DIY WOOD FIRECRACKER DECORATION
How to make your own wood firecracker decoration from a dowel rod
Looking for an idea to fill up your 4th of July themed tiered tray? These little mini set of DIY wood firecracker decoration are so easy to DIY and make a big “pop” on those rustic displays (pun intended 😉 ).
Along with these red, white, and blue fireworks, I made these star & stripes patriotic themed wood tags to go with my farmhouse tray too.
I love everything about these little hand-painted firecrackers. Love how uneven the white lines are on the smallest blue firework. Love how the polka dots are so dainty on the mid-sized white firework. And I love how varied and primitive the stars look on the largest red firework. I think they look so perfect on my coffee bar-tiered tray for the 4th of July.
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Here’s what you need to make mini wood firecrackers
DIY WOOD FIRECRACKER DECORATION
Equipment
Materials
- 3- 1” dowel pieces cut to approx 3”, 4” & 5” predrilled holes for wire wicks
- red, white, and blue acrylic paint
- rustic wire (can find at most home farm & feed stores)
- jute
- hot glue stick
Instructions
- CUT & DRILL A HOLE
- PAINT EACH DOWEL
- ADD POLKA DOTS
- PAINT THIN STRIPES
- PAINT LITTLE STARS
- GLUE IN WIRE WICKS
- WRAP WITH TWINE
If you love this DIY 4th of July craft be sure to check out these other red, white, & blue themed projects:
- 4th of July wood tags
- tiered tray mini signs
- repurposed drawer into an American flag
- free standing wood stars using your Cricut
1.CUT & DRILL A HOLE
I used an old dowel rod for my mini firecrackers. The previous owners of our 120+-year-old home had used this thick dowel rod to hold curtains in what is now my craft studio. I couldn’t just toss out a perfectly good dowel rod like that so I put it up in the garage till I found a project to use it on. This patriotic craft was it!
I cut the dowel to approx. 3”, 4”, and 5” pieces. This does NOT have to be exact. If you think those are too tall or not tall enough adjust your dowel pieces to fit your needs. I used a tiny drill bit to make a hole in the top of each wood dowel piece. This will vary by the size of wire you use.
2. PAINT EACH DOWEL
I chose to use the colors: bright red, English blue, and white for my patriotic colors. Any blue, red, or white will work though. I painted the smallest firework blue, the middle firework white, and the tallest firework red.
I added 2 coats to the red and white fireworks and 3 coats of paint to the blue firework. The blue didn’t seem to have as great of coverage so a third coat was needed. To speed up the drying time I used my handy heat gun.
3. ADD POLKA DOTS
Using the end of my paint brush I added polk a dots to the medium sized wood firecracker. Lightly dipped the wood end of the brush in red paint then gently dotted red dots randomly on the firecracker.
After I was happy with how many red polka dots were on the firecracker I wiped the end of the paint brush off then did the same thing but with blue polka dots.
4. PAINT THIN STRIPES
Just like with the patriotic wood tags I free handed the stripes on the blue firecracker. I actually love how uneven these turned out. They look hand painted and not super crisp (which I love crisp lines on lettered wood signs but for this craft I really wanted a handmade look). I have an artist brush that I have trimmed to a point to use for crafts when I need a thinner brush.
Jut like with the polka a dots I lightly dipped the tip of my brush this time into the white paint. Then I semi steadily and slowly painted stripes going horizontally around the blue firecracker.
5. PAINT LITTLE STARS
Using the Cricut or even star stickers are an option you can use to paint the stars. However they would give clean perfect sizes and I was going for a more primitive look. I used the same artist paint brush that I used for the stripes to paint the stars. I lightly dipped the tip of my brush into the white acrylic paint then painted the stars super old school like crisscrossing my lines then filling the middle in.
The stars were painted at varied sizes so they didn’t look identical.
6. GLUE IN WIRE WICKS
I didn’t realize my glue gun wasn’t really in the camera frame when I did this step so you can’t see it in the pic. The wire pieces used for the wicks were a bit too long so I trimmed them as I went. I used my precise tipped hot glue gun to add a tiny bit of glue to the bottom end of the wire pieces, working on one firecracker at a time. Then I quickly placed the wire piece in the drilled hole in the top of the firecracker.
7. WRAP WITH TWINE
After paint and hot glue were dry I placed the three firecrackers together. Then I took a piece of jute/twine and wrapped it around the firecracker bundle a few times and tied it off with a little bow.
Oh my goodness I LOVE how this little wooden bundle of firecrackers turned out!
Check out the other handmade pieces of my farmhouse 4th of July coffee bar tray below
Free standing wood stars
