July Fourth Party Shakers

I really don't know what to call these things, but this is how we made them. (These are similar to our Pom Poms from last summer with a little added "bling.")
You need contact paper and either construction paper or regular paper. Because we were making ours for Independence Day, I chose red, white and blue construction paper. I also found some star garland at the dollar store, but it isn't necessary.

Cut some of the paper into 1/4-inch strips, or use a paper shredder if you have one. Save some paper to cut directly in half. And cut the contact paper to be the same width as the regular paper. If using garland, cut that into strips as well. Take off the cover of the contact paper and stick on the strips of paper and garland.

The more you use, the better it will look, in my opinion. But don't fill it up completely. You need to leave some of the contact paper open so it can stick to the half-sheet of paper, which is the next step -- flip the contact paper over and stick it to the paper.

Then you just roll it up and tape it closed!

We took ours on a walk, along with some red, white and blue musical instruments, so it was like a little parade!