Four for the Fourth

The 4th of July has always been a big day in our family. It’s my favorite holiday and it also happens to be my mom’s birthday! We like to joke that the entire country is shooting off fireworks for her. 🙂 So, in honor of the upcoming weekend of celebration, I thought I’d do a patriotic post with a few fun and easy ways to add some 4th of July flair to your party, BBQ, etc.

The idea here is that the following four ideas are things that you can do in under $4 and under 4 minutes each… are you getting the theme here? Well, let’s get started so that you can start trimming your house and table with 4th of July fun!

Idea #1: Add red, “white”, and blue ice cubes to any drink! This one is super easy- all I did was grabbed an empty ice cube tray, chopped up some berries, put a bit of strawberry and a few blueberries in each, filled it with water, and stuck it in the freezer like normal ice cubes.

All of this took me under five minutes, so you can definitely do it in four to keep with the theme. 🙂 I put two blueberries in each cube and used about two strawberries in total to fill all of the tray. As you can see, it’s a lot of bang for your buck (and your effort).

Just look how festive they make a simple glass of lemonade or water! Plus, when the ice cubes melt, there’s a sweet treat leftover to enjoy with your drink! Oh, and here’s a bonus idea: Grab those festive striped straws (I always get them from Michaels) and put them out for guests to really get into the red, white, and blue spirit!

They come in all sorts of colors and are a foolproof and EASY way to add to your party decor. The best part? All you have to do is put them out (definitely fits the “under 4 minutes” qualification)!

Idea #2: Make your own table fireworks. Grab a vase and fill it with any glittery, stick-like thing you can find. I used a white ceramic pitcher, so you can definitely get creative and hunt around your house for other interesting items to fill for your table. For ours, I used these twirly sticks from the Dollar Tree, but it would be just as cool and festive if you added some sparklers to the mix!

Idea #3: You’re a star. Literally. Let your guests be the stars of your party as you incorporate this patriotic element into your decor.

To get the look, I created a cardboard template of a star, traced it onto scrapbook paper (one for each guest), and cut it out. I ended up adding a thick black line of Sharpie to make each star pop just a bit more. After that, just add the name of a guest to each star and you have yourself a quick and easy (and oh-so-patriotic) place card.

Idea #4: Label those drinks. Find a bunch of red, white, and blue trinkets to attach to rubber bands for your guests’ drinking pleasure. This will help them identify their drink and be able to do so throughout the night as well.

For this look, I grabbed a few packs of red, white, and blue 3D stickers from Michaels (thank you dollar bin) and stuck them to white rubber bands for each glass. This made for a classy patriotic, but not too redwhiteandblue-in-your-face look.

So that wraps up our four (ideas) for the fourth (of July) for four (dollars or less) in four (minutes or less). I know, that’s a lot of fours. Let me unscramble your mind with a few more pictures of how everything came together in the end. I’d say we’re all set to party it up Uncle Sam style…

What’s happening at your house this 4th of July? Any red, white, and blue making an appearance on your table? Got your sparklers and fireworks all ready to go? Ooo, I can’t wait! Happy “Birthday” USA (and mom!)

PS. As you can see, we’re loving the additional feature of adding another “wing” to the table for serving/seating purposes. To learn more about the table we purchased, click here. If you’re lingering on those clean-lined, black chairs, find out more here. And if teal is your jam and those cushions are calling your name, you might like this post. Happy reading!