Welcome to this month’s Pinterest Challenge and this month is all about getting ready for summer celebrations with a red, white and blue-themed challenge ~ perfect for all our patriotic holidays and the 4th of July!
Star-spangled banners and cookouts, beach parties and camping, swimming and maybe even a sunburn or two and fireworks exploding overhead in velvety-dark nighttime skies ~ that’s what summer living is all about!
Our host Cindy of County Road 407 has found a fun vignette for us to use as our decorating jump-off point with all that in mind. This month’s Pinterest Challenge was to create a Patriotic Patio Scene inspired by one created by Mary from Home Is Where the Boat Is.
If you are just coming over from Amber at Follow the Yellow Brick Home and it’s your first time here at French Ethereal I am happy you are here! For everyone who’s a regular already I am always glad you are here.
😀
Our Inspiration Piece
Mary lives on a houseboat down in Charleston, South Carolina and shares her beautiful tablescapes, her gardens and garden shed plus the funny antics of her sweet white pups from her fun blog called ~ Home Is Where the Boat Is.
Mary’s patriotic patio vignette
I love how Mary has used so many American flags in her decorating! Simple and easy to find, American flags are something which are readily available this time of year and inexpensive to pick up from the local dollar store, grocery market or hobby store.
A Better Look at What Mary Used
* Mary set up her porch using lots of weathered woods in her beach style decor ~ she does actually live on a houseboat parked along a beautiful shoreline!
* American flags in several sizes plus a sweet vintage flag fashioned into a comfy pillow for resting against on the bench. Two other pillows add extra comfort, too.
* Little pinwheels sporting the red, white and blue of our nation’s flag.
* Tea towels in the July 4th theme.
* Two weathered wicker baskets and an awesome tin watering can.
* One basket holds flowers perfect for a summer party also in our theme’s colors!
Let’s roundup all our red, white and blue!
Back in California I had this cute flag hanging out front of our last home. It’s whimsical and cheerful ~ perfect for this season of ground blooming flower celebrating! I was looking around for it to turn it into a pillow cover to mimic the inspiration flag pillow, however…
I think I must have pitched it when we were moving out of our two California storage units in March… There was a lot to throw out and donate, friends… And many of my flags were falling apart.
🙁
I kept looking around the house and out in the garage and spied
Mr. Ethereal’s three large wooden trunks (he stores his childhood and track + field treasures in them). It occurred to me that I would need a coffee table… Hmm???
So the first thing I did was move this trunk outside! It is exactly the soft shade of French blue that I love and it brings in a bit of my personal style. The two benches were already in their spots and naturally create a wonderful seating area on their own..
Hubby’s trunk came from his Uncle Booty from his time in the US Air Force. They are at least 50 years old now and adding this trunk to our patio scene brings that wonderful weathered wood element in from our inspiration photo along with the white iron bench’s weathered slats.
Next I scoured my Craft Room boxes for the American flags I knew I had (still unpacking!). I didn’t have any bunting or pinwheel-type flags but I think the essence of our inspiration scene is captured here and that’s what it’s all about.
🙂
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| Love this as a wonderful place to read and sip a cup of tea! |
Back to the flag pillow
I have a very large outdoor flag which I tried draping along the bench back but it didn’t look right. So I went searching some more around the house. In the living room sofa I spied the two pillows I had sewn from a Waverly fabric with their lovely soft red roses on a linen background.
This pattern is Waverly’s Norfolk Rose, which goes in and out of style, but I have loved it for 30+ years as Ralph Lauren (or another of the big designers) used to use it in his decorating years ago. One added to our patriotic patio decor was perfect!
I didn’t find this fabric currently available on Joann’s online shop but I did find two similar here and here with red and blue backgrounds.
I am a Joann affiliate and may earn a small commission if you purchase through my links here but there is no extra cost to you ~ thank you. You’ll find my full disclosure here.
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| A good stiff spring breeze was blowing when I shot these photographs so the two tall oaks blowing branches and leaves created light and dark shots ~ sorry! |
Setting up the scene
The inspiration photo had three pillows bringing in the red, white and blue so I also brought out my blue-on-linen French lunch-eatery pillow. Layering in those two pillows atop our old family quilt added even more sentiment and richness to this porch scene.
