Blog Parties

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

More 4th of July decor


I almost forgot that Kate over at Centsational Girl was having a Stars & Stripes Party today. All week I have been showing you my decor for the 4th of July, a little at a time. But with Kate having a party, I thought I better hurry up & post the rest of my stuff.

I will be posting my mantel separately. As this post already has too many photos. But I love photos.

Enough gabbing. Let's get on with the party. We will start with the table behind my sofa. It originally was in my living room. But at Christmas I needed that space for my Christmas tree. So I moved this table to my family room & put it behind my sofa. I loved it there. So there it has stayed.

This is what it looks like right now.

The star box came from my recent trip to Tai Pan Trading. I got it with my free money. I placed a stars & stripes fan that I made with the help of Martha inside. The bells actually belong to my hubby. I thought they went perfect with a little sign I'll show you in a moment.

This is the sign I'm talking about. Let Freedom Ring!!! So you need bells. I've had this sign for years. I picked it up at a craft show. It is made from a kitchen drawer front. It usually hangs in my boys bathroom which is decorated "Americana" all year round.

I made this flag holder this past weekend. I had seen a similar ones in blogland. I picked up 2 redwood fence post toppers at my local thrift store for $1.00 last year. I painted this one white, antiqued it a little with some brown paint. Got hubby to drill the holes. I could have done it, but why, when hubby was happy to do it for me. I'm all about getting other people to do my work when at all possible. Then I stuck the flags in the holes. The flags came from Target Dollar Spot last month. Three flags for a buck.


This America the Beautiful sign also came from Tai Pan Trading with my free money.

On the left side I have some cloches. I love cloches. The small one in front came from a thrift store for 50 cents. The small blue & white cup and saucer were also a thrift store find.

Cloches made out of old cheese domes are a little hard to decorate. They are shorter than most cloches. Plus the glass is so thick it sometimes distorts the image of what is inside. For this one I added a vintage flower frog & placed flag toothpicks in most of the sections. Another cheap, easy & fast way to decorate.

For this larger cloche I printed out a vintage 4th of July image from my computer. I purchased CD's off of eBay years ago that have vintage images for every holiday. It's a great way to decorate. I printed the image on card stock, cut it out & placed on vintage flower frog.

Then I placed fire crackers all around the bottom. Don't worry, I don't have little kids around. So I don't have to worry about the firecrackers. Except for sometimes the big kids (hubby & adult sons) will sneak a few & light off in the back yard.

There is a story that goes with the firecrackers. A few years back we were on vacation & stopped at this convenience store that was on an Indian reservation. They were selling all sorts of fireworks, etc. My boys wanted to buy firecrackers in the worse way. I told them "NO". They are not legal where we live. They were quite disappointed, but understood.

As we all got back in the car, hubby pulls out a huge bag of firecrackers & says "Look what I bought". I was so mad as I had just told the boys no. I guess I should have had the same conversation with hubby. I can't seem to win being in a family of all boys.

Next we will move over to the left side of my couch in my family room. Here I have a white trunk that I rescued from my sister in law a few years back. The top is quite uneven & makes it hard to decorate. I just picked up this huge wood tray from the thrift store a month or so ago. I still need to paint it. Just can't make up my mind as to what color. It will probably end up white, but I'm sort of leaning towards blue.

All I had to do to this cloche was add another vintage print from the computer & add a flag toothpick to the top of the ball. Instant Patriotism.


In this cloche I added 3 blue & white tea cups and saucers stacked on top of each other. I collect blue & white transferware. They were all picked up from thrift stores over the years. The white filler at the bottom is actually the edges cut off a few white coffee filters. I had to cut down some white coffee filters to use for my patriotic banner that I am making (and haven't finished). I then cut them into strips & used as filler.

This is a cloche that I made from a glass dome picked up from the thrift store & a glass knob. Inside I placed 3 vintage bottles (eBay find) & placed a small flag in one. Wrapped some grape vine on the outside.
Here is the shelf above the trunk. The mirror was something I picked up from a trade show when I was selling on eBay a few years back. I love the shape of it.

The larger star I've had for years. It came in a set of 3 different colors from Terry's Village. The striped wood star from Target last year in their Dollar spot section. Uncle Sam came from Micheal's this year on clearance.

The 2 bottles in the back were picked up from thrift stores. The shorter one in the front was from the Bargain Store for $1.50. But it was originally an Ikea item. The Bargain Store I go to gets left over stuff from Ikea and Target and sells them for less. The money goes to helping the needy. The 1st Saturday of the month, everything is 1/2 off. That is usually when we go.

And finally we have the small cabinet at the end of my kitchen cabinets. I switched out the white frame for this cream colored one that had been on my mantel.

I added my Coldwater Creek clearance letter balls to my apothecary jar. I just adore them. Another Target Dollar Spot star (last year). As many of you know, I collect white pitchers (preferably ironstone, but any white pitcher that I love will do). I found this pitcher at my local thrift store last week for $1.50. It has a lot of brown on the top & bottom, but that makes me love it more. Gives it character. Added a small flag & it is all spiffed up for the 4th.


Another cloche I made with a glass dome & glass knob. Placed a patriotic birdhouse inside sitting on some vintage ironstone.

My thesaurus wreath was moved from my mantel to this cabinet. I turned the frame the other direction to give it more height.

Changed out the ribbon for something more fitting for the 4th. And added a couple of toothpick flags.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing how I have decorated for the 4th. Most everything I used I already had. The few purchased I did make this year were either free or less than a couple of bucks. As you can see, it doesn't take much time, money or energy to give your place a punch of patriotism for the 4th of July. So what's stopping you?

Be sure to come back later as I will be posting my 4th of July Mantel.

9 comments:

  1. those black cat fireworks bring back so many memories of my days at the jersey shore! but all of your decore is fantastic! newest follower RIGHT HERE!

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  2. Wow, girl! Look at you! I think you should get the prize for 4th of July decor!! Not sure what I like the best--you have so many great things--but those bells!! I am REALLY loving those bells!

    Great job!

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  3. It all looks great an I better get on the ball here and do some decorating for the 4th besides just grilling hot dogs:-)

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  4. Love your patriotic displays...especially that big bell!

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  5. Kim, I'm having so much fun visiting each of your patriotic display posts. You are a girl after my own heart! Love the idea of using the flower frogs to hold something under a cloche. I've got to get busy and make a wreath like the one you did. Love the way you added the flags for this party. Thanks again for sharing all your patriotic vignettes in your home.
    Happy 4th of July! ~ Sarah

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  6. Love the transferware, bells, and striped stars. It all looks great.

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  7. I am totally inspired by your fence topper flag holder -- I have wondered for YEARS how to best display small flags...

    I have found it thanks to you!!

    I am so excited to try it!!

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  8. Wow, your home is so festive ! It's amazing how a few flags, ribbons and decorations really make your home look fantastic ! Thanks for linking up and Happy Fourth !
    Kate

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  9. Hi Kim ~ Happy 4TH!!! We totally have the same decorating loves. Your frogs are fabulous and cloches as cute as ever. I have to borrow your small flag display idea as well. I think I have at least a dozen items in my webstore that you displayed so fantastically.

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