Welcome back readers,
LOVED all of your suggestions and stories in the comments! Fourth of July parties are always so fun because it’s summer and easy to plan, plus there are fireworks! Five of you lucky readers will be able to celebrate deliciously with our chocolate covered strawberries. Congratulations to Lisa Dion (June 22, 2012 at 8:17 am), Natalie J Vandenberghe (June 22, 2012 at 10:44 am), Serena Adkins (June 22, 2012 at 9:33 pm), Renee Adams (June 24, 2012 at 12:42 pm), and Maddy (June 25, 2012 at 3:44 pm)! Please email your info to me at amariscal@1800flowers.com and I can send out your strawberries!
I’ve been living on Pinterest this last week looking at all the cute 4th of July recipes and patriotic decorations on there, so I’m definitely not done talking about Fourth of July party ideas!
Let’s talk about more Fourth of July decorations first. This Red, White and Blue garland on Etsy is so adorable and could definitely be used for further year round décor. Made with natural hemp rope, felt and string, it’s very lightweight and can be simply placed anywhere. Keep it up longer to celebrate the Olympics this year, for a primary color birthday bash, or Labor Day! 
Other Independence Day Decoration Tips:
- Use a solid color cloth for your table or displays and sprinkle red, white, blue and silver star confetti
- Fill small vases, glasses or buckets with sand and stick sparklers inside as a “fireworks bouquet”
Now that we have the decoration ideas out of the way, we can move onto more Fourth of July recipes! These “Flag Favors” are so adorable and easy to make. Just a few candy straws, round candies or M&Ms and a rectangle bag, and you have a patriotic party favor ready to go. If you want to show off your culinary skills, try out this truffle cake pop recipe at MyJuiceCup.com! (Also send some to me!)
For an incredibly simple and delicious summer treat, try out this idea we found on Pinterest! All you need are a box of ice-cream sandwiches, sprinkles, Popsicle sticks (optional), and cupcake liners (also optional). Skewer sandwiches with Popsicle sticks, press sprinkles to ice cream sides, and serve on cupcake liners to reduce mess! 
No Fourth of July party would be complete without some fun games to play! Some of our favorite Fourth of July party games:
- Sack Race
- Three-legged Race
- Egg & Spoon Relay
- Water Balloon Fight (it’s going to be a hot day!)
- American History Bingo
If you’re looking forward to a small gathering or need to move the party indoors to avoid the heat, rent and watch these Fourth of July favorites:
- Forrest Gump: I refuse to believe there is a person alive who hasn’t cried once during this movie.
- Independence Day: It says it all in the name, also Will Smith!
- The Music Man: Everyone loves a good musical!
- Miracle: Americans winning at Hockey, come on.
- Apollo 13: Tom Hanks the most likeable man alive again, need I say more?
- Saving Private Ryan: Obviously there is a theme other than America here.
There will be no blog next week because a certain blog writer will be road tripping for this holiday week! But I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Fourth of July (or Tom Hanks movie marathon). Blog will resume Thursday July 12.
Of course I’d love to hear from you in the comments or on Facebook! What are your plans for Fourth of July?
