The burgers are grilled to the perfection and all the “fixins” are sliced and diced, waiting to be devoured. July spread like a DIY centerpiece. Centerpieces are a great way to dress up your table and are easy to do it yourself. Here are three easy DIY Fourth of July centerpieces sure to please your pocketbook and your guests.
DIY Fourth of July Flower Planter
You will need:
• Shallow planter (ceramic, glass, wood) about 3″-4″ deep, 6″-12″ long, 3″-5″ wide (get one pre-painted or leave plain to save time)
• Planting Styrofoam (rectangular) to fit inside your container
• Decorative moss, colored straw, or metallic straw
• Red, white, and blue flowers of your choice in varying lengths 6″-12″ (or trim to desired length) silk would be best so you can reuse next year.
• Greenery
• Pre-painted wooden Uncle Sam, small 3″x5″ American flags, or other Fourth of July decoration (such as Stars on stakes, etc) optional
Directions:
Fit Styrofoam inside planter. If Styrofoam is not snug (where it will not tip over or move too much) wad up newspaper around the sides for extra filler. Be sure that it is mostly Styrofoam and not newspaper or it will not support the weight of the flowers.
Choose four of your longest flowers (of the same color) for the middle of the planter. Insert them into the Styrofoam in a wide diamond shape. The left and right side should be inserted at an angle where the bloom is facing outwards. The front and back bloom should be slightly shorter than the two sides (or you can just insert them deeper) and also facing outward.
Working your way around the four focal flowers, fill in the rest of the plant with remaining blooms, alternating colors. Leave an inch or two between blooms, longest on left and right, shorter in middle and front and back.
Fill in the open spots with greenery. Cover stems and Styrofoam with decorative moss or straw. Insert decorative Fourth of July elements wherever you desire for finishing touches.
DIY Simple Centerpiece
You will need:
• Tall, thin cylindrical vase 6″-12″ tall and 2″-4″ wide
• Long (12″-24″) thin sticks (go and get some from the yard or get store bought ones)that will sit taller than your chosen vase
In a well ventilated area or outside, spread newspaper out. Lay sticks on newspaper a few inches apart. Spray paint sticks; some red, some white, and some blue. Allow to dry. Turnover and paint other side. For a variation, you can also paint each stick all three colors in stripes or however you please.
When sticks are dry, simply put sticks inside vase and enjoy!
A variation of this idea is: Instead of sticks, use 8-12 American flags and arrange them to where the flags are evenly distributed around the vase.
DIY Country Centerpiece
You will need:
• Wooden bucket or bushel basket with handle
• Red apples (real or fake) enough to fill bucket and have “mounded” a little over the edge
• Blue wired ribbon (royal, denim, or navy blue is best) 2″ wide and long enough to fit around top of your basket and make a bow.
• White handkerchief or cloth (large enough to fill the inside of basket and have 3″ overflowing
Directions:
Centering white handkerchief, place inside basket so that inside is lined and edges overflow on the outside.
Put apples inside on top of white handkerchief. Arrange decoratively.
Flatten handkerchief against sides of basket and take the ribbon and wrap around the top of the basket about ½” to 1 ½ “from the top. Tie in a simple shoe string bow and trim edges to length of basket.
A variation of this idea is: Instead of white handkerchiefs, use blue and white “cowboy” handkerchiefs (one of each) to line basket and forget about the ribbon. Follow all other instructions as above.
All of these centerpieces take less than 30 minutes to put together. Keep them in a plastic bag after the fourth and reuse next year. Enjoy your Fourth of July with these easy DIY centerpieces, knowing you didn’t spend a lot of time OR money!
