Fourth of July Decor and Celebrations

No, I haven't lost my mind and decided to yank the 4th of July backwards into June! In fact, this post is pictures from last year's celebrations. I didn't post them then because they seemed inappropriate with the holiday already over.

I literally cannot believe that Independence Day is next week! Where has the start of summer flown away to?? So, I am sharing this post now, before the day, so that if you haven't decorated or thought of something fun to do for the 4th (or not even realized it was licking our heels), maybe you will gain some inspiration.

Last year I was able to soothe my strange fetish for straws, and make name tags at the same time! I just cut plain white paper, stuck on a star sticker, cut them in the shape of a flag, and then made two slits with a knife for the straw to go through. Festive and I love straws! (I only use paper ones so that they are biodegradable. I DO NOT love plastic straws, nor do our oceans...)

This time my banner is made of crocheted potholders in reds and primary colors, with a couple hankies in between. My go-to flowers are white hydrangeas. You can stick them in a vase (or blue pitchers like I did) and with the addition of tiny flags it already looks festive.

This linen was in a box of things that moma was going to sell at Junk Ranch for a dollar. I snatched it right out. It was hand-drawn and painted by a post WW1 soldier for his moma. On the back he had struggled to draw an eagle as his first attempt, but had to admit defeat with that big bird and opt for this more simplistic design. I just LOVE the thought of some boy/man making this, and I could not imagine the sweet sentiment being shamed by selling for a measly buck. Instead, it is one of my homely little loves that I will treasure!

Squeaky in his Uncle Sam regalia.

I found the president plate at Goodwill and I love it. It goes from Washington (my hero!) to Kennedy. And yes, I am nerd enough to get a PEZ set of our first five presidents. Don't laugh, who else do you know that has something that awesome?? No one, that's who! ;)

Fluffy is wearing Mr Roy Bolin's hat and waving the flag exuberantly.

Yes, more baby clothes. This dress is of a very old calico and has the sweetest mother of pearl buttons with red polka dots. Some moma was so very proud to show her baby off in it! My shelf holds a hodgepodge collected from around the house. And there are military pictures of men in my family, including my pop in Vietnam.

Last year, Belle was just a friend, not yet my daughter-in-law. She came with her three brothers and I was terribly excited to find them flamboyantly dressed for the occasion!

After eating we went outside and had a hugely competitive game of bocce. Seth was the mediator and took the measurements, because we get downright ferocious over our games :)

Will's look of skill and concentration...but, it turned out that two of Belle's brothers (we played teams) won the much coveted gold (ahem, plastic) trophy.

At dusk we went out to shoot off the small fireworks.

I LOVE fireworks. I love the sight, sound; I love the smell of gunpowder. Seriously folks, from a firework or a gun, gunpowder is a great smell to me!

At full dark the "big boys" took over with the mortars, fountains, and the huge box displays. I must say, I am always quite proud of our private display.

When we came in from fireworks, we had brownies cooked in little cups to top with homemade coffee ice cream and sprinkles.

Or fruit tarts made with a sugar cookie base coated with cream cheese frosting and topped with jam and fresh fruit. I was just thinking...there are no pictures of what we ate for dinner. I can't even remember what all I made. Guess that shows what's important here, he he!

The next day was really the 4th of July. We find it too much to go to both the city fireworks and then come home and do our own, so we plan them on different days. Plus, that means more partying!

My daughter-in-law, Savannah, had been wanting to make individual tarts for a while. So she came over and we made homemade pie crust and baked them. Then we filled some with lemon curd, and others with a mixed bag of fruit cooked down with sugar and cornstarch. We also made homemade fudge pops- YUM! We took all of this to the city park with us for the firework display.

Here we are listening to the band before the show begins. I remember as a child we could not drive through town without knowing every single soul. Now when I go to town I rarely see anyone that I do know. So many people from other places, other countries. But I think everyone of them was in the park that night.

And then the show began!! I have always been so proud of our little town and their extravaganza of fireworks. Every year I clap, and yell, and say that it is the best year ever.

They always play patriotic music as the "bombs burst in air". And last year the sound system was sketchy. It cut out right in the middle of our national anthem. Everyone looked at one another, waiting for it to begin again. Then one lone voice took off where the song had stopped. More joined in, until it sounded like every person was singing. I got a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. We may be diverse; we may not all know each other; we may all feel different ways about our government of today. But at that moment, we were all just Americans and proud of it.

 "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."