Friday, July 4, 2014

Happy Independence Day 2014!!

Hello, friends!  Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! 

I hope everyone out in bloggerland enjoyed a wonderful Independence Day!  Things are simmering down here at the Parsimonious house, the fireworks have just ended.  I had a very busy and productive day.....it's relax time.  Although festivities for the day have ended, I wanted to share three quick tips I used today to help make our celebration go off without a hitch. I hope you enjoy the post.  


Dress Up Your Silverware Service 

 




Today, when I served my family, I thought it would be a fun idea to dress up a simple silverware caddy in festive colors. 

You will need:

A simple perforated silverware caddy
Grosgrain ribbon in red, white, and blue




First, size up


and cut enough strips of ribbon, one for each row of holes. 


Like so. 



Thread the ribbon through the holes.  


Once all your ribbon is threaded,

Tie.  


Here, I tied one red, one white, and one blue ribbon together in a bow.


Side View. 


Another variation is to tie each ribbon individually. Shown here.  


Side View.


Great Burgers Your Family Will Devour

While my meat marinates prior to barbecuing, I also prepare my hamburger meat. 


This trick I learned from my uncle makes burgers not only have a wonderful flavor, but they practically melt in your mouth.   Prior to cooking, add a bit of barbecue sauce, mustard, ketchup, and A-1 and/or Worcestershire Sauce along with your seasonings to the meat and mix thoroughly.  Use approximately one-half tablespoon of each per one pound of ground beef. Yum!


To view my simple BBQ marinade, you may visit the post in the archives here



Festive Citronella Mini Pots

The final tidbit I completed in preparation for today were these little patriotic citronella candle pots.  


We live in California, and the weather is beautiful and sunny most of the time.  The downside to that is unfortunately, it is against the law to have personal fireworks in certain counties.  We reside in one such county.  Boooo.  I have such good memories of setting off fireworks as a child, I sometimes wish my children would have the same.  :(
To make tonight special, I made each of my smaller children "mock" fireworks with these festive little candles.  

You will need:

Mini citronella candle clay pots

Mini stars stickers
Mini rolls of tape
Red, white, and blue paint
Paintbrush 

Begin by painting the clay pots completely white. Allow to dry. 


Once dry, place star stickers onto the white pot. On some of the pots, I placed stickers on the top rim,


and on others, I did so on the bottom portion. 



On the alternate side (top rim or bottom half), place spaced strips of mini tape. 




After the stickers are fastened, paint blue right over the area where there are star stickers, and red right over the strips of tape. 


Allow dry time.


Once dry, carefully peel the stickers and tape off.  Voilà!!


I painted to clean up the lines a little....but these were for my kiddos after all, so I wasn't too worried that they weren't perfect. 


They were excited to hold them during the firework display!  These could also dub as gifts for guests (although then I'd likely be a bit more OCD, lol) or even down the middle of a table in a tablescape.  What's great about these is that the citronella keeps the bugs away.  To read other ways to ward off summertime pests, visit the post in the archives here


Where to buy:
Silverware caddy:  Ikea
Grosgrain ribbon, The 99¢ Store
Mini Citronella Candle Pots, HomeGoods
Mini Tape rolls, The 99¢ Store
Stars stickers, The 99¢ Store


Have a blessed and safe holiday from our family to yours!  


If you enjoy this post, please visit the archives!  You may also visit my full profile to view my other blogs. Connect with me on my Facebook Page, Parsimonious Décor Darling.   You might like to visit my other blog hubs,

The Marvelous Maison, a lifestyle blog hub and 
Frugal Fab Fashionista, my fashion blog hub. 

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Thank you for stopping by! ❤











8 comments:

  1. Hello from Lee's Summit, MO! I'm glad the kids were able to enjoy the fireworks show. I know it's tough to not be able to let them at least have sparklers or something like that, but it's so dry there now I guess they have to be extra careful. There are a lot of cities/counties around here, too, that do not allow personal fireworks. Our city allows it by permit only, and even then WHAT you can fire off is limited. I've never been much into fireworks on my own since I got badly burned as a child, but I do enjoy watching the pretty colors off...WAY OFF...in the distance! We went to the lake for a picnic with a bunch of friends. The lake is just a few blocks from the house, so we didn't have far to drive back after. The city-sponsored fireworks display at night was gorgeous!!!

    That is a super cute idea with the flatware caddy!!! Your imagination was REALLY working overtime with that idea! I can see that for all kinds of occasions using pastels for Easter, etc. How cool!!!

    I'm going to try your uncle's burger tip. I use worcestershire sauce in mine, but I've never tried adding the other stuff before cooking. We usually have turkey burgers (or 1/2 turkey, 1/2 beef), so added moisture is ALWAYS appreciated and sought out!!! :-)

    I'm glad you enjoyed the 4th of July, and I hope the rest of your weekend is a good one. Take care!!!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Alycia!! That's a bummer about the fireworks. Not fun. :(
      I love that idea of pastels for Easter!!! You must give me an update and let me know how the burgers turn out....we LOVE them. Also, try them with King's Hawaiian Bread. They won't disappoint. :)
      Thank you for popping in my friend, it sounds like you had a fabulous time! ❤❤

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  2. You are full of great ideas sweet friend. So pretty and festive and very inexpensive ideas too.

    Thanks for sharing. I hope your fourth of July was spectacular.

    Hugs,

    Janet

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    Replies
    1. Aw, you are too kind! Thank you! Also, thank you for sharing your beautiful blog with others....lovely.

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  3. Hello, my fiend!

    I have been MIA, but I wanted to drop by and see what you have been up to recently. Love your 4th goodies! Very cute,

    Sending warm hugs your way...

    xo

    Sheila :-)

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    Replies
    1. It is so good to hear from you, sweet lady! I understand the MIA, I've been as well. :)
      Thank you so much for popping in! ❤❤

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