum into a tube and test to make sure it fits inside your lantern. Depending on how creased your lantern is in the middle, you may need to trim the vellum a bit. Once you have it correctly sized, secure it into a tube using glue, or if you’re not really planning on moving the lanterns that much, you can just set the vellum inside.

Then glue on the handle, add a tea light if it’s not a million degrees in your attic, and you’re done!

Remember, these are just decorative! Don’t light a real candle inside. I’m not responsible for any fires you create!

Print

4th of July Paper Lanterns

Get the free SVG cut files for these 4th of July paper lanterns! Delicate cut-outs made using your Cricut make these star-spangled lanterns a hit at any Fourth of July party.

Keyword 4th of July, Cricut, Paper

Servings 3 lanterns

Author Cori George

Equipment

• Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore
• Scoring Wheel or Scoring Stylus

Ingredients

• 3 pieces Paper Red, white, and blue
• Vellum white
• Glue stick
• 3 Tea lights
• SVG file (download in this post)

Instructions

• Upload the files to Cricut Design Space, and fix score lines.
  
• Attach each lantern to its corresponding score and cut lines.
  
• Cut your file using your Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore.
• Assemble your lantern with the glue stick by creating a tube with the vellum, and then folding and curling the outer lantern piece into a tube. Add your handle.
  

The post DIY 4th of July Paper Lanterns with the Cricut appeared first on Hey, Let's Make Stuff.

I find myself coming back to my stash more and more when making 4th of July crafts and decorations. For some reason, it just feels so…Americana. They are the perfect craft supplies for making DIY decor and projects! Check out the Dollar Store—they always have lots to choose from, or go scrap-busting in your own craft room!

This Independence Day, grab a spool of ribbon and start crafting! These patriotic crafts are perfect for parades, picnic centerpieces, 4th of July party decorations, fireworks celebrations and more. A lot of them also work for Memorial Day.

Please pin from original sources!

Patriotic 4th of July Ribbon Projects

PATRIOTIC WINDSOCK

My favorite project with ribbon is my patriotic scrapbusting windsock. I love how it blows in the summer breezes and is fun and patriotic without being too ‘MERICA! And you can probably make one with things you have in your craft room already, including an embroidery hoop, ribbon, and hot glue gun.

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RIBBON BRAID

It’s tutorials like this that make me long for longer hair! This super easy patriotic ribbon braid by a Girl and a Glue Gun is a great way to add some patriotic spunk to any patriotic celebration outfit!

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PATRIOTIC TOPIARY

This is one of my favorite patriotic DIYs! It looks difficult, but really it's quite easy if you follow The Desperate Craft Wives tutorial. Might have to make a few giant ones to decorate our patio! Would look cute "planted" in a mason jar, as well!

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RIBBON SCRAP FLAGS

There are a lot of ribbon flags floating around the Internet, but I think that this ribbon flag by Craftiments is one of the prettiest 4th of July decorations. I love how she used buttons for stars, and added in lace for the stripes. So delicate and pretty!

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RIBBON FLIP FLOPS

Want to go all out for the 4th of July? These ribboned flip flops (they remind me of fireworks!) from About a Mom are incredibly easy to make, and they aren’t permanent — just remove the ribbon after the 4th!

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FIRECRACKERS

Giggles Galore takes a few pieces of wood and some ribbon and makes some super adorable TNT firecrackers! These would be really cute sitting on a porch.

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RIBBON CROWNS

My friends and I used to make similar crowns in high school, so it’s fun to see a similar ribbon crown tutorial from Everyday Celebrate.

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NUMBER DOOR DECOR

If typical wreaths aren’t your thing, create this numbered door decor. Head on over to Craft Cuts for the instructions on how to make this fun Fourth of July craft!

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RIBBON GARLAND

I love all the fabrics in this garland from the Ribbon Retreat, including the fun floral that makes it extra special. Anyone can make this easy banner with red, white, and blue ribbons.

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SCRAP-BUSTING STREAMERS

If you’re going to a parade, you definitely want to make some of my scrapbusting streamers! Kids will have a blast waving them during a parade or party.

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TIN CAN WINDSOCK

I love how Mama Olie used her electronic cutting machine to make the stars for her tin can windsocks — each of her kids decorated theirs a little differently. So cute!

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STAR WANDS

What kid doesn't want a wand? Paper Source uses star shapes and a bit of ribbon to make these cute, vintage star wands. Little hands will love holding these in a parade or during fireworks!

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RIBBON FLAGS

These cute little ribbon flags from This Grandma Is Fun are easy to make and perfect for toddlers and other kids. Another fun one for parades and patriotic parties!

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These 4th of July ribbon projects are fun, right? Grab your spools and get making! If you love these 4th of July crafts, also check out my other roundups: 20+ Patriotic 4th of July Shirt Ideas, 20+ Free 4th of July SVG Files for Cricut and Silhouette, and 25+ 4th if July Printables!

The post 14 Easy 4th of July Ribbon Crafts appeared first on Hey, Let's Make Stuff.

