• Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Collaborate
  • Blog
  • Parties
    • Children’s Parties Ideas
    • Holiday Parties
    • Adult Party Ideas
  • Holiday Ideas
    • Christmas
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Spring
    • Thanksgiving
    • Valentine’s Day
  • Seasons
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Beverages
    • Desserts
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Soups
  • Project Gallery
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY
    • Good Ideas
    • Tutorials
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

  • Book
  • Speaking
  • Meet Vanessa
    • Featured

July 3, 2013

Last Minute 4th of July Decor & Recipes!

Last Minute 4th of July Decor and Recipes atthepicketfence.com

Don’t you just love it when kids are singing “My Country Tis of Thee” and they say “sweet land of ‘liver’ty”?

Or when they are saying the Pledge of Allegiance and instead of indivisible they say invisible?

There is nothing quite like watching a child develop a sense of patriotism and pride in their nation and no time is that more true than on the 4th of July! This holiday is about being together with family and friends and celebrating the freedoms we are so blessed to have.

And it should also be about just enjoying the moments, not slaving over complicated recipes and elaborate decorations.

So, we’ve put together a simple collection of recipes, crafts and decor that you can do at the last-minute so that you can get out there and wave those flags, light those fireworks, eat that apple pie and celebrate our nations birthday with style!

4th of July Jello Firecracker Shots

Fourth of July Fire Cracker Jello Shots (kid and adult version) from www.atthepicketfence.com

Good Housekeeping Inspired 4th of July Decor

Good Housekeeping inspired 4th of July decor www.atthepicketfence.com

Recycled and Repurposed 4th of July Decorating

Seagram's Summer Tablescape Ideas from www.atthepicketfence.com

Patriotic Hand Pies

4th_of_July_hand_pies www.atthepicketfence.com

Pool Noodle Firecrackers

pool noodle firecrackers 3

Flag Mason Jar Lanterns from Uncommon Designs

Uncommon 4th of July Porch Flag Lantern 2011

Chocolate Covered S’mores from Ask Anna

chocolatecovereds2527mores191-600x655

Glow in the Dark 4th of July Shirt from Dukes & Duchesses

glow in the dark shirts

Told ya! Simple, easy and fun. Our kind of projects!

flag

We wish all of you, our friends, a very happy 4th of July…and liverty and justice for all! 😉

dual-signature_thumb2

8 Comments Filed Under: Crafts, Decorating, Desserts, Fourth of July, Holidays, Parties, Recipes Tagged With: 4th of July, 4th of July crafts, 4th of July decorating, 4th of July recipes

Subscribe

Get the latest goodness straight to your inbox!

Previous Post: « Recycled Patriotic Party Ideas for the 4th of July
Next Post: Shedding more than pounds…an update on my journey to health! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Yvonne @ StoneGable says

    July 3, 2013 at 6:20 AM

    Thee sure say HAPPY 4TH! What adorable ideas!!! I’m making those hand pies for my crowd coming on Saturday! Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Amy@TheBlissfulBee says

    July 3, 2013 at 7:09 AM

    SO many great ideas!! I would love for you to share on my new {Work it Wednesday} linky party if you get the chance!!

    xo
    amy
    https://theblissfulbee.com/work-it-wednesday-no-4/

    Reply
  3. Anna says

    July 3, 2013 at 7:56 AM

    Thank you for including me!!! 🙂

    Happy 4th friends!

    Reply
  4. Ellen says

    July 3, 2013 at 10:05 AM

    I already bought the apple hand pie fixings, looking forward to that with my daughter. The pool noodle firecracker is a great idea! My storage box for the 4th went from not much to popping full this year. Thanks for the wonderful ideas!

    Reply
  5. Angela says

    July 3, 2013 at 2:23 PM

    Great ideas, ladies!!! Have a wonderful 4th!!~~Angela

    Reply
  6. Shannon @Fox Hollow Cottage says

    July 3, 2013 at 3:30 PM

    Happy-Happy 4th of July to you Vanessa and Heather 🙂 Enjoy the day!!
    Pinned this great idea post, lots of great inspiration.

