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Make 4th of July pillows from t-shirts and old stuffed animal filling from THRIVE

So … summer.

It’s time to actually spruce up the ‘ol front porch for the 4th.

Turns out, though, I’m fresh out of décor for the 4th of July or porches in general.

And as usual, my budget is zero dollars and zero cents.

That means I’m left with whatever I can make out of my classy craft stash of old, stained shirts and trashy I’ve-been-through-six-kids stuffed animals.

Nice.

But with a little creative cutting, sewing and repurposing, I still managed to come up with:

3  pillows + 3 ways + 3 stuffing types

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As always I hope you can take this idea and Rock What Ya Got and make your own version without a run to the store.

#1 – Striped Pillow with zippered close + old throw pillow

Make 4th of July pillows from t-shirts and old stuffed animal filling from THRIVE

I grabbed two stained polo shirts, pieced together wide stripes for the front  and added a solid (red) piece for the back. Stained fabric? No biggie. Use the back side … no one cares or will notice. I added some top stitching for extra awesome points along the stripes, a zipper at the bottom and slid in an old throw pillow to finish. Done and done.

#2 – Blue Star pillow with button closure + fiberfill stuffing

Make 4th of July pillows from t-shirts and old stuffed animal filling from THRIVE

I ironed Heat’n’bond ultra to the back of some scraps and then cut stars on my Silhouette machine (hand cutting works great, too). Shapes were ironed on and top stitched for again—extra awesome points. Because I’m lazy I loved the wide hem on the bottom of the shirt, I used that look to finish the pillow. Fronts and backs were pinned together right sides OUT and then stitched completely shut.  How’d I get the stuffing in? Easy! I just flipped the pillow over (to the old front of the shirt) and inserted the stuffing through the three buttons that ran down from the neckline. (Yup, I totally left them attached to save time.) Once the pillow was stuffed, I buttoned the shirt back together, flipped it over and voila! Finished pillow with a sneaky closure.

#3 – Camo U.S.A. pillow + old stuffed animal fluff

Make 4th of July pillows from t-shirts and old stuffed animal filling from THRIVE

Oops, I did it again. I pulled a few ratty stuffed animals out of the ‘toss’ pile and pulled out all the stuffing to add to this pillow.  So sick of still having Easter plush around the house. Those clearance isle Easter Bunnies that are falling apart need to go bye-bye. I cut the letters on my Silhouette CAMEO, but again, scissors work great, too. The side seems were already in place from the shirt and the top/bottom edges were machine stitched closed in two seconds flat. I left a small opening along the bottom to stuff the pillow and whip stitched it closed.

So there you go – 4th of July flair no matter what you have on hand!

Now go grab those fabric scraps. Slip cover an old throw pillow or two. Use the buttons on a t-shirt for a quick closure. Put the stuffing in those unused stuffed animals to work.

Bet you come up with something flat-out-free and fabulous!

Make 4th of July pillows from t-shirts and old stuffed animal filling from THRIVE

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Happy Tuesday everyone! I’m back with those new 4th of July t-shirts I mentioned here.

I love me some flag tees a la Old Navy, Aeropostale and Walmart—they’re cute, cheap and an easy way to get into festive mood.  But even at $4 or $5  a pop, I’m still staring down $30-40 to deck all eight of us out in new shirts. And right now I’m hanging onto every penny so that we can spend 15 magical hours in the car to go visit grandparents next month.

No problem.

I happen to have several massive totes full of destroyed-stained-faded-ripped clothing to work with. And with some help of my trusty 1941 Singer Featherweight sewing machine I was able to turn this hot mess …

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… into this.

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Three cute flag tees and vintage one to boot for absolutely NADA out of pocket.

And you could make any patriotic combo using whatever is in your stash bin—combos like:

1) Shirt + scraps + straight stitch sewing

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2) Stained shirt + cheapy $1 Walmart flag that’s been ripped off + craft paint / vinyl stencil

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(The ink stain was so dark that I sponged white craft paint on first to cover it and then stitched the flag over top. This was the only shirt where the hair spray trick didn’t work – boo.)

