It’s that time of year. Time to hang up “Old Glory” and display your red, white, and blue. I’ve always wanted some patriotic bunting, but have never invested in it. (And to be honest, I also haven’t wanted to figure out a place to store it…) I created this “hack” to get a similar look by using table cloths from Dollar Tree. Yep. I put Dollar Tree table cloths on my porch. No shame. Why spend a lot on decor that you are are only going to use for a short bit? This little hack will get your porch looking festive and July 4th ready for only $2.
Summertime Memories
This year I lucked out with some pretty red geraniums my mom’s friend gifted me with. My Nannie…wait….(Does anyone else call their grandmother “Nannie”, or is it a southern thing??) I had THREE “Nannies” growing up- the grandmother variety…not the au pair type (*wink). This Nannie always had red geraniums on her front porch in the summer. She planted them each year in two large metal milk cans that sat on each side of her front stoop.
It’s funny the things you remember. I remember her sitting on the porch step holding a mason jar while I ran around barefoot in my pajamas catching lightning bugs in her (very small) front yard. (This was after eating a whole bowl of strawberries….) Lightning bugs, nightgowns and strawberries. Pretty much the perfect summer evening.
Nannie didn’t seem to have to try, but I’m trying my darnedest to keep mine alive. (I’ve always had good luck with geraniums in my BACK yard. For some reason I have a chipmunk that’s taken a liking to these ones and keeps rooting around in my pots….Good thing he’s cute….If you have a good idea on how to keep chipmunks out of your plants, let me know!)
Anyway, with my red geraniums and my American flags, I was feeling pretty festive, so I decided to come up with a simple and budget-friendly way to decorate a porch for a 4th of July party or cookout and I’m excited to share that with you! (Want to see more decor ideas for inside your home? Check this post out! )
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Independence Day Stats
According to msnbc.com:
- 64% of Americans will attend a cookout (43% of Americans will watch fireworks).
- About $7 Billion will be spent on cookouts/picnics/etc.
- Americans will eat over 150 million hotdogs (to put that into perspective…”The amount of hot dogs estimated to be eaten is enough to stretch from New York to Los Angeles more than five times.” Yep…we can go “from sea to shining sea” 5 times with the day’s hotdog consumption.)
- July 4th is the biggest holiday of the year for beer sales.
July 4th Cookout Decor
With 64% of the population attending a cookout this Independence Day, it seems like I might not be the only one who may be interested in putting up some easy (and inexpensive) red, white, and blue decor. Here is all you need to throw this together:
- 2 tablecloths from Dollar Tree (I used red and blue-like these here, but 2 of the same color would be even easier.)
- ribbon of your choice (similar to what I used, here)
- twisty ties or curling ribbon to secure to porch
To make this, I cut my tablecloths in half (you can easily do this on the folded line) so I would have 2 pieces of each color. If you used the same color, you wouldn’t have to cut them (or if you are feeling swanky, you could spring for 4 tablecloths and this little decorating “project’ would cost you $4 instead of $2…if you’re feeling a little more frugal, the pictures show 2 that were cut in half and used).
The easiest way to hang them is to gather the plastic in half to find the middle. Tie this middle section to the middle of your porch railing and then hang up each end.
Just play around with how you gather the ends to make the “bunting-like” swags. SUPER EASY!
