America’s 250th Independence Day is tomorrow so let’s get ready to celebrate. We’ll need some patriotic decor, and some great food to last through the holiday weekend. I started the decorating outside, by placing flags in the flower baskets.

Shop your house for red, white and blue to make a festive table. For this table, I used red chargers with white stoneware dinner plates topped with red salad plates. Crystal water glasses and everyday flatware make up the settings. The centerpiece is my melamine flag theme platter with silk flowers and dollar store star sprays.

The napkins are rolled like firecrackers, and a bit of blue star wire garland is added to bring more blue to the setting.

These sprays are just perfect for patriotic decor and I’ve had them for many years. They were just a dollar each, now I think they are $1.25. They are intended to be a weight to tie to helium balloons, but I think they are ideal for decorating a table. Add a couple of red candles and you are done. These are sitting on my original design Patriotic Table Runner. The ruler I used for it is discontinued, so just use any 12-1/2-inch star pattern.

For a tasty appetizer platter, make my Perfect Deviled Eggs using the last recipe you’ll ever need, and serve with Ham Rollups. I know I show you this on every holiday, but it is still my favorite thing to make for cookouts and appetizer take-alongs. Deviled eggs are always a hit. No matter how many I make, they are always gone by the end of the party.

Our cookout will be one of our favorite meals, bratwurst with grilled corn.

I cut the corn off the cob so it is easier to eat and add some butter. Yum!!

You can always used canned or frozen corn if you don’t like to deal with the cobs, or you don’t have access to the fresh ones. I put mine in a cast iron skillet on the grill with the meat. This meal was grilled pork ribs and we also had some grilled zucchini. Everything cooks outside so the kitchen doesn’t heat up.

If your tomatoes are getting ripe in your garden, now is the best time for one of my tomato pies! Start your tomatoes drying today so you can have them ready for your holiday meal tomorrow. See the tutorial on my post – Tomato Pie. Download the recipe – Carole’s Tomato Pie.

It is too hot to eat outside here, but maybe you can. Patriotic napkins unfolded over white woven placemats make a wonderful table with nothing to store after the holiday. I love these melamine star plates, and use them often for outdoor meals around patriotic holidays. The napkins are held with strawberry napkin rings.

Strawberries make an appearance for dessert, too. The fresh ones right now are scrumptious!

Add strawberries and blueberries to purchased pound cake topped with vanilla pudding and whipped cream (or low sugar cool whip) for a patriotic trifle dessert that looks and tastes fabulous yet takes almost no time.

Maybe have some of my Double Chocolate Delight Cookies. The recipe is scaled down to make just 18 cookies, perfect for the two of us without dozens left over.

I’ll put patriotic quilts out in the den. My To the Nines pattern is available on My Patterns page.

And my recently published Freedom Waves pattern is available at Quilting Daily, just in case you missed the magazine. The pattern is on sale this weekend for $4. You can also order the magazine there as well.

Paint a thrift store hat white, and add tulle or patriotic ribbon and some silk flowers for a cute accessory to sit in the evening waiting for the fireworks show.

Enjoy the fireworks!

Happy Independence Day!!

What are your plans for this weekend?