Happy New Year Firecracker Card

Hi everybody,
Chinese New Year is February 14. Here's a fun card to celebrate the year of the tiger. Firecrackers are a big part of the festivities. Now you can make some too! Sorry, no crackle in these firecrackers but they fun to make and fun to give! Enjoy!

Supplies

Cardstock (red, black, matallic gold)
Washi paper (or lightweight wrapping paper)
Plastic straws
Lightweight wall spackle
Straight pins
Red thread
White glue
Gold metallic marker
Scissors
Paper cutter
Hole punch

Steps

Using scissors or a paper cutter, cut plastic straws into ten 1 ½” lengths.
Fill each straw piece with the lightweight spackling material by putting a small amount on your finger and pressing it into the straw until it starts to come out the other end as shown. Wipe away any excess spackle and allow to dry and harden (this usually takes about ½ hour).
Cut 1” squares of Washi paper or lightweight wrapping paper. Cover the backs with glue and tightly roll the paper onto the center of each of the straw pieces.
Use a gold metallic marker to color the ends of the straws as shown.
Cut five lengths of red thread. Make each one approximately 1 ½” longer than the preceding one. Tie two straight pins (one either end) to each length of thread as shown.
Press the threaded pins into the filled straws so that there is a “firecracker” attached to each end of the thread. Use a little white glue to secure the pins. Allow the glue to dry.

For my card, I printed out the Chinese characters for Happy New Year on red cardstock, framed it in black and attached it over the bunch of firecrackers. The Firecrackers are threaded through a hole in the gold background paper and taped to the reverse side. The Happy New Year sign covers the hole.