Celebrate
Independence
In Style
by Megan Chytraus
T
he fourth of July! The perfect summer holiday! Perfect outdoor weather, a menu full of
classic American favorites, family, friends,
and of course fireworks! Here are some tips to
throw your own star spangled bash!
THE MENU!
Think good ole American classics and
then add a fun patriotic twist!
The end goal being that your food is as
much a decoration as it is something to
eat!
• Use fun red and white striped paper boxes to
serve your hotdogs
• Serve blueberries and strawberries placed in
a rectangular dish. Make the blueberries the
stars, the strawberries the stripes, and add in
stripes of whipped cream for good old American flag fruit salad!
• Having kids? Make firecracker corn dogs by
using crescent roll dough and wrapping it in
a spiral up a hotdog on a stick. After you have
it cooked, add pieces of star cut cheese on top
with toothpicks! They will love it!
• Cut your watermelon with a big star cookie
cutter! Instant and easy food décor!
• Extras! Serve easy sides in red and blue dishes!
Think chips, potato salad, jello...all those classic BBQ sides!
• Desserts are easy! Adorn cakes or cupcakes
with star sprinkles, cute toppers, or sparklers
• Want something to cool off? Stash some Popsicles in an ice bucket and bring them out after-dinner!
• Make the drinks just as exciting! Get a stash
of blue and red soda in the old-fashioned glass
bottles! Place them in a silver bucket with ice
in a way that keeps them cold but lets their color add to your scene! Not much for soda? Serve
a blue colored drink (sports drink or Kool-Aid)
in mason jars with a couple of your watermelon
stars dropped in! Chill them before the party
and then add them to an ice bucket..super cute!
THE DÉCOR
Red, White, and Blue through and
through! The best part about this
party is that the décor is so simple!
Stripes, polka dots, denim textures,
plaid, bandanna....all of them will work
to set the scene and for most of us we
won’t even need to spend much to get some!
•
If you have Christmas stuff, reuse any of the
red items to save some money!
• You can also find star shaped plastic serving
dishes for extremely reasonable prices at many
local stores as July approaches.
• Paint old jars red and blue and use them as
centerpieces or to hold utensils. Add even more
flare to them but wrapping a piece of patriotic
ribbon around them or paint some stripes or
stars.
• Table Cloth! This one is major!! Pick the perfect linen to dress your tables or at the very
least your food table! Making it stand out with
all of your fun menu options will have a major
impact on the entire scene.
• Use stars and stripes patterned paper to make
some old fashioned circular fans that can be
hung up along the fence line. Throw a banner
in the middle with a fun 4th of July catchphrase
and you’ve created a very simple yet noticeable
backdrop.
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