What do you know about the 4th of July in the United States of America? This printable 4th of July trivia game gives you 20 patriotic fun facts! Some things you might know (What is America’s national anthem?) and some are much harder (What president was born on the Fourth of July?).

You’re sure to have a ton of fun and learn something new answering these 4th of July trivia questions with your significant other, coworkers, family members, and friends as you celebrate Independence Day! It’s the perfect game to play while waiting for night to fall so the fireworks celebration can start!

Print out a set for a July 4th barbecue and turn them into a drinking game while you barbecue hot dogs and burgers, with a side of apple pie! The perfect way to enjoy a lazy day in the sun being thankful for our freedom, or a perfect boredom buster as you wait for your neighborhood parade to start.

These trivia questions are great for adults and some teens, but are probably too tricky for kids (unless they are really good at knowing their Revolutiony War history, ha!). Have the host hold the cards in their hands and read the quiz questions for the partygoers to answer.

Don’t worry—all of the below answers are visible in the PDF download! Just wanted you to be able to see the questions without giving away all the answers! Good luck!

To download this Fourth of July trivia, just enter your name in the box below! You’ll receive an email to confirm your subscription and the download should start automatically when you click the button.

Love American history and the musical Hamilton? Check out my Young, Scrappy and Hungry SVG file. (Might make Alexander Hamilton smile and Thomas Jefferson roll his eyes!)

Grab our Fourth of July Printable Games Bundle

Our printable 4th of July party games bundle has six additional games that kids can play to celebrate America’s independence on this fun state holiday!

Make sure to print these on a slightly heavier paper stock—you don’t want people to read the answers through the paper! If you print on regular paper, make sure you hold each card in your hand to keep your partner from cheating. Want to know all the questions beforehand? Here you go:

Want some printable 4th of July Quotes? Check out my blog for some Free Printable 4th of July Quotes!

The post Free Printable 4th of July Trivia Cards appeared first on Hey, Let's Make Stuff.

My last five Fourth of Julys have been pretty much exactly the same. I stay home with my young boys while Ryan goes to set off a professional fireworks shows with a friend who’s a licensed pyro-technician. Boys in bed early and then I spend the next several hours comforting the poor dog who is terrified by fireworks. You haven’t lived until you’ve sat in a closet for two hours with a panicky Bernese mountain dog, I tell ya.

This year, though. This year is gonna be different.

Because we moved from California to Washington, we’re not near enough for Ryan to help with the fireworks show this year. And, sadly, we lost our pup to cancer back in December. I think the 4th of July will be the only day of the year I’m thankful he’s not here. And finally, the boys are old enough to stay up late and watch fireworks!!

I can’t wait to find a local show and experience the magic of fireworks with our boys (without the terrified dog and nervous wait to find out my husband is safe after the show!).

If you’re crafting for the fourth (think can koozies and flip flops and barbecue gear), I’ve rounded up some of my favorite cheap and free 4th of July fonts that are perfect for all of your patriotic crafting!

These are all patriotic fonts that I’ve verified will cut nicely on your cutting machine (see notes on the individual fonts below for suggestions). Just head to the site, click, (pay if necessary), and download.

This is a combination of free fonts and paid fonts. While getting fonts for free is great, I also think that the best, most “cuttable” fonts are often ones you pay for—plus you’re helping support graphic designers!

Double check the licensing if you are going to be selling items you make using these fonts. You want to make sure you have a commercial license (not just a personal use license).

Want to learn more about fonts with your Cricut? Check out these posts.

• Font Basics in Cricut Design Space
• How to Upload Fonts to Cricut Design Space
• Working with Script Fonts in Cricut Design Space
• Curving Text in Cricut Design Space
• Kerning Fonts in Cricut Design Space
• Where to Find Free and Cheap Fonts for the Cricut
• 101 Fonts for Cricut & Silhouette
• Single Line Fonts for Writing, Engraving, and Foiling

The Best 4th of July Fonts for Cricut & Silhouette

America | Spangled Pants: This is my favorite font for the 4th of July with it’s cute star cutouts. But it also has a non-star version, which I use all the time in other ways (like in the “born to” in the “born to sparkle” shirt above!).

Celebrate | Bright: Modern-but-retro fonts are really popular this year, with lots of letter options with swoops and swashes and glyphs. Bright is one of my favorites and has a fun, retro patriotic feel to it.

Barbecue | Freedom: Freedom is a fun font with two versions—the solid seen here and one with tiny stars. The stars are a bit small for a cutting machine, but work really well on printables!

Stripes | Multiplicity: Pair Multiplicity with some of the star fonts here for a fun stars and stripes feel! Don’t cut this one too small or you’ll be weeding those stripes forever.

Fireworks | Chasing Stars: Chasing Stars is a free, childlike font that is cute for kid’s projects. The i and the j both have a star instead of a dot!

Freedom | Flying High: A lot of the fonts featured here are big and heavy, so pair them with a font like Flying High to give them a lighter feel.

Stars | Meowica: Love the font Meowica because not only does it combine both stars and stripes, there are fun extras for patriotic cat lovers! Lots of creative ideas for this one!

