Independence Day Archives - grace grits and gardening

Happy Independence Day to you!

July 4, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner 14 Comments

Happy Independence Day, America!

Did you know…?

Thirty-three-year-old Katherine Bates wrote America the Beautiful after hiking to Pike’s Peak. “It was then and there, as I was looking out over the sea-like expanse of fertile country spreading away so far under those ample skies, that the opening lines of the hymn floated into my mind.” (biography.com via Library of Congress)

Bates received $5 for the initial publication of her poem and released all future royalties.

The Patriotic Porch

June 29, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner 14 Comments

Last week I shared a few easy ways to decorate your house and garden for the 4th of July. If you missed it, click HERE. Today, I’m focusing on the porch. A patriotic porch extends summer’s favorite celebration beyond the inside of your home.

We are lucky to have three porches—a front wraparound porch, a back screened porch, and a sleeping porch upstairs. First up, the front porch.

It sort of goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway), plant red flowers. The good news about summer gardening, often when the weather turns blistering, you can find plants on sale. I found red petunias and salvia for fifty cents at Lowes! Yes, you may have to trim/water/coddle/deadhead them, and yes, they are a little leggy, but $0.50!! They make great fillers for the bare spots in my containers along the front.

What’s easier than poking a dime store flag in a flower pot? Not much. Even though our chair cushions aren’t patriotic, the vintage star pillow pulls everything together like the cherry on top of a sundae.

Raid your house and temporarily relocate red, white, and blue decorations from inside to outside for a 4th of July porch party. Red striped and denim pillows on the swing plus a child’s little red wooden bench add patriotic touches.

Throw a vintage tablecloth on your outdoor table. The colander I ate strawberries from last week, now holds a fern.

Now on to the back porch.

By moving things around and rummaging through my garage, I was able to give my back porch a patriotic look. The bowling pins were a long ago yard sale find. Everything else was either already on the porch, in another room, or being unused in the garage. When we moved from Dallas, the red-stained bookcase didn’t fit in our new house, so we put it on the back porch to use as a potting bench / serving buffet. Works great! Since it’s in a protected area, the only problem with having it on the porch is dust and pollen.

Razorbacks are naturally patriotic:)) #WPS!

And last, our sleeping porch. Obviously, this ain’t no P. Allen Smith sleeping porch. His is to die for. Ours is dusty with an inch of pollen on the floor and no place to sleep. But since the sleeping porch is a part of early 20th century American architecture (and since I mentioned it), I thought I should show ours to you. I do love the vintage motel-style chairs which came from 410 Vintage. And my Easy Peasy Breezy Vintage Hanky Bunting is being showcased in the name of summer. What I really want out there is an antique bed of some sort…

P. Allen Smith, maybe you could come for a visit and makeover this space for me? Pretty please.

That’s it for my patriotic home, garden and porch. Happy Monday!

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]The #Patriotic #Porch extends summer’s favorite celebration. @PAllenSmith #gardenchat #4thofJuly #America[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Dierks Bentley, Home

Patriotic Decorating Ideas for Home and Garden

June 26, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner 3 Comments

Today I’m sharing a few of my favorite patriotic decorating ideas for the home and garden. While patriotism never goes out of style, the 4th of July calls for extra red, white, and blue flair. And I prefer to think beyond the typical and decorate using things I already have or flea market finds.

Like vintage marbles. Red, white, and blue marbles displayed in blue depression glass adds a touch of Americana without being too obvious.

One of my best sources for patriotic decor can be find stored inside my Christmas decoration box. Those red and silver stars that are so perfect at Christmas and New Year’s Eve work quite well come July 4th. I use this simple string of stars all summer.

Strung along the mantle, it makes a primitive sort of bunting.

These flags are fun to make with craft or vintage paper, straws, glue, glitter, buttons and whatever other supplies you have on hand. Stick them in flower pots to brighten your kitchen windowsill. This is a GREAT project for the little ones.

Small vintage vases are handy in holiday decorating. This white star vase couldn’t be any more perfect for Independence Day. If you don’t already collect vintage vases, you can pick them up at flea markets for a few bucks each. Also, they come in great colors that just happen to be trendy now. Colors like chartreuse and turquoise. It’s true. Old often becomes new again.

Those quilts you have in the closet? Display them on a bookshelf or draped across a chair. They may be too fragile to actually use but they’re too beautiful to hide. To me, handmade and vintage is another definition of patriotic.

Patriotic summer snacking is easy. Strawberries and blueberries in a vintage colander, and there you have it! Watermelon is another of my favorite. Maybe in another life I would have cut pieces into cute star shapes like those I see on Pinterest, but not now. My colander has a star design though, and that works for me.

If you can sew, whip up a patriotic pillow using fabric scraps. I found this one at a flea market for $5. It’s small and perfect for my vintage child’s rocker. (It was actually my chair when I was little, and yes, I need to shine it up a bit.)

What do you think of my (mostly) red and blue patriotic book display? While I’m not one to arrange an entire wall of books according to color, I thought a small grouping would be fun. Patriotic summer reading anyone?