Flags For My Mother

If my mother was alive, today would be her 100th birthday.

  She was born June 14, 1914 - Flag Day.

Every year, on June 14th, my father would announce to the family

that he and his service club friends were setting out flags around town in honor of mother's birthday - and I believed him.

My mother loved sharing her birthday with the American Flag so to honor her today, I set up a little bit of Americana on the front porch along with a bear I purchased for my mother the last time she ever came to visit me.

With my primary color palette, decorating with Red White & Blue is quite easy to pull off.

I changed the books on the living room cedar chest to Red White & Blue adding a metal star and a red bottle stopper.

The dining room table is decked out in Red White & Blue.

A mix & match of dishes and flatware combined with Red White & Blue flowers from the garden

 make a patriotic table setting.

The porch cabinet got a dose of Red White & Blue from the pitchers on the cabinet and the potted flowers on a ledge.

Flags,

 stars,

stripes,

and a whole lot of Red White & Blue.

I am acting just like my dad - saying that I am putting out the Red White & Blue in honor of Mother, when I am actually getting a jump of my 4th of July decor.

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Please join me at

The Dedicated House - Anything Blue Friday

Work . . . Work . . . Work

After the first 30 days of retirement spent being creative, I spent the last several days cleaning and organizing.

It all needs to be done, but creating is much more fun.

This morning I opted for a little creativity before I got to work.

Yesterday I found this white fabric with red stripes when I was at Jo Ann's looking for white eyelet - didn't find the eyelet fabric.

And, on Monday the red and white polka dot flatware arrived.

One of the things I love most about blogging is the wonderful people you meet.

Manuela of A Cultivated Nest and Vicky of Life on Willie Mae Lane both sent me links to flatware when I mentioned I was looking for something with a fun pattern.

It literally took about 5 minutes to hem the ends of the table runner (the edges were already finished) and put it on the table.

I didn't want too much red so I chose blue and white dishes.

I added white napkins with ruffles that I made last summer and daisies from the garden.

The table is all ready for whatever beautiful and tasty concoction Steve serves up tonight.

I love the polka dots and want to see them out so I put all of my colorful flatware into pitchers.

They are in the entryway cabinet- which I still have not decided what color to paint - and make me smile.

Now, I have to get to work.

Steve is hanging an art show tomorrow morning and I need to make labels for 15 paintings.

I can't really complain because the main space I have been cleaning and organizing is my creative space and it is almost ready for the Where Bloggers Create party tomorrow at My Desert Cottage.

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I should be working, but you can find me at these fun parties

Lavender Garden Cottage - Cottage Style Party

The Charm of Home - Home Sweet Home

Green Willow Pond - What We Accomplished Wednesday

Made in a Day - Made U Look Linky

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson - Share Your Cup Thursday

Inspiration

. . .  mental stimulation . . . visual stimulation . . . 

Beautiful blogs lead to "flashes of inspiration" and a gloomy day provided time to change things up for summer and show my American spirit.

>>ON THE PORCH<<

an old wooden flag from my "Americana" days was painted white

wooden flags were retrieved from the attic

pinwheels were tucked into flowers

Scrabble tiles spell out AMERICA

>>AT THE DOOR<<

a little table copied from Maddiebella Home sits guarding the door

an old cloth flag rests against the house

a bucket full of flowers welcomes guests

>>IN THE DINING ROOM<<

red, white and blue (and yellow) on display

stripes of blue and yellow stand out on the shelves

stars decorate dishes 

a little patriotic block puzzle begs to be solved

All the inspiration is making me want to make more changes.

So much inspiration . . . so little time.

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 I am joining the fun at these parties

Rain on a Tin Roof - Give Me the Goods Monday

Little Red House - Mosaic Monday

A Cultivated Nest - The Creative HomeAcre Blog Hop

Town and Country Living - Summer Inspiration Decor Party

Shameless Behavior

I displayed shameless behavior tonight.

I blame blogging!

One of our oldest friends has a new woman in his life and we were invited over for dinner.

A few weeks ago when we made plans, he sent an e-mail with directions and at the end he added "just look for the house that is ready for 4th of July".

I asked him what he meant and he simply replied, "wait and see".

As we counted down street numbers, we knew we were at our destination when we saw the front yard.

I grabbed my camera and had taken at least 5 pictures before they answered the door.

I was introduced to Carol for the first time and by her welcoming front yard display, I knew we had far more in common than our names.

The table was dressed in 4th of July finery.

Each salad plate was different.

Hearts and stars abounded in red, white & blue.

This heart flag plate was one of my favorites.

 I love the blue star platter and

the cute little box holding patriotic napkins.

On the mantel I focused on the patriotic ribbon and then realized that the painting was one Steve did of a trip we took to New York City several years ago.

Seeing all the patriotic bears and bunnies

reminded me that I have my own collection

of animals dressed in Americana hiding in my attic.

Before I put my camera away, I caught a photo of this beautiful red door hung sideways along a wall.

I had never thought about a door as wall art, but I love the idea.

I did explain why I was taking photos.

Carol said if I really want to have fun photographing decorations then I need to show up at Halloween.

Believe me, I will be there with my camera in hand.

Feeling Red, White and Blue

I love the American Flag and have a couple little flags on display all the time.

After reading a myriad of blogs today, I decided I needed to be showing more patriotism.

It isn't hard for us to look patriotic because our house is white with blue trim and a red door.

Steve headed out for a few appointments and by the time he got back, Fourth of July was evident all over the house.

I created a vignette on the red cabinet in the entryway.

I have to be honest and say that I got a lot of my ideas from looking at blogs today.

I collect letters to use in my vignettes to spell out words or messages.

The little flag is one that I have out all of the time.

The heart and hand were already on the red cabinet - I just had to add the blue star. 

I set the table in red white and blue despite it still being June because we won't be home for dinner again until July 5.

As soon as Steve got home, he said he wanted to eat outside so I had to move everything.

After dinner, just the centerpiece went back to the dining room.

Now, we are ready for Independence Day.

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I am linked up at

My Romantic Home

for

Show and Tell Friday

Common Ground

Patriotic Party