Liberty | Billo: Billo is a round futuristic font that has fun accents like the star over the i and the “shine” on some of the letters. The perfect font for fun, retro party.

Independence | Really Special: A lot of patriotic words are long! If you’re looking for a way to fit more text in a smaller space, a narrow font like Really Special is the best way to make it work.

Sparklers | Fourth of July: Sparkers is a new font to my collection, but I like the combination of thin lines and stars to give this one a fun 4th of July feel. This would be a fun one for 4th of July party invites.

Flag | Star: Star is the quintessential 4th of July font. You can overlap the letters in different colors or use them all spread apart. This could also make a fun banner!

Summer | Captain of America: What’s the 4th of July without a little superhero power? This fun free Captain of America font echoes WWII fonts.

United | Independence Day: This is a fun font for cutting large—but if you want to cut it small, I’d contour out the little stars or your cutting machine might struggle a bit.

Fourth | BodieMF Flag: BodieMF Flag just screams 4th of July, with both stars and stripes! It’s A LOT in one font, so use it sparingly in headlines and not text.

Parade | Star Wish: Parade is a super-cutttable font that is perfect for your Cricut or Silhouette Fourth of July projects.

Betsy Ross | Lights: Lights has two versions, one with little stars and one without. I like combining the two to create a sparkly-but-not-too-sparkly look!

Check out fonts for other seasons!

• Valentine’s Day Fonts
• St. Patrick’s Day Fonts
• Spring & Easter Fonts
• 4th of July Fonts
• Summer Fonts
• School Fonts
• Halloween Fonts
• Fall Fonts
• Christmas Fonts

Get Ready for 4th of July

The post Cheap and Free 4th of July Fonts for Cutting Machines appeared first on Hey, Let's Make Stuff.

We love our scavenger hunt printables around here like our road trip scavenger hunt and around the house scavenger hunt! They are such a fun and simple activity to keep kids entertained at a birthday party, nature walk, or even on a rainy day if you’re stuck at home!

This printable Fourth of July scavenger hunt is full of everything red, white, and blue and is a fun and patriotic activity that you can do while you join in the celebrations, picnics, and parades, and then wait for the fireworks to go off!

Print off several of these printable scavenger hunt PDF files if you’re hosting a backyard barbecue, or print enough for your family to do together in between pool breaks on the 4th of July!

It’s always fun to see the different items people notice and who can find things the quickest. Add a prize or two if you want to make it a fun game with a winner!

Get the Fourth of July Printable Games Bundle

Want to make your 4th of July celebration even more fun? Check out this fun Fourth of July printable games bundle! Includes this 4th of July scavenger hunt, plus a 4th of July iSpy game, 4th of July ABCs, a patriotic word scramble and this-or-that, and 10 4th of July bingo cards! Each is a fun activity to keep kids and adults entertained until it’s time for fireworks!

Take a little neighborhood walk and look for things like an American flag, pinwheel, and streamers. You can also search your backyard if you’ve decorated it in a festive way!

How to Play the July 4th Scavenger Hunt

You can do this as an activity for people to complete at their own leisure or make it a competition and see who can find each of the items the fastest. It’s like a patriotic treasure hunt!

1. Print enough copies for everyone who wants to play
2. Look around to find the various items
3. Check off the boxes as you find each 4th of July item with a crayon, pencil, or marker

Enjoy playing this 4th of July scavenger hunt and searching for all things red, white, and blue!

Decorate for a Patriotic Party!

The post Free Printable 4th of July Scavenger Hunt appeared first on Hey, Let's Make Stuff.

Two years ago, I created these festive patriotic pinwheels. To this day, they continue to be the most popular Independence Day post of mine. They are so perfect for 4th of July parties and red, white and blue patriotic decorations for Memorial Day.

Last year I added some easy-to-make paper lanterns in the same style, and they were a hit as well. Both are designed to be cut on your Cricut or other cutting machine. Making beautiful decorations like this is easy with a Cricut!

This year I’m adding another coordinating file to make this a fun trio—a July 4th banner, with stars and stripes like the American flag! These fourth of July decorations are perfect for decorating your front porch, home, patio, and more!

For all three of these projects, I used shimmery and bright StarDream Metallics papers from Paper Papers. I love how these 4th of July flags cut—the StarDream Metallics are one of the best papers for cutting intricate designs that I’ve found. There’s just something so crisp about this paper, and it makes for a beautiful cut.

You can cut out these 4th of July banner files using your Cricut or other cutting machine. If you need help using your machine, check Learn Your Cricut ebook! It’ll walk you through the basics and is perfect if your machine is gathering dust in the corner.

Love this? Check out my Felt USA Banner that’s a fun addition to your patriotic holidays.

The make your own patriotic banners using your Cricut or other cutting machine. Nothing fancy to assemble with these files, simply string them together with ribbon and hang!

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE easy party decorating ideas. These patriotic flags are perfectly easy for any 4th of July event you’re throwing this summer! Happy 4th of July and I hope you enjoy spending time with friends and family and especially the fireworks!

Patriotic Party Ideas

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