Patriotic Party Plans

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Shop Patriotic Party Supplies at DollarTree.com

      This post was originally written for Memorial Day last year.  It has been a busy, crazy time for my girls and I the past few weeks, so I didn't get to repost this for you in time for Memorial Day this year.  We all spent that weekend much differently than we did last year, but we did take the time to remember the meaning of this holiday.  Since it will only be a few weeks until July 4th, this post is still appropriate and I hope that you can use some of the ideas and inspiration that I shared.  

 
     Memorial Day and Independence Day are special to me.  There are many veterans in my family and one of my Uncles gave the ultimate sacrifice as he trained to help keep our land free.  It nearly broke my Dad's heart for him to lose his brother and he kept the newspaper clipping in his wallet for the rest of his life.  My Dad served in WWII and rarely spoke of his experiences there.
    While traveling with my husband lately, he talked to me about his time in Viet Nam, recalling some frightening moments there and I am so grateful that his life was preserved.  I am so grateful for the freedoms that we have that have been bought with a tremendous price throughout history and for those who continue to sacrifice so much to serve and defend in this world of turmoil.
    It does seem odd that we celebrate such a sober holiday as Memorial Day with backyard barbecues and  swim parties.  But, it is because of those who fought and died for our freedom that we are able to do the things we do the way we do them.  We can travel from state to state without hindrance.  We can buy the food that we want to eat.  We can celebrate the way we want to celebrate and observe our religious customs in any way we choose to do so.  This is not the case in many places in the world.  What a glorious blessing it is to live in this free country.    
​       To prepare for a Patriotic Celebration, with swimming, grilling and family,  I headed to Dollar Tree to pick up most of what I needed.  I was so excited about the things I found there to help get everyone ready for the patriotic holidays. Here are the things that I brought home with me!

I love all of the coordinating prints found in the little bowls, the napkins and the dish towel!

,      One of the things that caught my eye right away was, of course, the sparkly beaded ribbon. (You can see it in the photo above.)  They had it in red, white & blue!  I knew I had to do something with it! If you buy a supply of it on line, there are 32 rolls of ribbon in a case.  I picked up 3 rolls at the Dollar Tree  in my neighborhood. I decided that I would make a printable with a saying that I love to put on display in our tablescape.  Here is what I did, click on the pictures:

I started with a 4 x 6 wooden frame. I always have them on hand. I used blue painter's tape, or you could use duct tape or washi tape to cover the frame. Dollar Tree has a great variety of plain and printed duct tape.

Be sure to leave long enough length to be able to fold the tape to the back of the frame. When the frame is all covered and smooth, use a Xacto knife to cut into the corners of the tape on the inside of frame.

Now, fold the tape to the back and be sure to push it into the inner edge, poke the metal picture holders through the tape and be careful not to cover the holes where the frame stand goes.

Pull up each corner to the back of the frame.

Slice the tape along the frame where it sticks out so that you can fold it up smoothly and everything is stuck down. Smooth it well all around.

I measured the ribbon and cut the strips to give a stylized flag image. I glued it all down with E-6000 glue.

The really nice thing about this ribbon is that no matter how you slice it, it doesn't fall apart. I was able to cut one row of blue beads to add along the bottom of the frame to give it a more finished look.

Here is the finished frame. It probably took me about half an hour to create. Super simple and my husband love it, too!

Next, I just had to make a printable of one of my favorite phrases!

You can download and copy the print for your own use by clicking the button.

Land of the Free Print

Click on this photo to see more patriotic decorations!

     Our family likes to celebrate with a barbecue and for dessert, some ice cream is in order!  Look at the ideas I got from walking into Dollar Tree! 

   I love the battery powered star light strands that I put on the tiered server!   You can't beat the price.  If you want to order a case, there are 24 in a case! 
     If you have a large family, you can order all of your supplies online and have them delivered for free to your local store.  Just go to the Dollar Tree website to check it out. 

I used my tiered stand to hold the star shaped tray from Dollar Tree, plus the spoons, napkins and the cute tin hanging sign I found in the store.

     These ideas would be great for July 4th as well! Here is a slide show with some images just to give you an idea of what I did.  I will expand on this at the family party.

     The end result of an ice cream sundae was so delicious! It looked good and tasted good! I think that the end result speaks for itself! 

Sundae's are so yummy!

     I think the ice cream bar is going to be a hit, with a little help from Dollar Tree!

     Like our free printable?  There are more available to you when you subscribe to us on the newsletter.  
​     Hope you are having a cool summer so far!