How to Make Patriotic Kitchen Towels for the Perfect Fourth of July

Making these patriotic kitchen towels is the perfect Fourth of July craft for kids of all ages. My “test group” was my 11 year old granddaughter and two of her school friends. They had a blast creating their own patriotic towel. Even more important, they were proud of their individual designs.

Supplies for the patriotic kitchen towels:

• 100% cotton flour sack towels
• Liquid acrylic paints —and/or—
• Gelato­­™ acrylic paint sticks —and/or—
• Fabric markers —and/or—
• Permanent ink stamp pads
• Scrapbooking stamps (optional)
• Artists paint brushes
• Water

Instructions:

1. Cover your work surface!! I use an old flannel-backed vinyl tablecloth. I used it with my own kids, and now it’s on its second generation of young artists. One of the best art investments I ever made.
2. Decide what supplies you’ll make available. I just put it all out, and stepped back to let them create. You might want to give each artist a test cloth (a piece of an old bed sheet or pillowcase, or a piece of an extra flour sack towel) to practice on.
3. Make sure the young artists know that once the design is on the towel it’s there to stay. So, plan ahead and test out ideas on a scrap.
4. There really isn’t any right or wrong way to add designs to the kitchen towel. My “test group” tried it all—some on the same towel!! Here’s some photos of them in action.

   

   

   

5. When the designs are complete, hang the towels to dry thoroughly. I let these  hang overnight.
6. Using parchment paper between the iron and the towel (to protect the iron), iron the design at the highest setting to heat set the design.
7. And, because I’m very risk-averse, I recommend doing the first washing by hand in warm water.