Happy 4th!!

My cubicle walls have been a little bare lately, that boring grey color covered with my odds and ends decorations and various papers used for work referencing. Livable, but not as FUN as prior times.

So, with my favorite holiday approaching, I decided a little above-the-norm decorating was needed. I had a variety of red/white/blue ideas, but unfortunately, my local craft and fabric stores did not want to comply. For weeks I looked for just the right fabric and kept coming up empty-handed. Back to the drawing board. With some Google image searches and brainstorming with Mom and Kathy, a new design was born. And, as typical, instead of having a few weeks to spend creating, the fabric delay resulted in a last minute, long nights of sewing and painting event. Oh, well, at least I don't require much sleep :)

Here are the results, unveiled yesterday:

Front Wall

Side View

View from Above

In case there are any other crafty types who are interested in how these "more economical, and way more fun than store bought decorations" were crafted, a few details:

• Bunting - Basic red, white, and blue cotton fabric. Sewn together in really, really long seams. Because no one seems to sell fabric with stripes wider than 1/2".
• Rosettes - Just a fabric yo-yo. Looks cool and super easy. I used this website tutorial for a refresher. Stars cut out of white cardstock attached.
• Letters - Algerian font. Unique and a little Americana.
• Inside walls - $1 plastic tablecloths, white acrylic paint, and cheap kitchen sponges. I used the whole sponge length-wise for the stripes and cut out a star for the other wall.
• Pennant strands - Mom gets credit for this super find - 9" wire ribbon from Hobby Lobby, already discounted before the holiday :) I just cut it into 9x9 squares and strung red crochet thread through the tops of each. Every day, I'm just hoping these haven't come lose from the ceiling. So far, so good.
• Windsock - stole this idea from Martha Stewart. Same ribbon used here as for the pennants, with 3' lengths of thin red and white ribbon.
  

Another 4th of July fun and a 15 year or so tradition, I made the famous flag pizza to bring to work yesterday. I believe the first flag decorated dessert I made was actually a cake, but that soon was transformed into a patriotic version of fruit pizza.

It was a big hit; no sooner than I hit SEND on the "Flag Fruit Pizza" email, 3/4 of the department was in the breakroom, awaiting their piece of the pie.


Note: Yes, I realize there are not 13 stripes on this flag, nor 30 stars for that matter. I have an idea to work out the stripes for next year. The stars may never happen :)

Note: The Homerun sign in the pictures above isn't exactly a 4th of July decoration. It's been up for awhile, but certainly fitting with the other decorations as baseball season is in full swing.

Note: For any other dorky auditors out there, I think I've been doing too many SOX w/ps. Which, Julie, I just LUV! :)