DIY Fourth of July

I’m usually rather underwhelmed by the Fourth of July, but this year I’m feeling pretty patriotic. With the recent demise of DOMA and Prop 8, and Wendy Davis’ heroic—if  symbolic—stand against the Texas legislature’s disingenuous bill that undermines women’s right to choose in that state, I’ve got some topical new reasons to be proud to be an American. Additionally, we’re hosting a family Fourth of July party! Yay! 

There are certainly some challenges to hosting a cool Fourth of July party. For one, I don’t like too much red, white and blue as a color scheme. It’s also easy to foray into cheesy territory with patriotic decor. I wanted a more vintage “Americana” look than a “Yee-haw, America!” theme to my décor. A lot of these decorative crafts can be made by even the novice crafter/party planner and they have exponential atmosphere-enhancing effects—lots of Fourth of July bang for your crafting buck!   

I started simple. Using scrapbook paper and string, I strung together a bunch of triangle flags in red and white, or blue and white patterns. A hanging decoration of this sort adds a lot of jovial ambiance for a very tiny effort. I made a ton of these. Another simple construction paper background decoration is a set of paper ring chains. 

Next I dug out some white and red spray paint and added color to some of my many small Mason jars. I'll use them for plasticware or straws and whatnot. I might rough these up with some sandpaper to add a little old-timeyness to them. 

I also found an old Christmas basket, which I turned into a Fourth of July basket by painting the green stripe around it white-ish. I put boxes of sparklers in it. That’s a twofer: decorations that double as party favors! 

From there I upped the ante with some toilet paper and paper towel tube rockets. First I spray painted them red. I found some white ribbon and hot glued two pieces wrapping around the longer one. For the other I busted out my stamping supplies and cut out star stamps to decorate the tube. It was moderately successful, but I liked how it turned out looking sponge-painted and a bit rustic. For the tops I cut circles from colored paper, made a slit, folded them into cones and glued them in place. Then I hot glued them to the rocket body. I stuffed the tubes with newspaper and then shoved a bamboo skewer in the center, and I even went so far as to hot glue a little piece of string up there for the faux fuse. Authenticity.   

As you can see, these are very lifelike and pretty cool looking rockets. 

Before you think, “Wow, you really go overboard with the party decorations,” allow me to share with you one of my top rules of party planning: a barren partyscape is a fun desert (As in, there's no fun as far as the eye can see. You might think you see an oasis of fun around the punch bowl, but no, it's a mirage!).  Without some touches of festivity, it’s just a random gathering at your house. Boring! Decorations make it a party. They tell your guests, “Hey, this didn’t happen by accident! You came here to party and I have MADE FOR YOU A PARTY!"  

And there's a lot more where these came from, so rev up your party engine and stay tuned for the next installment of my DIY Fourth of July!