Patriotic Picnic and Layout

I must admit I find it hard to limit myself when it comes to all the patriotic papers and embellishments put out every year by paper companies.  I just love the July 4th celebrations with all the picnics, grilling out, hanging out with family and friends, burgers and brats and hotdogs, and of course the fireworks!  It's awesome to be an American!  Right now at Scrapdoodles you can find several awesome lines of patriotic papers and embellishments.  It was hard to choose, but I took home several sheets of double sided papers and some of the layered chipboard elements from We R Memory Keepers "Red, White & Blue" line as well as a few sheets (I couldn't resist the kraft) of papers from Pebbles' "Let Freedom Ring" line.  To complement these papers, I also chose a sheet of tiny letters and phrases made by Authentique ("Glory").  What did I make with all these goodies?  LOTS!  Take a look!

First - a layout with little "Super Hannah" celebrating the hero in her life - her daddy.  I love these papers for a Father's Day layout!   I cut out some of the paper elements to create the two tags at the bottom and part of the title.  The tag and star circles are some of the coordinating layered chipboard.

Next I decided on a few projects to decorate our July 4th picnic table.  These projects were pretty easy to put together and really make your table stand out from the crowd.  I framed the Pledge of Allegiance 12x12 print (by Pebbles) (after adding just a bit of red stickles and a few confetti stars), then added the embellishments to the outside of the frame.  The firecracker element is simply a rolled bit of paper with shiny streamers (left over from some other project) glued into the roll.  For the embellishment in the upper left corner, I started with a 12 inch strip of paper that included the bar strip area to get the striped edge.  It's then just an accordion fold, spread open like a fan and glued onto a half circle on the back.  The tag is a layered chipboard embellishment and the "Let Freedom Ring" flag is, again, part of the barcode of the Pebbles paper wrapped around a toothpick and notched.  Speaking of flags, you can buy them already made by We R Memory Keepers, or go ahead and make your own, like I did, with paper scraps.  I also added some stitching and a few extras to this set of flags.  They are fun to make and a little addicting. You can use them on cupcakes or other desserts or anywhere that needs an extra little "hooray!"

But, wait! There's more!  I made a patriotic centerpiece with the papers by making accordion fold stars and medallions and adding various embellishments.  I added little flags with some of the words from the Authentique sticker sheet.  The "Honor" embellishment is one of the large layered chipboard elements from We R Memory Keepers.  I like how it stands out in my "bouquet."  The tin bucket is something I had bought at the Target dollar spot a few years ago.  I rounded off the centerpiece with some ribbons and paper strips curled around a skewer.  Everything is taped or hot-glued to wooden skewers and stuck into a piece of foam in the bucket.

Last, but certainly not least, I decided to dress up some plain condiment containers with more paper strips, a few tags (cut from the paper sheets) and ribbon.  I love how everything turned out and can't wait to celebrate our country in just a couple weeks.  Happy Birthday, America!