I’ve continued my patriotic garden theme here with layering several potted plants and this little statue in place of Mary’s watering can. I did purchase a few red flowering plants and added them in with the lavender and white mini petunias in the large pot. More small lavenders yet to be planted in the yard are hiding just behind the angel statue on the ground.
I moved the little statue around a bit as I was working ~ part of the fun of decorating is moving things around until it “feels right.” Decorating fun is all about getting the balance right ~ objects and scale, colors and heights, the number of objects in a scene
It always takes a bit, doesn’t it? To get things “just so.” Adding in a natural rattan basket filled with the angel statue, a leftover red vinca set into a French pot and adding a patriotic tea towel completed this patio look. Essence of Mary’s sweet patriotic patio ~ trés bien! Non? 😉
If you missed my earlier posts for Memorial Day you can find them here and here. And past Pinterest Challenges ~
Thank you for pinning!
🙂
Our blog hop continues now with Terrie of Decorate and More with Tip. Stop on over to see how she has styled her sitting area for the 4th of July!
And I know you’ll love all the inspiration from everyone on today’s Patriotic Pinterest Challenge tour!
County Road 407 | StoneGable | Décor to Adore
Our Southern Home |Follow the Yellow Brick Home
French Ethereal | Decorate and More with Tip
Sweet Pea | Let’s Add Sprinkles | Chasing Quaintness
Art and Sand | Bluesky at Home | Lora Bloomquist
My Wee Abode | First Day of Home | A Heart Filled Home
Sharing this post with
Style Showcase 83 ~ Shabbyfufu
Summer Picnic Essentials + Outdoor Fun Blog Hop ~ Busy Being Jennifer
Waste Not Wednesday ~ Faeries and Fauna
Barb, I love it! Especially that trunk, what a special piece!! I used to have a sofa that was the exact floral pattern of your pillow. I cried when I finally had to get rid of it. Hope you have a great day! Hugs!
Barb you did a wonderful job. Love the pillows. How nice to have the blue trunk. So much history and sentiment comes with this beauty.Enjoy your day Cindy
Barb,What a beautiful Patriotic setting!! Love the trunk!! So pretty !! Thanks so much for sharing!!Hugs,Debbie
What a great display of red, white and the blue! The trunk is a show stopper. You did a great way of styling everything. Love your space.
The trunk is amazing! What a treasure. I love the shade of blue.
wonderful setting to show off the patriotic colors, Barb. that blue trunk is amazing!
Barb, the blue trunk was perfect for this scene! Yes, decorating is a process, but a fun one; you try this and that until it just works:) Beautiful, relaxing spot you've created.
What a treasure that trunk is! The name Uncle Booty made me smile. There must be a story. We missed you at sewing club last Saturday. The next one is in two weeks. 🙂
The pillows are perfect, Barb… and I love that trunk! The labels make it especially poignant for this challenge (military, patriotism). 😉 Pinned!
Next time I come over, I want to check out this sweet seating area and admire your green thumb! Love all of this and your PC challenge turned out perfectly. Love it all. Sorry about the flag. It was a cutie!
What a beautiful display, Barb. Uncle Booty's trunk is perfect to use as a coffee table and since the trunk is military, it makes it very meaningful to use. I hope you get to enjoy some time outside enjoying this pretty spot.
Barb, I love how you incorporated items that you cherish and already own! I guess every husband has an old trunk that he brings to the relationship? My husband has several, too! 😉 I think your beautiful vintage blue one looks perfect for this 4th of July vignette. I'm glad we had a chance to hop together again! – Crissy @ First Day of Home
Beautiful, Barb! Oh I love the French blue trunk. I have my Daddy's trunk from the Army Air Corps and now I know what I' going to do with it! Such a lovely area to sit and enjoy the summer!
