Patriotic Paintin'

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Every year for the 4th of July we head home to our hometown for a weekend long boat race event called 'Regatta'.  And every year my girlfriends and I try to out craft each other with patriotic crafts, foods and drinks.  

We go all out, all weekend long.  

It's red white and blue as far as the eye can see. 

We brainstorm for weeks and then spend a full afternoon camped out in our friends backyard crafting our hearts out.  We try to outdo each other each year to see who can come up with the best crafts, ideas and projects. 

We live for this weekend so adding the fun of crafts to it, definitely make it one of my favorite times of the year.  

 I was recently in Michaels and picked up some Sharpie Paint Markers and a few other supplies and for said weekend and my imagination was running wild with ideas.  

I decided this year I would get a head start on the crafting (don't tell the girls!). 

Including in our celebrating each year, we always do a big, festive cookout one night.

Burgers, dogs, corn on the cob, pasta salad, ice cream sundaes, anything you can imagine, we have a spread of it.

I thought this year it would be fun to have decorations to put on the dishes and the table to bring the patriotic theme full circle.   

Once I got home, I broke out my heavy card stock, Sharpie Paint Markers, glue gun and twine and got to work.  The Paint Markers worked really well on the card stock and I loved being able to layer the gold one over the blue to create the idea of stars on a flag.  

After painting a few festive flags and sayings, I hot glued them to skewers to create a stakes to stick in a few of the meal items.
I think cut out triangles with fun scissors and used the markers to make mini flag banners hanging from twine.  I am envisioning these hanging on the ledge of a beautiful fruit trifle bowl. 

I also created labels for a few of the items that are on the menu so there's no mistaking what we're eating.

For now they are going to reside on our table but they are itching for their official debut on the 4th!

Do you decorate for the 4th of July?  

Lucky for you, Michaels has great deals on Sharpie Paint Markers! Check them out next time you are in Michaels!

Also be sure to check out Michaels on Facebook and Twitter! 

USA!