Happy 4th of July! I love this holiday. Something about a summertime party just makes me smile. And I love a good excuse to style a table. This year for the 4th I was inspired by vintage Americana. Less flags more whimsical patterns and textures with the traditional red, whites and blues. Add few easy DIY crafts and you’ve got a lovely vintage americana tablescape for the 4th of July.
The beautiful navy dot tablecloth and vintage-inspired napkins from Serena and Lily are lovely additions to the table runner and pillows my mother in law made for me for my momma’s surprise party. The red rimmed plates are from Crate and Barrel and the floral dessert plates are vintage finds off ebay–by Churchill, Imari pattern. The whimsical placemats and gold silverware are from Target. Some affordable and stylish finds make for great additions to any party.
We invited our sweet friends over to join our little family for a outdoor BBQ. Ruth Eileen took all the photos of this party. You can see the full shoot here on Style Me Pretty! If you’re in the New England area and looking for a photographer, she’s your lady! She’s also a sweet friend.
This was my first time designing the floral arrangements. I wanted the impact of single colors–a white flowing arrangement in the center and red ranunculus arrangements flanking either side in a whimsical plaid/striped pitcher by Wonkiware. It’s amazing what floral foam and some patience gets you. I involved the littles by hunting for the perfect greenery in the forest–we found some gorgeous wild roses and vines and thankfully avoided poison ivy. Easy and inexpensive additions to some beautiful flower market finds.
We usually celebrate our Independence Day with fireworks and sparklers fun but with our little kiddos they just aren’t big enough yet. Easy and fun homemade pom poms for them to shake bring happy smiles yet don’t terrify mom and dad. Easy DIY instructions are at the bottom of this post so you can make your own.
The beautiful thing about an outdoor BBQ is the meal prep is easy and the food delicious. Even a BBQ can be made lovely with a few simple and easy details, like cutout watermelon stars topping the fruit salad and coordinating fruit on the cheese platter.
Easy DIY Pom Poms
- All you need for these pom poms is some navy blue tissue paper, scissors, craft glue and skewers.
- Before starting, cut the sharp end off the skewer. Keep two sheets of tissue paper together and cut a 3.5″ strip of tissue paper. The end I chose was 18″ long which after fraying I cut in half and made two pom poms.
- Once you cut your strip of tissue paper, cut into it leaving about 1/2″. The closer you make your parallel cuts the fluffier your pom pom is.
- Once the tissue paper is frayed, cut it in half so each length is ~8-9″, put a thin line of clear glue across the 1/2″ non-frayed section of the tissue paper. Lay about 1″ of your skewer on the glue and start rolling. This is where you need to go slow and make sure with each turn you keep the frayed tissue paper pieces out of the glue. It pays to go slow. I tried being speedy and everything got messy. Let dry and have some fun!