Hi Benita, I know I sent an email already but just wanted to say thank you for your sweet thoughts!!!Summer hugs,Barb 🙂
Thank you, Cindy! This was a fun challenge and I am glad we had this blue trunk to share. :)Enjoy your summer,Barb 🙂
Thank you, Debbie! This was a wonderful challenge with its patriotic theme.Happy summer to you,Barb 🙂
Thank you, Terrie,I really enjoyed decorating for this challenge! Thank you for your sweet thoughts.Happy summer hugs to you,Barb 🙂
Thanks so much, Katie! I am glad Charles has had it all these years. He's a bit of a pack-rat and the mover hated moving all this (those trunks are 50 lbs. each if not more filled), but I am glad we did bring them.Summer hugs to you,Barb 🙂
Hi Debra, thank you so much for your thoughts on my post! This was a fun Pinterest challenge with everyone's decor turning out similarly but very different. Always fun!Happy summer to you,Barb 🙂
Thank you, Lora, this was another fun Pinterest challenge! With all the rain we've had this spring, I wish I could have kept everything out. Will be looking for some patio pillows or something to make them with soon. :)Enjoy your summer,Barb 🙂
I forgot! Sorry, Laura, my head isn't all here. I just scheduled it in my phone! Charles uncles all had nicknames ~ nobody went by their given name. His father is Charles Sr. but goes by Pete, hence where our Peter Eugene received his name (both grandfathers). See you soon and summer hugs to you,Barb 🙂
Thank you, Julie! I am so glad I thought of Charles' trunk… I love that he kept the labels on it all these years and I thought it was a fun addition with Charles painting his name on it, too. He was 10 or 12 when he was given these trunks and it's really fun to look at all the things inside. A definite time capsule with old paint and games, pennants, etc.!!!Thanks for pinning ~ I always pin several from each of our posts to my boards. :)Happy summer hugs,Barb 🙂
Hi Cindy! Come on over… Still a work in progress but it's getting there. In the Sewing/Craft room now and the rock wall is done. Need more $$, as always, Lol!!! I hope to run across that flag and we may still have it out in the garage somewhere… Hope so! Thank you again for a fun PC challenge!Happy summer hugs,Barb 🙂
Hi Paula, I do go out and sit on the benches but will more once I get the backyard a bit more settled. I need to move some things off the patio and out into the yard. Sprinkler fixing and moving is next… Ugh! Big chores before things can \”get pretty.\” Thank you for your sweet thoughts and happy summer hugs to you,Barb 🙂
Hi Crissy! I'm happy we were on the PC hop again, too! This time I didn't thank everyone for that on their posts although I have on all the others. Thought maybe it was cheesy and self-centered so this time I didn't… Lol! I wish we could find more old trunks as we wanted to give our kids some for their saved treasures but didn't find any there near us in California. Glad your husband has his! They are wonderful for storage and saving memorabilia.Happy summer hugs to you,Barb 🙂
That trunk is just amazing and perfect in front of the bench. Enjoy that beautifully styled space this summer.
Yvonne, aren't you glad you still have it? It is nice to keep old family pieces, isn't it? 🙂 Happy decorating with it!Thank you so much,Barb 🙂
Carol, thank you so much for your sweet thoughts! It is a pretty amazing old piece. Hugs,Barb 🙂
Darling seating area, Barb. Love the blue trunk and the story. You’ve done a wonderful job of combining all the elements of the inspiration photo. The pillows and the flowers and the bench work so well together. Nice descriptions too.
Thank you, Carol! We will. 🙂 Enjoy yours,Barb 🙂
Carol, thank you. Your words mean a lot since I look up to you and your style. This challenge is a good challenge as it pushes me to grow each month. Really enjoying these hops, too. Now if I could only get email… Lol!Happy almost summer to you,Barb 🙂
So pretty, Barb. I really love your pillow!
Hi Jeanie! Thank you, I remember when I saw that fabric for sale and immediately thought, \”I must make pillows.\” 😉 Still love them and they are on our red sofa most of the time. Happy almost summer to you,Barb 🙂
I am now inspired to decorate my porch this week! 🙂 gwingal
Your porch looks so inviting! 🙂
What a warm & welcoming porch! I’d love to sit here with a glass of lemonade! Pinned! 😀
What a pretty sitting area! I love how you will always be able to enjoy it and switch out the decor. Or not – red, white and blue are always appropriate!
So many fun ideas here Barbara. I hope to get my backyard ready in time for the Fourth this year and can use the inspiration.
So many fun ideas here Barbara. I hope to get my backyard ready in time for the Fourth this year and can use the inspiration.
Oh my goodness… so sorry I am so late to visit! Wow, this is just such a gorgeous interpretation of the photo with your little French touches. Love the pillow, the chippy blue trunk, I just love it all! I hope you will link up at Thursday Favorite Things this week!Fabulous job Barbara!
This is so pretty with lovely vintage style. That trunk is amazing!
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