Happy July 4th!

Hello once again my awesome friends! This year for the fourth of July I thought it would be nice to do a craft to make the front door look fun and festive.

 

To start you will need the following items:

box cutters
scissors
cardboard
card stock (optional)
a hot glue gun with plenty of glue
1 1/2 inch ribbon non pattern (theme colors is preferable)
red, white and blue scrap ribbon
lighter

Preparation:
1. Cut out two pieces of cardboard the same size that what ever size you choose. (Mine is 16x13')
2. Cut out of the card stock a pieces just smaller the desired finished side. A cereal box works well for this but you could also use a piece of cardboard in you don't have any on hand.
3. Start you hot glue gun to a heat appropriate for the ribbon you are using.

Assembly:
1. Glue together the two pieces of cardboard that are the same size. Careful to match up all the corners and edges.

2. Starting in the middle of one of the sides attach your 1 1/2 inch ribbon to your two bound cardboard. Glue down to ribbon one side at a time and pull it tightly to the other side to glue down. as you come to a corner fold and tuck the excess ribbon and glue it down. To finish over lay the glued ribbon end by an inch or so with the free end.

3. Now the fun part! Cut strippers of ribbon long enough to cover the front of the board and reach over the sides to the exposed cardboard. I found that 3 inches longer then the board on either side to be perfect.
 

4. Once you have the ribbons cut out you can start attaching them to your board in the sequence you like. Tip: I found that placing a little glue on the board in a few spots under each ribbon helpful in preventing it from sagging.

5. Once your ribbons are all on cut 2-4 ribbons about 12 inches long. These you will attach to the back of the board to hang it from. Be sure that each bundle of ribbon is an equal distant from center and that each individual ribbon receives glue. Tip: to prevent fraying bring the exposed ends of the ribbons individually close to a flame but not directly in it, creating a small singe.

6. Attach the card stock or remaining piece of cardboard to the back covering the exposed ribbon ends. You can make it even nicer my gluing plain fabric to it's outward facing side before attaching it.

7. Tie your hanging ribbon ends; Hang where everyone can see.

Enjoy!