Fourth of July Party

Fourth of July Party – Decorations and Food Ideas

* Supplies for this party were provided to me from Celebrate Express at no cost to me.

We had such a fun Fourth of July party this year. This holiday is super close to my daughter’s birthday, and as she was flipping through a catalog, she decided that she wanted a Fourth of July themed party. Therefore, our annual Independence Day party was elevated to celebrate Abby’s 7th birthday as well. I know it’s too late to recreate a party like this for this year, but just add it to your Pinterest board or bookmark it to your computer for inspiration for next year. Abby was full of all kind of opinions this year. She had all of her food ideas laid out and even designed her own cake. I had a completely different idea in mind, but she knew what she wanted, so we went with it.

Fourth of July Decorations

Sometimes you have time to craft everything by hand sometimes you just don’t. This year I definitely did not, and I needed as much help as I could . This is just one out of four parties I’ve hosted in the last 3 weeks. It’s been a busy time. Sometimes it is just easier and cheaper to get some things pre-made. I went to Celebrate Express for all of my party needs this year. For the main food table, I picked out the classic red table skirt and Blue Polka-Dot Flags. I used white wrapping paper to set the scene behind the table.

For the decor over the table I used Red Hanging Fluffy Tissue Balls, Blue Hanging Fluffy Tissue Balls, and White Chinese Lanterns.

For the tables where everyone was eating, I ordered their blue paper table cloths and a runner and centerpieces I had from last year. Celebrate Express has similar centerpieces.

I wanted to make the silverware all fancy. I got the apple red plastic cutlery from Celebrate Express. I had the napkins from last year, but there are napkins available if you click the link. I found the little pinwheels at Michael’s and attached those on the front. All I did was roll the napkins around the silverware, stack the pinwheel on top and tape white, 1″ strips around it all to bring it all together. You can always learn to make your own Pinwheels on a tutorial found here at Meaningful Mama.

Abby had a lot of opinions about decorations and food. She really wanted strawberries, marshmallows and blueberries in the shape of an American flag. I’m wondering if she saw this somewhere or is starting to come up with ideas on her own. We put them on skewers to make them easier to serve.

I wanted to have more fruit available as well, so we made up these little fruit cups. I had some red silicone cupcake molds, which I put inside red and white striped cupcake wrappers. I then filled those with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

I hope you saw my Fourth of July Cake Tutorial. If not, head on over. I give step by step instructions on how to make this cake. I also give a number of cake decorating tips on the journey.

I had extra cake batter, so I decided to make some Pop Rock cupcakes. I’m sure you’ve seen this idea going around. I added little American flags as an embellishment. You will want to add the Pop Rocks right before you set them out. The transformation does not happen immediately, but if they sit too long the Pop Rocks will start to become sticky and solidify together.

In this picture you’ll see the cupcakes with my little toothpick American flag, layered Sixlets chocolate candy in a bowl, blue polka-dot straws for the drinks, American flag cups and layered 4th of July layered red, white and blue punch I found at Big Bear’s Wife.

We made corn dogs for the kids, as per Abigail’s request. They have always been a favorite.

I wanted to provide an extra dessert for those who would prefer something other than cake. My closest friend and her family came to the party (after all, they are just like family), and she made my Fourth of July Red, White and Blue Sugar Cookie Tart.

As the party favors for the kids, we made these little S’More buckets, which were a big hit.

Every year I try and get the same shot on the dock so I can watch them grow older. Here is a photo from two years ago, and here is the snapshot of last year. I love the one we got of them this year as well.

I loved Abby’s array of expressions as she opened her gifts. Her enthusiasm was palpable. With every opened gift she said, “This is exactly what I wanted” with so much enthusiasm. Yes, Abby, it helps if you go pre-shopping with your mom and give her a list of ideas of” exactly what you want” so I can pass them on when people ask.