3) Stained shirt + strategic stenciling + great vintage inspiration

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(The snake was cut on my Silhouette, the font is JSL Ancient.)

Stains were covered using vinyl (or freezer paper) and stenciled with house paint from our kitchen remodel – ha! The inspiration was this awesome flag from the Revolutionary War.

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(Source)

My son changed up the saying on his shirt to make it “cooler.” Whatever.

4) Plain shirt + scraps + snaps

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This shirt came together with scraps sewn on white felt and attached with snaps just like these interchangeable shirts here. Looks great with these clippies, too!

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Ah … festive flag tees for the kids without touching my bank account (plus some stash busting, too!) Now all I need is a watermelon and some fireworks and I’m ready for the weekend.

Happy Almost 4th of July!

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Ya know that 4th of July kick I’ve been on?

Yup … still there.

I’ve been watching for fun holiday clippies for my girls to go with their new flag tees (more on those later). And while there are so many cute flower-corker-ribbon-tulle clippies out there, I was looking for a bit of a change.

Enter the Firework Clippie.

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Cute and shabby and oh-so easy to switch up for any holiday or outfit.

Want to make your own?

You’ll need your nicest, faded-out Sundance shirt, old-for-painting-only white polo and ratty Superman shirt.

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Or whatever.  🙂   Rock What Ya Got, right?

And you can make these in minutes.

Cut red, white and blue shirts in 0.5” x 4” lengths. Stack 12 strips together and tack together in the center with a few stitches.

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Tie a 3” strip around the middle and glue in your clip.

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Easy. Quick. Done.

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Firework clippies perfect for those hometown parades, pancake breakfasts and firework displays.

Happy Crafting!

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I’ll admit it: I’m a 4th of July nut.

I can’t wait for warm weather to arrive so I can bust out my extensive collection of retired Old Navy flag t-shirts and plaster the back of my suburban with every God Bless America / Don’t Mess With Texas / These Colors Don’t Run / Land of the FREE because of the BRAVE bumper sticker I can find.

Because I love it all: the red-white-and-blue everything … the patriotic music … the hometown parades with a million little flags waving … watching veterans of all ages march behind a color guard … the sense of community as friends and neighbors light fireworks in driveways or gather for a big display … and that extra lump in my throat every time I see a soldier in uniform or hear the roar of fighters overhead.

And this year those feelings are hitting me twice as hard because those soldiers our family pray for each night now have a familiar face among their ranks—my amazing sister who returns home to her family on Saturday after months away training. 

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So in honor of her return, those flags for the front of the house are coming out now, baby … the kids are all getting {new} flag t-shirts … extra sparklers are going into that shopping cart … and I’m plotting how to turn all of my favorite summer desserts-salads-pastas-sandwiches-bbq-drinks into platefuls of patriotic deliciousness. 

So I proudly present the first recipe to get into the holiday spirit:

Star-Spangled S’mores

done four ways of course to keep my picky half dozen happy.

And before you start—I know, I know, I know

S’mores are the perfect summer dessert and don’t need any tweaking.

But if you happen to have some left over white candy melts … and food coloring … and designer marshmallows … and an afternoon to kill with a certain I’ve-only-been-out-of-school-for-two-weeks-and-am-already-bored-ten-year-old, you start playing around.

No. 1: Graham crackers + Hershey bars + Kraft Jet-Puffed Star Marshmallows

Behold the open-faced goodness. Perfect for rocking S’mores Indoors.

Or c’mon–how cute are these marshmallow kabobs?

Yum.

No. 2: Short bread cookies + tinted candy melts + regular marshmallows

No need to add any extra chocolate to these lovelies.

No. 3: Graham crackers + tinted candy melts + regular marshmallows

Dee-lish.  And finally …

No. 4: Graham crackers + tinted candy melts + 3rd grade art skills + regular marshmallows

Awesome with or without extra Hershey bars.

See?

Yup.  Really good.

So there you go …

Star-Spangled S’mores four way new ways. Enjoy!