    Reply
  7. Micah says

    July 4, 2013 at 12:32 AM

    Your 4th of July ideas are awesome! This 4th I’m decorating using lights made from my unused Christmas lights and dyed cupcake liners. It turned out very good! It will provide awesome ambiance as we watch the local firework show!

    Reply
  8. bj says

    July 5, 2013 at 9:23 AM

    Love these ideas…
    Came by to link to the Fri party…??
    🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Angela Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search This Blog

Take the Quiz

Stay updated!

Get all the latest goodness straight to your inbox!

Get the book!

Invite Vanessa to speak at your event!

Must Reads

Recent Posts

  • Open Now December 17, 2020
  • Tradition and a Christmas Home Tour December 9, 2020
  • Tabletop Hot Cocoa Station November 29, 2020
  • A New Front Door November 10, 2020
  • Gaining Perspective October 26, 2020

Get all the latest straight to your inbox

Footer

Instagram

I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 y I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 years now and every year I ohhhh and ahhhh over the blossoms like it's the first time I've ever seen them. I gush and I take photos (that look exactly like the ones I took the year before and the year before that) and I make my family come outside and look at them with me which you know they just LOVE to do. 😉 I think that is one of the main reasons why I love spring so much. On the one hand, it's predictable and yet, on the other hand, it still feels like such a surprise after the long months of barren branches.

And yesterday, as I was staring at the gorgeous blossoms for the umpteenth time, I couldn't help but think that I hope this is how I feel when our lives return to some semblance of normalcy.

I hope that the predictable feels special and that the typical feels anything but. I hope that I ohhh and ahhh over the simple things I've realized I've taken for granted. And, most of all, I hope that feeling doesn't go away for a very, very long time! 💗
Are you living with great expectation friends? Bec Are you living with great expectation friends? Because He is risen!

Happy Easter from my home to yours!
Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for sure but some things don’t change. Have you been baking and getting ready for tomorrow? What’s one thing on your menu that you have to have every year?
If this is Good Friday, why doesn’t it feel so “good”? It all seems backward doesn’t it?

What could be good about the unspeakable pain he suffered? What could be good about the shame and betrayal?

Easter Sunday is so joyful, bright and cheery. Shouldn’t that be the day we call “good”? It just feels so much better!

But, I don’t know how to rejoice over His resurrection, unless I have felt the pain of His death. I have realized that in life the sweetest victories are the ones which were realized after a pain-filled journey.

And, so it is with Good Friday. I know there will be victory over death, but I can’t skip ahead in the story.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what he would experience. And he knew why he would go through it. He did it for me. He did it for you.

Do you know that? Have you felt it down in the very core of your soul? 
Sometimes it makes me squirm a bit. Why would anyone do that for me?

Well, because, I can’t do it for myself!

There is nothing I can do to earn that kind of love and mercy.

That is why it is called GRACE.

His grace is freely given. We don’t have to pay for it. He paid the price for us already.

Do you remember that movie from years ago called “Ransom”? A couple’s young son was kidnapped and the parents went to hell and back trying to find him and pay the “ransom” demanded by the kidnappers.

Well, Jesus is our “ransom”. (1 Timothy 2:6) His life was the payment.

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because that wasn’t the end of the story….
.
…It was just the beginning!
Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house that’s become the landing zone for ALL THE THINGS! 🙋🏻‍♀️🤪 I’ve never been more thankful for our rarely used dining room table as it’s become command central for school books and laptops and games.

Where are things collecting in your house right now?
“Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every si “Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every single one of these emotions has made their way through our home in recent days and, my guess is, they have in your home too.

I SO needed this reminder today from the new book ‘Adore’ by @sarahagertywrites.

