It’s time to get inspiration for how to celebrate with decorations to take on the go. Fortunately, most of our national holidays fall during the summer. Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day are almost synonymous with summer party-time! Put summer and party-time together and a lot of us will find we’re taking the show on the road!
This post gives you some ideas to have fun celebrating on the go in a patriotic sort of way! Star and stripes; red, white, and blue; and beautiful skies are all on board! Pun intended as this post is taking place on a pontoon boat. It can, just as easily, adapt to a beach, park, poolside, or back deck so get ready for your brain to get rolling with ideas after this inspirational tour of our “Day on the Boat!”
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Don’t forget to check out my posts on DIY Patriotic T-Shirts and How to Make Patriotic Clothing on a Budget so you’re dressing as patriotically as your celebration!
Does it get any better?
I happen to be crazy spoiled to live where I do. We are on one of the most beautiful lakes in the country with a thriving village full of shops, restaurants, and incredible homes. Another perk to living in our community is that the local high school holds graduation right downtown lakeside.
We didn’t have anyone graduating this year BUT the weather was just TOO nice not to take the boat out to watch the celebration. As you can see below, a lot of others had the same idea. (You can see the graduation going on in the distance.)
Since I have been preparing for our 4th of July festivities, which also takes place on the boat, I decided that today is the perfect day for a dry run to see how it all fits. Decorations to take on the go are always a little IFFY so a practice run makes total sense! There’s not a ton of room on the boat and we bring a fair amount of supplies with us when doing an entire day so the first thing to do is take a survey of my available space. Here’s a BEFORE picture.
To be honest, the dry run is a great idea whenever you entertain because there are ALWAYS glitches. Today is no different, as my plan for a four place setting turns out to only have room for two. That’s okay! I’ll figure out another plan for four but until then, take a look at the rest of the set-up!
celebrating our community
As you’ll be able to see from my roundup post on banners, I have a selection to choose from that I’m reviewing in my next post. (I’ll link it here when it’s up!) For the fireworks on July 3rd and 4th, I’ll be flying one of my America banners. Today, however, in celebration of our graduates I’m going with one that highlights our hometown.
TIP: When you’re setting up decorations on the go, have adaptable supplies to make sure you can work with your environment.
Not sure of how wide the awning is on the boat, I brought twine with me to tie it on. That way, I can adapt to any size necessary. Twine is inexpensive and holds up to the environment really well.
getting our little table pinterest perfect
As you can see in the BEFORE photo, the boat table is super small and a really weird size. That happens in a lot of settings. To prepare for this, I have a burlap roll that is completely adaptable. On one end, I have a pretty red, white and blue patriotic bow. To hold the other side together, I cut a piece of twine to hold it up so I don’t need to cut off the roll.
A great thing about burlap, is that it works in every setting and all seasons. You can keep this roll for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and (obviously) all of your national holidays too!
Make this look:
napkins that start conversations
I bought red and blue cloth napkins at our grocery store a while back. There was no plan for them but I knew I could make them cute. Not only did they turn out cute, but they’re also great for inspiring some positive thinking and conversation.
Starting with the plain red and blue napkins, I first add 1 1/2″ ribbon two inches from the end. In my case, I sew it on but you can definitely use Heat n Bond to attach it.
I really like how it looks with the ribbon but feel like this is an opportunity for a little more. After a bit of internet research, I decide on four quotes that I use my Cricut to cut into iron-ons and then attach with the Cricut Easy Press.
To make the iron-on for these napkins, click this LINK to see my project on Cricut Design Space.
TIP: There are boxes added to the project for two purposes. First, It helps the weeding process to segment the various text phrases. Second, there is a big box around the entire quote so you can draw a center line vertically on the front plastic. This will make lining up 1000x easier!
If you don’t have a Cricut, then you can hand write the quotes on a tag and tie around the napkins and utensils. Still totally cute and serves the purpose!
For the finishing touch, I ran a straight stitch about 1″ from the bottom of the ribbon and cut off the finished edge of the napkin. YUP! I chopped it right off. Then I pull the weft (horizontal) threads out to create a fray edge. This is a touch I LOVE!
TIP: Use the Cricut weeding tools to pull the weft threads to make your fray!
Make this look:
Note: The first two items are available in multiple colors, despite only showing blue napkins and pink ribbon. Click the link below to select the color you want to use!
time to set the table in #americanstyle
Again, while grocery shopping (I love Wegmans!), I found really cute and practical red, white and blue tableware. It’s melamine, which is perfect for any celebration on the go!
Fortunately, patriotic colors happen to be in some of my favorite foods so getting these party-time snack plates ready are easy! Strawberries, blueberries, Smartfood popcorn, M&M’s, flavor seltzer, and YUMMY vegan iced sugar cookies. (They are SOOO good that I’m doing a post later this week to share the recipe! I’ll post it here when it’s posted!)
With the great coolers available today, it’s super easy to keep all of this deliciously fresh food in good shape even on the hottest of days.
Make this look:
Note: Red is available in the Enamelware above.
Patriotic celebrations lead to inspiring views
After spending some time with the anchor down in the village, it’s time to take a tour around the lake. Here are a few of the homes. There are honestly, about 100 more of equal elegance and beauty. This is just a taste!
time to think about another project
As I say goodbye to the village and enjoy time puttering south down the lake, I embroider the front of a throw pillow I painted last week. My mind is wandering to the projects I have coming up and I can’t help but get excited about everything to come.
I hope you enjoy this post and found some inspiration to make your patriotic celebrations to take on the go fun and beautiful! To read more, be sure to subscribe below (it’s totally FREE) and follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
If you have any questions or suggestions about this post or any we publish, please reach out and say, “Hello!”. Have a great day and remember to live everyday creatively! XOXO, Ali.
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