Preparation for the 4th!

As I was preparing to have some guests for the 4th of July, my husband said to me, “Okay, you need to turn down the overachiever notch just a bit.” He’s probably right, but I enjoy making things look nice. And there are PLENTY of people that far exceed what I do, so I think I’m still okay. =) Here are some tips and decorations I got to do for our Independence Day celebration:

• BBQ Cupcakes: I had seen these BBQ cupcakes in my Family Fun magazine for Father’s Day and stored them away in my “idea” file. July 4th seemed like a perfect excuse to use them! They turned out adorable. I did everything almost exactly except I made chocolate cupcakes, with chocolate frosting, and just used black tube frosting for both the lines on the cupcakes as well as the “grill” marks on the food. The grill marks really add the finishing touch.
• Patriotic Swag: I really wanted to put these patriotic swags (on sale from Michaels) on either side of my garage. Here was my dilemma. It was either brick or stucco. So, I got these velcro strips at Target that were strong enough for brick. I figured I could just keep the velcro backing on the swags and change the other end of the velcro depending on where I want to put them. I considered mounting tape, but thought it may ruin the swags.
• Lanterns: The lanterns (pictured above with blue and white star ribbon on them) were my moms which I originally bought her for Mother’s Day. Here’s the link for them at Ikea for only $14.99 apiece. Blue, red, or green. I may have to go back and buy them for myself.
• Banner: The website thehappyscraps.blogspot.com provided the inspiration for this banner. It was actually pretty easy. I cut out the stars and large circles by hand (with a template of course), then used a punch for the smaller circles around. I printed the letters in different fonts on a full sheet label and cut them out. Punched holes in between each “sheet” and tied them together! Easy peasy!
• Paper “lollipops”: My awesome friend, Kelly Jolly, volunteered to make these, also inspired by a website. The instructions on how to make them are found on nobiggie.net.  
• Centerpiece: A quick change to my Father’s Day centerpiece was a nice solution. 
• Otherwise, a kiddie pool, sandbox, sprinkler ball, and of course kid friendly fireworks were the perfect additions to our fun party!