Adoration isn’t just sitting at His feet gazing longingly with stars in my eyes. It’s bringing my fears and my sorrows and gray roots in my hair that desperately needs to be colored and my messy house and all of the things that threaten to send me over the edge right now and laying them down before Him, soaking up His word and His presence so that when I stand back up, I am changed for having spent the time adoring the ONE who is... Healer, comforter, peace-giver, deliverer, redeemer.

What do you need to bring to Him today? I’ll share mine in the comments and I’d love to hear from you too!
I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole lockdown thing began, I’ve come to appreciate this time of day even more.

It feels the most...normal. Daytime is strange and foreign right now. My husband has taken over our home office, I’m suddenly taking over the responsibility of managing my kids’ distance learning and let me just say that teaching 7th grade algebra to my daughter is hugely ironic since I struggled with math all the way through school. I’m trying to do my own work but it feels utterly futile with the constant interruptions which take precedence right now. In the daytime, I’m constantly reminded of how upside down life feels.

But, in the evening, I cook dinner like I’ve always done and we gather around the table like we’ve always done and we laugh and tell stories and then clean up and play games or go on a walk or watch a show. And that feels SO gloriously normal.

So now I love evenings even more than I ever did before and I’m so grateful for this little chunk of time where the rhythms we established years ago are helping to sustain us now when so much of life feels outside of our control.

What feels ‘normal’ to you right now? Whatever it is, keep doing it. 🌿
When I was in college I would frequently call home When I was in college I would frequently call home and pour my heart out to my mom, sharing with her all that was happening in my life in that completely unfiltered way that you can talk with the person who potty trained you. These phone calls usually took place at night and my mom would patiently listen as I vented frustrations about professors, roommates, boyfriends and the food in the cafeteria. And, inevitably, they would end with my mom saying, “Everything seems worse when you’re tired. Try not to overthink things or make any major decisions tonight, especially when you are feeling emotional.” Dear friends, may I pass along this advice to you today?

If you don’t absolutely HAVE to make a decision right now, I want to encourage you to wait until life gets back to normal. If you are finding yourself over-analyzing relationships and family dynamics, I want to encourage you to remember that everything seems more dramatic when looked at under a microscope. And, let’s face it, being homebound with our loved ones non-stop makes us all feel like lab rats in an experiment.

If you are tempted to quit a job, start a business, start homeschooling permanently, stop homeschooling permanently, move to a new city, buy a farm, quit pursuing your dream, join a commune or make any other major life decision just…wait. Because, if it is in fact the right decision, it will be made even clearer once our lives return to their ‘regularly scheduled programming’. Instead, in this strange season, let’s all just take a deep, collective breath and let it out slowly, releasing the anxiety that threatens to overtake us. Let’s help each other maintain some perspective and not slip into a posture of over-thinking every little thing in our lives. Let’s remember that the enemy of our souls would love nothing more than to use this time when things feel dark to manipulate us into thinking that aspects of our lives are worse than they actually are.

My prayer for you in these days is that you will have the clarity to know what is true and that you will be filled with peace even while we live in this season of so many unknowns.
Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking thes Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking these days! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m trying to avoid gaining the #corona15 but my daughter and I LOVE baking together and it does help to pass the time plus it counts as a science lesson right?

If you’re able to find flour in the stores (for the love people please stop overbuying!) and you’re doing more baking at your house too you need to add this apricot bread to your list of new recipes to try!

Normally I’d point you to my blog for the directions but I’m going to do you a solid and leave the full recipe in the comments.

What have you baked so far during this time of social distancing? I’d love some new ideas!
There are a LOT of people out walking in our neigh There are a LOT of people out walking in our neighborhood right now (but still social distancing!) and she decided that she wanted to bring them some joy and put a smile on their face when they pass by our house. Also, the square with ‘say no to coronavirus’ is priceless. 😂 I just love her so much!
Follow
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

Log in as an administrator and view the Instagram Feed settings page for more details.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2021 At The Picket Fence