12 Protest Crafts for Independence Day and Beyond

Here are some ideas to make your next protest a little craftier!

In another reality next door to this one, we’re living blissful utopian lives with our sane and compassionate president and all our human rights intact. In this reality, however, protesting is starting to feel like a lifestyle, sigh.

But it’s an important lifestyle, and even though it’s turned into a multi-year slog, it’s important to keep the momentum up!

One way to maintain your appetite for protesting is to make it fun, and for me, there’s nothing more fun than crafting, I’ll do ANYTHING if I get to cross-stitch about it! If you, too, enjoy crafting your feelings out, check out this round-up of some of my favorite protest crafts.

Basic Protest Sign

basic protest sign image via Art Bar

Even if you don’t feel like you’ve got a crafty bone in your body, I promise that you’re crafty enough to make this sign! If you don’t have large-format cardboard, you can even use the inside of a cereal box. To make the project even easier, search for free printables of the sentiment that you’d like to express.

Brown Paper Bag Protest Sign

brown paper bag protest sign image via Issa Adulting

Don’t have cardboard? No problem! This tutorial shows you how to make a protest sign from the only material even more ubiquitous in our lives than corrugated cardboard: brown paper bags! You can substitute different types of paper, but you might have to brace it if it’s lighter weight than kraft paper, which has a surprising amount of structure for its size.

Sandwich Board

It can be annoying to hold a sign all day, that’s when a sandwich board really comes in handy! I also like these sandwich boards because they can stand alone, pyramid-style, while you take a break from marching. The easiest, and lightest!, sandwich board can be constructed in minutes from two large-format pieces of cardboard and two shoestrings. When your protest is finished, simply recycle the cardboard and put the shoelaces back in your spare pair of shoes!

Giant Articulated Cardboard Hands

giant articulated cardboard hands image via blorgggg on Instructables

This project rivals the quilts in terms of how time-consuming it is, but if you want to make your presence known, this is the way! Although these hands do use a ton of duct tape, they also upcycle a ton of corrugated cardboard.

Fabric Banner

fabric banner image via Art Bar

If you prefer sewing to crafting with cardboard, there are plenty of beautiful signs you can make! This fabric banner uses mostly upcycled and scrap fabrics, and can be carried or hung.

Fierce Feminist Hat

Fierce Feminist hat image via Kiki Hall on Ravelry

Even if it’s too hot to wear this awesome hat to this month’s protests, it’s not too soon to start thinking about winter. And if you’re super productive you can have some extras made by then to hand out to other fierce feminists!

Melt the Ice Hat

Melt the Ice hat image via Needles and Skein

The Melt the Ice hat pattern is a fundraiser that benefits Minneapolis-area non-profits serving immigrants in their community, and wearing it is a vivid sign that you also support immigrants in your own community.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg “Dissent” Collar

Ruth Bader Ginsburg “Dissent” collar image via Activities for Kids

Here’s a fun activity that will involve even the littlest activists! Pair it with a read-aloud picture book like I Dissent or I Am Ruth Bader Ginsburg for a sneaky summer social studies lesson.

“Resist” Cross-stitch Pattern

“Resist” cross-stitch pattern image via Stitches & Spatulas

I LOVE a quick and easy cross-stitch pattern, and this one, at 40 stitches by 40 stitches, is perfectly sized to complete in one sitting. If you use waste canvas or water-soluble graph paper, you can stitch this graphic directly onto an item of clothing, or stitch it onto felt or denim to make a patch.

“Do No Harm” Quilt

“Do No Harm” quilt image via Hunter’s Design Studio

A quilt might seem like an unwieldy item to take out and about, but this particular quilt would make a great picnic blanket, and reminder!, for your next all-day demonstration or festival.

“Vote” Mini Quilt

“Vote” mini quilt image via In Color Order

I love the idea to hang this mini quilt forward-facing out your front door as an act of encouragement. I also love the author’s suggestion to applique a single block onto a tote bag.

Miniature Protestor Figurines

miniature protestor figurines image via Craft Gossip

Okay, this one’s pretty much just for fun, but sometimes you just need to make some tiny art, okay? For a more eco-friendly project, thrift a ceramic figurine and then repaint it. Here’s how to drill through glass and ceramic to anchor the little toothpick posts.

Do you have a piece of crafty protest art that you love? Tell us about it in the Comments!