With the washi tape and some white ceramics, I also made some fun fireworks vases for the Fourth of July.

I bought several of these square white vases from Crate + Barrel earlier this summer, and this Toni blue bud vase too.  I love the modern shape and versatile appeal of the square vases and they’re affordable ($10 for the large, $8 for the medium).  The “fireworks” are simply strips of the washi tape cut very thin and layered across in a random pattern to form the shape.

The different tapes wrapped around this vase formed a fun striped pattern. 

Affixed to plain white paper, the tape dresses up this strawberry cake too. 

The washi tape pulls off easily, so replacing the blue stripes with more red in December will make perfect little vases at Christmastime.  For today, they make a fun and festive Fourth of July centerpiece on the dessert table! 

Wishing you all a fantastic day of celebration. 

Enjoy!

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Here’s just a few of the patriotic treats, projects, and displays that stood out to me . . .

Red, white, and blue tablescape and hutch display at Sweet Something Design

Simple glitter letters on shelf with flags from Eighteen25

Red, white and blue cupcakes by TidyMom

This is one patriotic picnic over at Stone Gable !

This closet turned reading nook by Pretty Handy Girl

Thrifty Decor Chick’s painted wooden door decor, and a larger hand painted wooden flag by Stephanie at Under the Table and Dreaming 

Pinwheels from Crafty Sisters and Martha’s star medallions by Kimberly at Attempting Creative

Chocolate dipped pretzels by Amanda at Serenity Now and and this delicious-enough-to-drink vase filler from Lindsay at A Design Story

This homemade banner from The Clueless Homeowners and these posy pins by Randee at Life is Good. 

So many creative ideas out there, thanks so much to everyone for participating in the party ! 

What are your big plans for the long weekend ?  Are you traveling somewhere or staying at home ?  Do you watch a fireworks show in your town ?  We’re serving up BBQ to our friends this weekend, and I’m definitely making some sort of delicious summer berry themed dessert, like one of these. 

Delish !

 Red, White & Blueberry Trifle; Red Velvet Cake; Ice Cream Wrappers; Red, White & Blue Parfaits 

Next week, I’ll show you more pics of the upgrades in the living room  . . .

Until then, wishing all of the American readers

a very Happy Fourth of July !

Have a great weekend everyone.

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Don’t you just love the Fourth of July ?

I do!  It’s truly one of my favorite holidays.  There’s something about the traditions of barbeques and fireworks, and all that red, white, and blue that gets me in the mood to celebrate the land of the free and home of the brave.

This year, we’ve invited many of our friends over to our home for an evening BBQ.  Since all of the guests come right through the front door, and since we watch the city fireworks from our front yard, I thought I’d give our guests an extra special welcome by dolling up the porch with some patriotic pom poms, and my latest creation, this ticking stripe banner.

I hung it up this morning, and I’ve just gotta share . . we live on a somewhat busy street, and I’ve noticed all the neighbors are all slowing down to read it, and then smiling.  I love that !

Here’s the quick tutorial on the Ticking Stripe Fabric Banner:

Supplies:  1.5 yards red ticking stripe; 1.5 yards navy ticking stripe; 2 yards cotton canvas lining (optional); rope or twine; 4 yards of ribbon; iron on transfers; sewing machine or stitch witchery.

Cut enough pieces of fabric in size 10” x 12” to create your individual banner flags.   Next, format your iron on letters on your computer, then print them in reverse (mirror).  Cut out the reverse letters with scissors, close to the edge of the bold font.

Iron on your letters to your individual 10” x 12” swatches of fabric.  Once they are completely cool, carefully remove your iron on backing.

Next, if you want to line the back of your flags, sew them inside out.  Fold over your individual flags over the rope and sew together.

Tie ribbons in between the flags to keep them in place. 

Total time for this double banner: 3.5 hours.

Obviously a single banner will take much less time !   

I think the red ticking stripe would make a fantastic ‘peppermint’ themed banner at Christmas time, don’t you ?

Don’t forget Old Glory, proudly blowing in the breeze . . .

Festive tissue paper pom poms are incredibly easy to make . . . I simply followed Martha’s tutorial.

Fireworks Pom Poms:

How do you make the blue paper’s edges white to look like fireworks ?

Simple !

Dip your edges in a bleach solution (one half water, one half chlorine bleach) up to an inch, and then let the edges dry for 24 hours.

Then follow the same tissue paper pom pom tutorial on Martha’s site.

Beware, it doesn’t work on the red tissue, I tried it, and the edges turned a very strange orange color.

But I bet you could achieve the same effect with the white tissue, and turn the edges any bright color you want with some Rit dye.

I even made this linen backed grain sack pillow out of a creative source from my local hardware store.

So there’s my oh-so-festive patriotic porch all decked out for the Fourth !

If you want a closer peek at the red, white, and blue plants and my other ticking stripe pillows on our porch, hop over to this Patriotic Porch post from a few weeks ago.

Now it’s your turn !! 

What inspires you this Fourth of July?

Anything related to the red, white, and blue will do !

Do you have a special craft, some fab decorations, or a scrumptious summer recipe?

Even your inspiration posts will work, and you blog veterans feel free to post something from last year.    Go ahead, link up and share!

Please link up with your theme specific post, not your general blog address.

Also, please be so kind as to copy and paste this image to the right into your post, and link back to this party.  Much obliged!

The link party will be active until 9 p.m. PST (midnight EST) through Thursday July 1st.

Now let’s party peeps.

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Hey everyone – it has sure been a crazy week around here, with all the big projects on the back burner for the last few days.  Ah, summer.  It’s supposed to feel relaxing, but I’ve been busier than eeeeeeever.   Between running the kids to their swim lessons each day, and the obligatory trips to the county fair, I’m already in need of a little vacay from my summer vacay, know what I mean ?

But it just isn’t summer until you feed your kids those healthy fair snacks like corn dogs and cotton candy and then strap them to the ‘Tilt a Whirl’. 

Er, I mean the carousel. 

I did manage to do some spray painting this week, hooray for warm weather !  A glossy white mirror and some new light fixtures will be installed in the living room tomorrow, just as soon as I finish painting the rest of the wainscoting . . . hopefully I’ll have some pics to show you come Monday.   It’s getting so puuurty in there, I’m loving it!

A big reminder that the Stars & Stripes par-tay is next week, so get your craft on, your summer recipes ready, and your red, white, and blue decor out on display, and be sure to link up next week.  

Also, The CSI Project is having their Red, White & Blue challenge next week, so there’s your double incentive to create something spectacular for the Fourth of July. 

Have a fantastic weekend y’all, over and out !

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I found some inexpensive fabrics and stitched up some festive pillow covers, then I filled my pots with annuals in patriotic colors.  This summer, I’m having some fun with punches of red on the front porch ! 

Red dianthus, white nemesia, and blue hydrangea . . .

Red dahlias, white dianthus, and blue lobelia . . .

  Red petunias, white geraniums and blue lobelia . . .

More red petunias . . .

Red trailing calibrachoa . . .

Blue salvia, red kalanchoe and white dusty miller . . .

I love these red linen and blue ticking stripe pillow covers ! 

In the blue pot, I planted red gerber daisies and more white dianthus. 

So puurrty . .  .

so patriotic . . . 

Three cheers for the red, white, and blue !

And thank you to the men and women who have served and sacrificed to protect and defend our country.  This weekend, we remember you. 

I wish you all a very relaxing Memorial Day holiday ! 

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