Patriotic through and through

I love the USA.. through and through. I also really enjoy celebrating it on the 4th of July. I feel very blessed to live in this country, and wouldn't have it any other way.

I also really like a Red, White, and Blue color combination - and plan to cover my house in it for Independence Day this year. Oh, and did I mention it is our first holiday in a house after almost 6 years of marriage? I have been celebrating that fact for an entire month straight. It is wonderful.

So - to help have our 4th of July celebration be down to the last detail perfect, I had to dress up the utensils with a little friendly acrylic paint.

All you will need:

Wooden Utensils from Confetti Sunshine

Tape (I used plain ol' clear tape)

Red & Blue Acrylic Paint

Brush

First, I got a piece of tape, and cut it long-ways in half. I wanted thinner stripes than the complete width of the tape. I then placed the tape on my spoon and painted over the top. Be careful to not paint anywhere on your utensil that will be touching food. Gently remove the tape and let the paint dry!

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This was a very easy craft, and I was able to complete my entire party set while watching a show with my family. Have fun!

Star Spangled Paper Fan

I've always loved patriotic holidays, but have never decorated for them. This year is going to be different! So, to start with something cheap and easy, I decided to make some paper fans - with a twist - a spray painted white star in the middle... very patriotic, my dear.

Do you want to add a little spangle to your 4th of July paper fans this year?

It's super simple...

All you will need:

paper fans (I made mine, but you can also purchase them)

a star template cut from scrap paper (hello trade joe's bag!)

white spray paint

Simply place your star template over your paper fan and spray paint it.

Remove the star template and enjoy your star spangled paper fan.

Make a few more for a fun and cheap wall display at your 4th of July party.

color inspiration - Red, White & Blue

inspiration photo - BHG

1 - Sarahs Stands

2 - Confetti Sunshine

3 - Candy Warehouse

4 - Simply Divine Desserts

5 - nshebert Paper Crafts

6 - Confetti Sunshine

mini alphabet banner freebie...

I love to leave little messages for my favorite people. And, for a party, I don't want to always be stuck with the classic "Happy Birthday" banner.

So I came up with this cute mini banner in a full alphabet!

also used... Confetti Sunshine's Lollipop Sticks

It is perfect as a cake topper at a party, but could also be used to leave a sweet little message in a card to a loved one. There are so many possibilities... Message away!

Click above to download.

The mini alphabet banner comes in four colors - peachy orange, navy blue, mint green, bright pink.

The downloadable freebies in this article (and across my entire site) are free for personal use only. If you would like to blog about this free download, please accompany any images from my site with a credit and link back to this article.

Tuesday Tip - food-safe paper

I love using scrapbook paper to dress up my party tables - the supply and adorableness of it all is endless. I always walk out of a scrapbook store inspired and a little poorer.

But... I did worry about using scrapbook, and other papers, on my dessert tables. I worried about how it wasn't foodsafe, what dyes were used on the paper, how the paper would end up looking greasy aferwards, etc. So I came up with an easy way to use cute paper on my food tray, but keep it pretty and safe.

All you will need:

Pretty paper

Wax paper

Glue stick

Simply cut the wax paper into the same shape you want your pretty paper to be. Glue the wax paper on your pretty paper with a glue stick and use it with your favorite foods. It worked great for my Garden Party (pictured above).

Serious.. it's that simple!

Back in the Shop

Yellow Pin Stripe Mini Cupcake Liners

Yellow Pin Stripe Cupcake Liners

Yellow Stripe Paper Straws

Pink Stripe Paper Straws

Pink Party Fringe

Wooden Lollipop Sticks

Crepe Paper Rolls

Sugar cookie berry tart

I love how mini tarts look - so dainty and cute! But, I am not crazy about the crust... I would much prefer a sugar cookie (I might be on my own with that one).

So I decided to come up with a sugar cookie berry tart - a perfect little treat to end a berry picking party! And.. they are super simple too. As easy as a sugar cookie.

