Red white and blue
What strikes me with Liz’s decor:
- white slipcovered sofas and a squishy slipcovered ottoman
- soft reds in her gently faded American flags and red in her vintage-style tricycle
- blue stars and stripes in those same flags and the sofa’s pillow covers
- a round coffee table with a large round natural-wicker basket to corral everything together
- an olive bucket with greenery
- a sweet family photo in a white frame
- three vintage canning jars in soft turquoise
- and a demijohn of clear glass to hold the tall American flags
- a big cabinet and some other decor off to the right of the main sofa
I made drop-cloth slipcovers for my two camelback sofas when I first began my blog six years ago. If you’d like to read those posts, you can find the first post in that sewing series here. So, first need for this challenge ~ check!
My take on our Patriotic Decor Challenge
I was also able to bring in
- A small oregano plant in a well-worn clay pot sitting on a red transferware plate that became my greenery and brings in a little red to this tablescape vignette.
- A tall LED lamp with its soft grey woven cover in a pear-shape atop a small vintage red leather-bound book (for added height) ~ mimicks the tall demijohn of the inspiration piece.
- I added in some fun red, white and blue with a pinwheel and some “sparkle” with this tall “fireworks explosion-sparkler” ~ these two pieces take the place of the two large flags. Two tiny American flags tucked into the oregano add in the American flags that would be missing otherwise, and that would be unpatriotic.
- Two canning jars in turquoise and a deeper green ~ from some pepper jelly a friend gave me ~ add in the green jars. I did try two of the turquoise Ball jars but they just wouldn’t quite fit so this was my compromise.
- A French flow-blue dish filled with summertime deep-red cherries outside the basket is my own little addition ~ it takes the place of the blue in the ottoman’s striped slipcover and brings in a little more red to the scene.
- An antique clear-glass apothecary jar (now clouded) brings in the clear glass from Liz’ tablescape and is the final addition to the centerpiece. This jar belonged to my husband’s grandfather and he collected old glass. I found this in a pile of things Mr. Ethereal was cleaning out of one of three sheds while we were back helping his mother.
- A small cabinet and tall planter with hydrangeas stand off to the right to stand in for the wooden case piece in the inspiration photograph.
The final elements of my Patriotic Decor
- For the background: We just returned from two back-to-back trips and I brought home this faded and slightly torn American flag from my inlaws’ home in California, from our second trip.
I tried to fade it more with bleach but it must be 100% polyester so it refused to fade. A 100% cotton flag will fade beautifully and is something I’ll have to look for next!
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Yoda wanted in the photos, too! |
- My son and daughter’s heavy-duty tricycle brings in the family aspect of what Patriotic Decor means to me. My parents found this 28-year-old tricycle at a garden center near their last home in Southbury, Connecticut. It is soooo heavy-duty that my son was still racing this tricycle around our last home’s backyard pathways even at 17 years old! It will go up to our sweet grandson (his son) as soon as little Milo is old enough for it… 💝
- Reversible Coastal-Americana pillowslips I just made bring in the stripes from the original plus a little extra fun with the coastal look on the reverse print! This was a quick fun project done in less than an hour giving our sofa a new summertime look. Love how these have turned out!
To make these pillow slipcovers
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Here is the other side of the pillows. |