Tag Archives: sparkler

Sparkling Fourth of July!

 

The time has come to deck out the porch in red, white and blue to celebrate our freedoms and thank the amazing men and women who make it possible! So, grab your sparklers, lay out a spread of the best 4th of July snacks and prepare for our favorite celebration of the year! Independence Day is less than two weeks away and we are more than ready to celebrate this exciting holiday!

When you think of the Fourth of July you think of American flags, backyard parties and of course sparklers! So, let’s start with the endless possibilities for decorations! For starters, if you have an American flag, display it! If your flag is already out check it, it may be time to replace it. When I decorate for a party I like to go all out, I just love the classic American red, white and blue everywhere from table cloths and plates to desserts and center pieces! One super cute and easy idea is getting some red, white and blue flowers for center pieces! I love to upcycle used jars, so I put an assortment of flowers in a jar and added a mini American flag and it was the perfect addition to our festive decorations!

Now for the best part of your fourth of July party, sparklers! Sparklers are always so much fun for the whole family! We have a variety of sparklers and 4th of July sparkler packages to add to your Independence Day fun. Our Patriotic Sparklers Party Package includes 10 packages of our 10 inch sparklers and a package of our gold star sparklers as well. The 10 inch sparklers and our star sparklers have a burn time of 45 seconds which gives you plenty of time for fun and pictures! To add to all the patriotic fun, we have included two confetti cannons, so you can be showered in a cloud of red, white and blue! Our confetti cannons are super easy to use just hold the confetti cannon with both hands, point them at the sky, twist the bottom and BOOM! You will have red, white and blue confetti shooting up to 15 feet in the air showering you in a patriotic cloud! It also includes 8 glow sticks, 4 boxes of kid snappers and 6 jumbo assorted color smoke bombs to add the party excitement. We also have our 20 inch sparklers which are perfect for sky writing with a burn time of one minute and a half to help capture the best pictures!

Let’s not forget safety this Independence Day especially while using sparklers! Sparklers are fun for everyone to enjoy but make sure all children are supervised by an adult. Sparklers should always be held at arm’s length and you should be standing 6 feet away from other people while the sparkler is lit. Once the sparkler has burned out, place it in a bucket of water or sand. Just because the sparkler has burned out does not mean that the stick is not still hot, once the sparkler stick is placed in the water or sand bucket and completely cooled it is safe to throw the sticks away.

I hope your Independence Day celebration goes off without a hitch and our patriotic party package will help add that extra spark to your party! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for all our party package updates and don’t forget to tag us in all your sparkling pictures! We love to see your smiling faces!

Creating Christmas Traditions

First comes love, then comes marriage, then come babies….and realizing that making Christmas magical can be a lot of work (and expensive)! If you are like me and you love this time of year, it can be hard not to splurge for every expensive Christmas “experience” out there. I have 2 little girls and another little on the way so we are trying new things to find the traditions we really love and can afford to continue. Here are three inexpensive things we have tried and loved.

Christmas Book Countdown

This tradition has been a favorite of mine for a couple of years now. I collected Christmas books from my childhood, garage sales, and discount stores throughout the year and set them away. You could also borrow some from your local library for free. In the end, it doesn’t really matter how many books you have. How many books you have will determine when you start the countdown.

All you have to do is wrap your book collection and put it under the tree.  To save money, I use leftover paper and scraps from last Christmas. The wrapping can be tedious but you can get help from older children. My four year old loved helping this year. She is learning how to write numbers, so she also numbered each book in black marker from 1-24.

Once the prep is done, the kiddos get to take turns finding and opening one book from under the tree each night.  My kids wake up each morning asking if its time to open another book. It doesn’t matter to them that it’s the same books each year. It actually makes for a good guessing game.  Added bonus: they don’t beg to open their other gifts early.

These books looked better than ours but my girls loved helping! Via River’s Edge Curriculum

 

Follow the Bright Star

Adorable sticking out of the tree!

This year I wanted to be sure that we emphasized the Nativity story.  So, I picked up a package of gold star sparklers. The star sparklers come 6 to a package so just one was plenty for my little family. Once I opened them to take a look, the sparklers were so cute I decided to stick them in the tree as decoration. (Disclaimer: I have an artificial tree and double checked how warm my lights got after being on for an extended period of time. Sparklers obviously can catch fire so use your best judgment if you decide to try this.)

On the night we opened the story of Jesus’s birth we talked about how the 3 kings followed a bright star to find Jesus in Bethlehem. I told them that they should also always seek out Jesus and that He is the real reason for why we celebrate Christmas. Then I let them go and “seek out” a star on the tree to take outside to light.

Sparklers are such a treat for kids that they really only get to enjoy once or twice a year. My girls loved this so much they wanted to burn them all in one night. I decided to make them wait and we will burn one each week and talk more about the story of Jesus’s birth each time. This could also be a fun kids Christmas party idea or even as take-home favors.

 

Christmas Eve Box

This tradition is really simple. I wrap a present for my girls with pajamas, snacks, cocoa mix and a Christmas movie to open the 24th. Last year I had purchased Polar Express on sale but you could even record a favorite from the Hallmark Channel or the “25 Days of Christmas” special to watch. We love this tradition, the kids love it and it is a low-cost gift that doesn’t require buying anything the kids don’t already need (face it, by the end of the year they all need a new set of PJs.)  My husband and I also really enjoy all of the snuggles and curling up with a cup of hot cocoa before the craziness of Christmas morning.

However you choose to celebrate the season, we hope its wonderful and full of good cheer!