Fourth of July Busy Bags For Waiting For The Parade

If there is one thing I hate about festival parades and celebrations it is all the waiting for things to start. In that short amount of time the kids can literally go stir crazy. It’s as if all the excitement and anticipation of a parade starting or fireworks in bottled up and they are a can of soda wanting to explode!

That is why I NEVER leave home for a parade without tricks in my bag, snacks in my purse and a coffee in my hand. Obviously snack wise you know what your child is likely to eat, granola bars work well as they are filling and light to carry, So I won’t bother listing those things. Here instead is a list of toys and trinkets. Most of these items are sold in bulk, but don’t worry they are affordable and you can easily put them aside for another year as it doesn’t matter how many times I do this for my kids each year they are delighted with the same items, it’s an item they may only get to play with once a year, like the gliders.

I also take a couple of extra items with me, as there is always an onlooking child who is going stir crazy, it’s worth the investment for me to give them a $1 item to keep the sanity around me. I hope you like all these items and it inspires you till fill a bag for your own kids.

Coloring Activity set

Folding Fan to beat the heat

Pom Pom Cheer Shakers

Bulk stickers that can be handed out to the people around you.

Plastic printed bags for wet or sticky food.

American Flag Paper Bag to keep everything in.

Mardi Gras Red white and blue beads

Silly Photo Props to Entertain the crowd.

American flag Pinwheels

Patriotic gliders

Noise makers

Activity books

American Skittles for 4th of july

Red white and Blue M&M’s

Fourth of July Temporary Tattoos , take along a wet sponge and some water.

I love the look of mesh tops for summer, but I don’t know that I would ever actually wear one that’s full of giant holes, even though I admit they look cool (in both senses of the word) on other people.

What I would wear, though, is something that’s still lacy but maybe a little bit more subdued, like this chevron lace knit top from Yarnspirations.

This easy to knit T-shirt style top is worked flat in two pieces from the bottom up, using and easy lace pattern that’s a repeat of 10 stitches and four rows (though the wrong side rows are just purled, so there’s only two rows you need to learn the pattern on).

It has little cap sleeves that are worked as part of the top by casting on stitches where you need them.

If you’re new to lace knitting this is a good one to try because the pattern includes both written and charted instructions, and the only skills you need are yarn over, knit two together, slip slip knit and slip 1 knit 2 together pass the slipped stitch over (which makes a centered decrease).

There are four size options available (which they claim is enough to cover XS to 5XL), with finished chest measurements ranging from 38.5 inches (that’s 98 cm) to 59 inches, or 150 cm. The amount of ease would vary widely depending on your size and the size garment you choose. For example the largest size is said to fit a chest measurement from 5258 inches/132-147.4 cm, which gives you a range of ease from 1-7 inches, or 2.5 to 17.78 cm, depending on your size. Just something to be aware of when you think about how you want it to fit.

The project calls for Red Heart Cotton Breeze yarn, which isn’t a yarn I’ve tried yet, but it’s a DK weight acrylic and cotton blend, which should make a lightweight top that’s great for summer.

Grab the free pattern from Yarnspirations.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

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