Patriotic Mantel Decor

I had no plans to do mantel décor for the Fourth of July.  But ...



Having a few spare minutes this morning, thought I'd put up JUST a red felt wreath, a boa and a few patriotic candles.  Easy peasy, will only take a sec and be done, right?

Well .... not quite!  Of course, the wreath, boa and candles looked a little bare, so I added a few red glittery star baskets, a red star (that's actually a Christmas tree topper) and the red felt ball that matches the wreath.

Not bad.  But ... not good either.  There was nothing that screamed "patriotic" at all.  Way too much red.  And, there was hardly any blue.  Easily fixed with a few paper punched white stars with blue centers.  I cut the centers out of lightweight blue paper with my Silhouette.  Used double stick tape to place them in the center of each star.  Added the stars to each item on the mantel (except the red felt ball). 

Then a few ribbons on the red boa - blue/white dotted, red/white/blue striped, and solid blue. 

Using double-stick tape, I also covered the front ledge of the fireplace mantel with a blue ribbon.  Now, it seems a little more balanced and definitely red/white and blue. 







Will post a tutorial later to show you how to make the red felt wreath and ball. 

The book page wreath is also decked out for the Fourth!  If you missed my post on how I made it, you can find it HERE.




I like that basic red can be used as a basis for Valentine's Day, Christmas and any of the patriotic holidays as well.  Nice to reuse and have less to store and organize.

Do you have décor items that are dual purpose for several holidays?  



Wishing you and yours a fun-filled Fourth of July!!!  We're looking forward to our little community's  picnic with barbecue, auction, cake walk, dance and fireworks.  Have a super safe holiday!

Fondly, 



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4 comments:

  1. Looks good, Carolyn! I didn't do anything to my mantel for the 4th this year. I might go to Joann's later today and check out their holiday clearance section though. I seem to get a lot of my patriotic decor there for some reason. Hope you had fun yesterday! A cake walk sounds like so much fun! I haven't been to one since elementary school. Happy times, for sure! :)

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    1. It was a lot of fun to watch the mantel décor evolve. The projects that I think will be quick and easy always take on a mind of their own. Did you find anything at Joann's?

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  2. How lovely! I'm afraid I didn't do any decorating, this year.

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    1. You do so much, Bless - I can't imagine you'd have time to decorate for the Fourth - you're such a wonderful seamstress and I love to follow your gardening projects as well. Don't know how you do it all!

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