.... styling the 4th of July.... some of my favorites...

The 4th of July has always been a favorite family holiday at our house...

and such a fun summer event to celebrate and style.

I have gathered some of my favorite styling ideas and traditions here to share.

Styling with flags is one of my favorites...

It's quick to do... and just as quick to take down.

I add to my collection each year.... by picking up them up by the tens.

One quick trick I like to do with flags...

is decorate my mantle.

I did a DIY post about it here.

The quick basic is to use mason jars filled with dry rice...

and add 3 or more flags to each jar.

The rice will keep your flags standing tall.

Doing this in multiples...

adds the greatest impact.

When my kids were little...

making cupcakes and brownies for the block parties became a family tradition.
They each made something of their own...
to contribute to the festivities.

One of my favorite 4th craft projects was

torn paper flags with buttons for the stars.
( I still have them today).

I brought out supplies for everyone at  the block party to make one...

I then collected them....

and we used them to decorate with at the lake block party on the fourth...

Everyone got to see their flag proudly displayed...

and then to take home their flag that night.

Packing picnics for the 4th on the lake....

summer styling bliss for me.

You can see...

flags work with ease for picnics as well.

as was dressing the family for the fourth each year....

so much so...

I kept all of these holiday treasures...

even using them to decorate with some years.
Now that they are all grown...

I have only myself to dress...
and it's really not too bad...

To everything there is a season.

Wishing you all a wonderful 4th of July!

as always dear friends

I wish you love and joy 

as your style your life

~ styling my birthday party ~

This year I knew exactly what I wanted for my birthday...

After recently traveling to Europe and...

in January attending the fabulous ALT conference and...

being in the process of developing a new business....

I knew what was closest and most dearest to my heart for this birthday...

a family birthday party

is what my heart yearned for...

not travel or presents...

just meaningful moments ....

spent with those I love most...

 What came to mind first...

a house rearrange...

I wanted a space that called out for gathering...

So I flipped our oh so cozy rooms...

Realizing the traditional placement of living room and dining room...

stopped any type of natural flow...

I simply swapped one for the other.

No matter what I did for decor...

we always congregated by the kitchen bar...

the living room by the fire place seemed so formal...

and such a commitment to enter.

So for our family simply switching one for the other..

and

opened up the flow...

I brought in my spring details...

Pulling inspirational color from my garden with...

a profusion of fragrant jasmine..

my color palette for the party was born.

My canning jars were stuffed with vines from the garden...

and placed inside my urns on the mantle.

Having decided it was also a personal goal of my party

  to embellish and adorn 

with only what I had on hand...

I clipped lavender and frecias 

 from my garden...

and to make them work together

I chose to cut them down all the way...

and use my Rag and Bone shot glasses from Target as vases.

I call them my flower shots.

I added then all to my soapstone platter which I covered with a thick coat of vanity moss..

~ centerpiece complete ~

I pulled out my vintage Sasaki  pale pink dinner plates....

vintage... as I got them for my wedding....some vintage years ago :)

and

a table scape was born...

I used  my easels from Pottery Barn for place cards...

being one short I simply improvised with what I had...

 a place card hand written by Slater  a decade ago...

along with a canvas tag I had gessoed, stamped and colored...

attached to a clothes pin...

and set inside a silver napkin ring...

Not only did it make a perfect birthday marker...

but a fabulous solve of one place card to few.

I believe much creativity can come from...

making things work in a pinch!

Since spending memorable moments with my family was my birthday party goal...

I was on the hunt for some interactive ideas...

While I was in Paper Source...

I found these Haiku cubes...

just roll out and write your own poetry.

{ disclaimer... these needed a lot more thought than party mode... 

certainly more than I had anticipated...

but my brilliant middle was quite wonderfully creative in his prose}

Jenga proved to be more successful at the goal of being interactive...

as was a game of CLUE...

I was touched  and honored by beautiful gifts I received...

My party was my birthday wish come true....
including a birthday crown... i posted about what I wore HERE

Loving  and memorable time spent with family...

My Ellis who was still at school was able to face time us...

certainly not the same as being there...

but my heart was so happy to  'see her' with us all...

{one more week and my girl will be home for spring break}

Birthday wishes do come true!

as always dear friends

I wish you love and joy

as you style and celebrate your life

mantle styling.....with leaves......

 A quick styling post....

 This week I wanted to finish up my interior fall decor

but the harvest pumpkins hadn't come in yet....

 so i did a quick solve

with cuttings (which enabled me to do some needed trimming!)

remember my canning jars that I use on my mantle
this time I filled them completely full of the 'cuttings'.

I just brought in an arm load of the trimmed branches

filled the jars with water

and arranged them right there on the spot

Easy and free!!

they will last a couple of weeks perfectly!!!

just think how great the idea would work with 

fall branches!

wishing you love and joy 

as you style your life

Fast and Easy Fourth of July Mantle.....

 I am so excited to share my  fast and easy 4th of July mantle idea!  This idea can be implemented not only for a mantle, but anywhere you want some seasonal cheer.  The best part, it's Fast, Easy and Economical!!

 First I used my mantle 'canning jars'', this time I  filled them almost to the top with rice.  I had the rice left over from my living room center piece, but sand or tiny pebbles, ect. would also work.

 The rice acts as a filler which will hold the upcoming flags in place, similar to the glass pebbles which hold flowers in place, the rice is just less expensive and doesn't have to be stored.

 I have over the years collected the medium sized flags which come on their own 'pole'.  I have bought these at both Target and Walmart.  They usually come in packs and can be used year after year!

 Next the flags are placed in the rice filled jars.  I start with one flag in each jar and progress until each jar has three flags.  I do it this way because when working in layers it  is easier to see how the whole assemblage of flags works together, for the mantle as a whole.

 First layer, one flag, one jar.

 Adding flags until each jar contains three flags.

 Voila!! The 4th  of July mantle is complete!  This simple idea brings huge impact for the effort!!  My favorite kind of Styling!!

 This simple idea of flags plus jars (or cans, or any vessel you have), plus rice, (or sand or pebbles ect.), can be used anywhere!  Barbeques, parties, inside or out! Anywhere you want to celebrate our country!!

Wishing you love and joy as you style your life!

Thanks so for stopping by!