Making 4th of July Rockets
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Making 4th of July rockets is a quick fun craft you can do with kids. It can be all done in an hour, depending on dry time for the base. You will have to help out with the glue gun parts, cause burned fingers are not any fun. I usually make 3 at a time, because remember in decorating there is power in using 3 items together. If you do this make the dowels different lengths, and cut the wire from the balloon weight to different lengths too.
I love adding a beach theme to my home for summer, so in keeping with my beach vibe I changed out the Navy blue in my decor to a beach blue green. Almost all of this decor was made using my Cricut, and cut files available from them. My rockets are my own design, and you don’t really need the Cricut machine to make them.
Here’s how they looked in my Family Room.
What you will need:
Balloon weight – I got mine from the Dollar Tree
Toilet Paper Roll
3 patterns of paper ( Grab the ones I used here. Yup they are free.) Download and print. These are traditional colors of Red, White, and Blue.
Dowel rod 1/4 inch round
Scissors
Wire cutter
Double sided tape, or use one of my can’t live without crafting tools, the Scotch Advanced Tape Glider.
Hot Glue Gun, I like a low temperature gun, and prefer the mini because they fit my hand better.
And you can use scissors for this one, but sooner or later you will want this.
Click on the machine and you will whisked away to the Cricut site.
or this
Drill with a 1/4 bit, there are fancier drills, but this is the one I use. Corded so I never have to remember to charge a battery before I can start a project. I also just used a standard bit, not masonry.
Lets start making 4th of July Rockets.
Take apart the balloon weight, and cut off the wire at the base. Spray paint the bottom. This can be drying while you assemble the rocket. I took the picture after using only 1 coat, but I decided to go ahead and give it another coat.
Cut 2 rectangles that are 1.5 inches by 6 inches. and one that is 1.25 inches by 6 inches, one from each of the 3 different papers. Decide which color you want for the top and cut a 4.5 inch circle out of it. Begin by putting tape on the back of a strip. Tape all four sides. Do the bottom, then the top and the middle last. I am showing you what will be the back. Try to keep all the tape seams on the same side so when we are done the front is pretty.
Next take the circle and cut to the middle. Tape on one side of the back of the paper and form a cone. You just overlap the paper to make the cone. I forgot to take a picture of that but you can see from the last picture how it is done.
Now run a bead of glue around the top of the tube. Then put the top on, and hold it in place for a minute while the glue sets up. Again put the seam towards the back so the front stays pretty. Now we have a rocket.
Next we assemble the tail. Start by gluing the streamer you cut off the base to the dowel , using hot glue.
Then after the glue has dried put a bead of glue on the opposite side of the dowel. This is what will be glued to the rocket. Make sure it is on the opposite side so that from the front the streamer will hide the dowel. Then glue to the inside if the rocket, with the dowel against the back side where the seams are. Hold in place until the glue sets.
Now drill a hole in the base that your dowel will fit into. If you use a 1/4 inch dowel rod, you will need a 1/4 inch drill bit. Remember to wear eye protection. You only have to drill down about 1/2 inch into the base.
Drop a few drops of hot glue into the hole you drilled, and insert the dowel. Again hold in place while the glue sets. Fluff out the streamers.
All done! A beautiful Rocket.
Following these simple steps you should be able to make your very own 4th of July Rockets. Have a good Holiday.