First, make/buy your favorite sugar cookie dough. Roll it out very thin. I think mine ended up around 1/8th of an inch. Then use a 2 1/2 inch round flutted cutter to cut out your dough.

Gentle press your cookie tart crusts into a mini muffin pan. Cook your cookies according to directions.

Once the cookies are cooked and cooled, top with frosting and your freshly picked berries! I love this treat... by far one of my new favorites!

An old favorite, that also is delicious to stuff in strawberries, is:

Caramel Fruit Dip

8 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 T. vanilla extract

Mix all together and serve with fruit - apples, bananas, or strawberries.

Pretty little berry picking basket

Who doesn't like a cute basket? Letting the kids decorate their own berry basket before the berry picking is a great and cheap activity!

For this activity I supplied:

Berry Baskets from Confetti Sunshine

scrap bits of lace and ribbon

fabric covered buttons that I made myself with an I-top

floral fabric from Joann's (the same fabric I've been using throughout)

fabric glue or glue gun

The baskets turned out adorable! I loved seeing all the different combinations of colors, flowers, ribbon and fabric!

To attach a handle to the baskets, simply use a standard paper hole punch and punch a hole on either side of your berry basket. Tie ribbon or a strip of fabric through the holes to create a handle.

Here is a little "how to" on the flowers shown above

Yo-Yo Flower:

1 - take a scrap square of fabric and a piece of fabric approximately 1 inch wide and however long. On one side, gather the long piece of fabric. Glue it in place on the scrap piece of fabric.

2 - Continue gathering and gluing until you've gone around in a circle.

3 - Top with a fabric covered button or a cute big button.

Fabric Rose Flower:

1 - take a long strip of fabric and knot it at one end. The knot is the center of your flower.

2 - twist the fabric.

3 - wrap the twisted fabric around the knot, gluing it in place along the way.

4 - Top with a fabric covered button, cute big button, or leave it open.

Berry Picking fabric garland

This party is best if the decorations are simple and cute. This fabric tied garland is an easy decoration you can bring along to tie up where ever you end up. 

For my fabric garland, I ended up using the left over vintage fabrics from my envelope liners. Cut strips 1 inch wide and varying in length. Simply double knot them together to create your garland.

Other simple decorations that are easy to transport to a berry picking farm are -

Wooden Crates from Texas Basket Company

Berry Baskets from Confetti Sunshine

Berry Picking

The best part of a Berry Picking Party is when you get to go pick berries! 

To find a U-Pick Berry Farm near you, try out this website:

http://www.pickyourown.org/

For anyone in Seattle, I found this article useful:

Seattle's Top Five U-Pick Berry Farms

Since I missed blogging yesterday, check back later today for a cute and easy decoration idea to take with you to your berry picking party.

You're invited to a Berry Picking Party

It is berry season! I love picking berries and eating berries, and so does my daughter. So I thought a Berry Picking party was in order. Stick around the blog this week for all the cute details on how to plan your own berry picking party.

Today we have a cute little invitation - perfect for a berry party. To dress up the invitation even more, I made my own envelope and lined the inside with a matching floral fabric which I found at Joanns.

To make a fabric envelope liner you will need:

templates (download them below)

white cardstock paper

fabric

glue stick 

1 - Using the templates, cut the envelope out of cardstock and the liner out of fabric. Use the glue stick and glue your fabric to the inside of your envelope.

2 - fold up the bottom fold of your envelope.

3 - glue the side folds of the envelope to the bottom fold.

side note - I made my own envelope instead of using an existing one because the fabric was hard to slide and glue into a pre-made envelope. You are more than welcome to try it though - I just found it more difficult than making my own envelope.

click above to download the free Invitation, Envelope & Liner Template!

The downloadable freebies in this article (and across my entire site) are free for personal use only. If you would like to blog about this free download, please accompany any images from my site with a credit and link back to this article.