When celebrating Independence Day on July 4th, you may wish to decorate for the occasion to show your national pride.
Excessive cheap red, white, and blue decorations can make your home look like a tacky gift shop.
Follow the suggestions below for classy yet festive Independence Day decor for your family gathering, barbeque, or other party or celebration.
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Bigger and fewer is better
When decorating for the 4th of July, select a few larger items instead of many smaller items.
One very large American flag on the outside of your home is a wonderful focal point and is much better looking than many small flags lining the driveway that can look cluttered and messy.
One large arrangement of red white and blue flowers creating a focal point in your room is better than several smaller arrangements that can get easily overlooked.
Quality over quantity
Purchase quality decorations that can be reused next Independence Day instead of cheap decorations that will be thrown away at the end of the night.
Disposable decorations look cheap because they are cheap.
Cheap decorations are not eco friendly because they will quickly end up in a landfill.
Avoid cardboard cutouts of stars, crepe paper streamers, and plastic tablecloths.
Opt for reusable quality decorations such as fabric streamers and a fabric tablecloth that can be washed instead of thrown in the trash.
For a more casual look, you can use red, white, and blue bandanas as napkins, a gingham tablecloth, burlap used as a napkin ring, and Mason jars used as drinking glasses with red and white straws.
Don't forget about white
White can be very elegant and timeless, so consider using 50% white decorations, 25% red decorations, and 25% blue decorations when decorating for the 4th of July.
You can also use this color scheme for your flowers in a floral arrangement.
Decorating with an abundance of white is a refreshing color choice.
More than flags
Your Independence Day decor does not need to be dominated by American flags.
You can also use items with stars, bells, stripes, plaid, baseballs, drums, firecrackers, hearts, or eagles as July 4th decorations.
For a more modern look, simply use solid colors instead of patterns or prints.
Fireworks
The 4th of July is known for its fireworks, so why not use them as decor before you set them off?
You can put the smaller fireworks in a bowl as decoration since they are colorful and fun, but make sure to keep them out of the reach of kids.
For kids
If you are decorating for children (or for adults and children) try to have fun with a portion of the decor to include the kids in the 4th of July festivities.
You could have placemats that list weird & fun American history facts, a puzzle with the states as puzzle pieces, patriotic colored sidewalk chalk for them to help decorate, or red, white, & blue candy.
Food
Anything in your home can be decorated for Independence Day, including the food.
Consider selecting food that contains red, white, and blue.
You can have red strawberries, cherries, red licorice, peppermints, red apples, punch, red hot candy, tomatoes, red velvet cake, raspberries, and watermelon.
Consider using blue jello, blueberries, blue drinks, sprinkles, blue potatoes, blue corn tortilla chips, and blue cake icing.
You can also have white cake, rice, ice cream, popcorn, white chocolate, marshmallows, bananas, or cookies. Serve your food with style using patriotic colored plates, bowls, and napkins.
Clothing
You can decorate yourself for Independence Day by selecting red, white, and/or blue clothing.
Be careful to not go overboard - solid colors are good but a loud Hawaiian shirt or a mixture of too many patterns might be too much.
