July 4th is traditionally a time spent with family barbequing, cooking, playing with the kids, and preparing to watch local fireworks in the evening. This year, take advantage of the three-day weekend and extend playtime with your nieces and nephews to two days. These simple pins made from salt dough are the perfect project to get fun time in with the kids on both Friday and Saturday – and to have them wearing their patriotism proudly for the day’s festivities!

What you need:
- 1 cup of lour
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1/2 cup of salt
- Rolling pin (or other roll-y object i.e. bottle or soda can)
- Ungreased cooking sheet
- Star cookie cutters (Or just a knife to cut out stars and other shapes – like the flag, and Uncle Sam’s hat)
- Red, white, and blue acrylic paints
- Acrylic sealer spray
- Toothpicks
- Pin backs
- Super glue

How to make them:

- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F
- In a bowl, mix together flour, water, and salt until mixture is stiff and a dough is formed
- Dough should be moist and elastic. If it's too sticky, knead a drop of flour in (not too much, though!)
- Put dough on the ungreased cookie sheet and roll out your dough to a ¼” thickness
- Cut shapes out and pull off excess dough to roll out again to make other shapes
- Feel free to dress up the dough a little bit – maybe by poking little stars into a soon-to-be-flag pin!
- Make sure all the shapes are on the cookie sheet and put into the preheated oven
- Bake for 2 to 2.5 hours
- Take out and let your shapes cool completely

I would suggest whipping up and baking the salt dough on Friday night and giving them overnight to cool off before decorating – just to be on the safe side (we don’t want any burnt fingers!). It will be a great opportunity to continue the July Fourth Fun and to prolong time with your nieces and nephews! On Saturday, spend the morning decorating your flags, hats, and stars with red, white, and blue acrylic paints, using toothpicks to paint fine details.

After your masterpieces are done, Auntie, make sure you spray the shapes with acrylic sealer spray so the paint doesn’t rub off. Glue pin backs on and let the pins dry so they will be ready to wear for the afternoon and evening.

These pins are a crafty-kid favorite, so your nieces, nephews, and godchildren should have a blast making and customizing them for July 4th. While all of you decorate your creations,
take that time to explain the importance of July 4th to the kids so that they can appreciate and understand the meaning behind both the holiday and their pins. This way they’ll be extra proud to boast their creations on their shirts, hats, and bags to the rest of their family and friends!