Cowboys have regained their popularity with the comeback of Woody in Disney-Pixar’s "Toy Story 3" — just in time for the National Day of the Cowboy today.

You might think the term "cowboy" originated with the men who helped settle the Western United States as hired hands who herded cows on horseback. But the term dates back much further than the mid-1800s when the cowboy tradition was established in the Southwestern U.S.

The term could go back to medieval Ireland, but the American cowboy has roots that can be traced back to Spain and the earliest European settlers who came to the Americas.

During the American Revolution, the term was used to describe a supporter of the British Crown who would plunder cattle from colonial settlers who supported independence from Britain.

For more than 20 years, thousands of men called cowboys drove millions of longhorn cattle from Texas to the new transcontinental railroads. Payment was a dollar a day and food.

To honor cowboys the world over, I made a Sunset Cowboy hanging with instructions I found at www.busybeekidscrafts. com/Sunset-Cowboys.html. You will need to download the template of the cowboy silhouette from the site.

Supplies you will need:
» Cowboy template
» Coffee filter
» Red and yellow food coloring
» 4 tablespoons of water
» Small containers
» Wax paper or plastic bag
» Dropper or straw
» 10 3/4-inch paper plate
» Glue
» Scissors

Place the coffee filter onto a piece of wax paper or plastic bag.

Fill two containers with two tablespoons of water each; mix 10 drops of yellow food coloring in one container and 10 drops of red food coloring in the other.

Spread the filter out and use a straw or eye dropper to drop some yellow and then some red all over it. When the yellow and red run into each other, it will create a beautiful orange. Place the filter outside in the sun or in a sunny window to dry.

Cut out the cowboys from the template.

Once the filter is dry, glue the cowboys onto the sunset. The edges will hang over the coffee filter, so trim off the excess.

Glue the picture into a paper plate to frame it. To hang it, punch two holes on either side of the plate and tie on some string.