It's All About the Red, White and Blue!

Let's face it, the fourth of July is one of those holidays that doesn't exactly get as much decor prep-time as oh, say, Christmas.  In fact, other than the obligatory family barbecue, maybe a baseball game, making sure to wear some red, white, and blue, and the fireworks at the end of the night, what other planning do people even do for this patriotic day?

Never fear, I am here with a super fast, super easy DIY fourth of July craft to save the day!  The project takes about two minutes to put together and is a great project to get the kids involved!

Who out there knows about colored rice?  This amazing little life-saver is so easy to make, and super cute to decorate with!

First, I found a container to put the rice in.  I went with this amazing hurricane container the Mister and I got as a wedding present x many years ago.  But you can use whatever you'd like, really.  I think it would look JUST as cute in a mason jar!  Because really, what can't a mason jar do??  You could make a few of them and put one tea light in each jar, or maybe fill one with just red rice, one with white, and one with blue!  

Anyway, I poured in some rice, just to see how much I would want for each color.  

Then it was time to pour the rice into a large ziploc baggie, add some vinegar and food coloring, and get shaking!  The original instructions I read for coloring rice actually said to use rubbing alcohol, but I found vinegar to be a good substitute, and safer for those of you out there with small children (or fur babies) who may try to eat the project!  For the amount of rice I used, I put in two caps of vinegar, and 10 drops of food coloring, but you can play around with it and find what works best for you, more food coloring = deeper colors!!

After a good shaking (super fun for the kiddos and adults alike!), I poured the rice onto a paper plate and let it dry.  I left the rice for an hour just to be sure (I didn't want food coloring all over my fingers!) but if you're using less rice it won't take as long.

Looks good enough to eat, doesn't it!  

When I came back to the rice, I found it had kind-of all dried together.  Just carefully run your fingers through the rice to break it all up (keep it on the plate though!) and it should be fine.  All you do after that is pour the rice into the container and you're set!  

Happy Fourth of July!!