The Best Memorial Day Activities That Will Make Your Party Memorable
Memorial Day is the official kickoff to summer for my family. Check out these Memorial Day activities to make it a fun day for you guys, too!
Watermelon Vase
Watermelon is one of the most summer fruits you could possibly have. We only have it during the summer because we use it as a decoration, too. Check out one of the prettiest Memorial Day activities below!
What you’ll need:
- Watermelon
- Bucket or vase
- Knife
- Red, white and blue flowers
- 2 American flags
Steps:
1. Hollow out the watermelon, making a hole big enough to put a vase or bucket inside. Fill the vase up with water to hold your flowers.
2. Arrange the flowers however you want, making the vase look pretty as a centerpiece. Place a flag on either side of the flowers, sandwiching the flowers between the flags.
4. You can make watermelon cupcakes with the leftover watermelon. Take a circular cookie cutter, approximately the same size as the cupcake liner, and cut the watermelon into circles. Froster the cupcake with some cream cheese frosting. Put some sprinkles on top and serve as a treat.
Red, White, & Blue Soda Bottles
What better way to celebrate Memorial Day than to decorate soda bottles to make them patriotic? Check out one of the coolest Memorial Day activities!
What you’ll need:
- Plain glass soda bottles
- DecoArt Americana Multi-Surface Paint (True Blue, Lipstick and Cottonball colors)
- Rubbing alcohol
- Paper towels
- Frog tape
- Star stencils
- Foam dauber or paintbrush
- Red and white twine
Steps:
1. Wash and dry the soda bottles. They can be found at Michaels or other craft stores, or you can buy soda at the store and save the bottle after you drink it. After the bottles are dry, wipe them down with rubbing alcohol to make sure they are clean.
2. Put frog tape around the neck of the bottle so you can still drink from the bottle. Use the True Blue and Lipstick colors to paint the bottles. Use several coats to make sure the bottles are completely painted. Let thoroughly dry between each coat before painting again.
3. Tape the star stencil to the paint and use the Cottonball shade to paint the stars. Use the foam dauber or the paintbrush to go over the star shape. Be careful you don’t pull off the paint when you remove the tape.
4. When the stars are dry, add some polka dots using the plastic end of the paintbrush. Use blue and white paint for the red bottle and red and white paint for the blue bottles. Carefully remove the frog tape when you are satisfied with the polka dots.
5. Let the bottles dry for four days and then bake them. Put them in the oven (on a cookie sheet), without preheating it first. Then turn the oven on to 325 degrees. Let them bake for 30 minutes. Take the bottles out and let them cool completely.
6. Add the red and white twine to the neck of the bottle. This will cover up the neck in case the paint is uneven. You can use a funnel to fill these up and they’re washable because the paint is permanent. These are fun to make and they make nice gifts to hand out.
Bandana Tablecloth
Everyone needs a good, patriotic tablecloth, right? Use this pattern for one of the easiest Memorial Day activities to make something you can use forever!
What you’ll need:
- Red, white, and blue bandanas
- Thread (red, white, or blue)
- Sewing needle or sewing machine
Steps:
1. Measure out how many bandanas you’ll need by laying them out along the table you want the tablecloth for. 3 bandanas across by 5 bandanas down are about average.
2. Iron the bandanas so the edges will line up when you sew them together. Lay the bandanas out in the order you plan to sew them in. Line up the edges so they are even when you finish sewing them together.
3. Start by sewing the rows, 5 rows of 3 bandanas each. Use a quarter-inch seam, so they are not leaving gaps anywhere. And then lay out the rows together so they are facing the way you want them to.
4. Sew the rows together, keeping the tops facing the right way. Lay the rows on top of each other, pinning them to keep them together. Make sure the edges line up perfectly so you can just sew the rows together.
5. Trim any loose or exposed threads, making the tablecloth nice and neat. Place on the table and enjoy!
Clothespin Wreath
Wreaths are normally a winter thing, right? Not this one. These Memorial Day activities are really easy to make and they are a nice decoration to hang on your door!
What you’ll need:
- Wire wreath frame (24 inches)
- Cutout wooden stars (1-4 inches each)
- High-temperature hot glue gun with glue sticks
- Silicone craft mat
- Clothespins (40 red, 35 white, and 21 blue)
Steps:
1. Hand paint or spray paint the clothespins. Put the craft mat underneath your work area so you don’t get everything covered in paint.
2. Paint the wooden stars white. Let everything dry before you start attaching them to the wooden frame.
3. The wireframe should have four wires. Skip the outside wire, and put one clothespin on the next wire and the third wire. Then put the next clothespin on the third and fourth wire. Alternate all the way around the wire.
4. Put all of the blue clothespins together and then put five red ones followed by five white ones. Alternate like that all the way around the wreath.Â
5. Use the hot glue gun to glue the stars to the blue section. It doesn’t matter what order you glue them in as long as it looks nice and they stay.
6. You can bunch the red and white clothespins in bigger or smaller sections, depending on if you want there to be 13 stripes on the wreath. Or you can buy a slightly smaller wreath if you’d rather.
Beeswax Star Candles
Making candles is a really fun summertime activity. Anyone can make this Memorial Day activity!
What you’ll need:
- Beeswax sheets (you can sometimes find these in craft stores or you can buy them online)
- Star-shaped cookie cutter
- Skewers
- Wick string
- Craft scissors
Steps:
1. Press two beeswax sheets together, and use the star cookie cutter to make these into star shapes.
2. Stick the skewers through the bottom of the stars.
3. If the beeswax is too hard, soften it with a hairdryer. If you want to make these candles instead, press the wick string in between the two layers of beeswax before you press the two layers together. Make sure the wick is sticking out a little bit. Once the pieces are firmly together, cut the wick so it only sticks up about an inch from the top of the star.
Paper Wind Streamers
Streamers are a fun thing to play with, so this is a good thing to make. This is also a super-patriotic Memorial Day activity to make.
What you’ll need:
- An empty container (of any size)
- Double-sided tape
- Blue craft paper
- A star-shaped hole puncher
- White craft paper
- A hole puncher
- Waxed twine
- Red and white streamers or ribbon
Steps:
1. Use double-sided tape to stick the blue paper to the empty container. Cover the inside and outside of the container.
2. Punch stars out of the white paper to attach to the blue container. Then punch circular holes into the top of the container, four all the way around (front, back, and each side).
3. Put a piece of waxed twine through one hole and tie it through the one directly across. Repeat with the other two holes.Â
4. Glue or tape the red and white streamers from the bottom, decorating the container however you want to.
