Tag Archives: patriotic

Patriotic Décor ~ Three Cheers for the Red White and Blue

4th of July is now a memory, a very good memory of grandkids cuddling while oooing and ahhhing at all the fireworks, tons of good bbq, and yard games with family and friends. The two weeks leading up to the 4th for me were spent 1) getting ready for and having a garage sale, then 2) being sick with upper respiratory junk and getting over exhaustion. I felt great by the 3rd so I managed to sneak in some last minute patriotic décor before guests arrived.

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A partial view of my dining room/kitchen buffet.

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Ironstone and transferware lend a festive feel paired with blueberries.

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For a bit of whimsy I added a white metal medallion and some vintage ribbon to a military hat worn by my handmade mannequin head Miss Mood.

I think the hot item for fireworks this year were the big floating lanterns. Launching one is sort of a trick but very fun to watch. We saw them lighting up the sky all night long. The next morning we found three of them had landed in our yard.

My daughter made a festive three layer scratch cake.
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The middle layer was cheesecake! Yum!

It was the first time in a long time that we hosted the event. I’m still picking up the after effects from all the outdoor festivities but I thoroughly enjoyed hosting and look forward to doing it again.

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Let freedom ring!

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DIY Patriotic Sparkler Sprays

The following is a re-post which originally ran in June 2014. Since July 4 is right around the corner I though it would be a great time to share it again.

Summer is in full swing, with swimming, baseball, bbqs, nights on the patio, lightning bugs…ahhhh. And I’m starting to hear fireworks, a definite sign of summer. Today is #45 in my series, Girls Want Pearls, and I have a patriotic décor project to show you. It’s a play on my previous post here. I’m going to show you how to make Pearl and Bead Patriotic Sparkler Sprays for your July 4th table or buffet.

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The supply list is short: 20 gauge wire, pearls, red beads, blue beads, foil, glitter and glue. I have actually taken vintage mercury bead sprays and modified them but I’ll show you how to make them from scratch.

To create a bouquet of this size (2 sprays):
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Start by cutting 8 pieces of wire, approx. 14 inches in length. Twist 4 pieces of wire together approx. 6 inches from the bottom to form a wire spray. Thread the beads and pearls on, in solid or alternating patterns. Repeat steps to make the second spray.

Cap them at the top with foil using the method shown here:
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The above bouquet is 4 sprays.
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That’s it! You can make several sprays and place them as centerpieces or to beautify your buffet table.

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