As Labor Day approaches, many are planning parties at their homes. With that in mind, interior decorators Lynda Reid, of Lynda Reid Designs, and Holly Sutton-Darr, of The Decorator’s Eye, shared some tips for The Sun’s readers.
Sutton-Darr suggests having planters with red carnations, white impatience and any blue color flower, then inserting small flags.
“The Christmas Tree Shops has plenty of red, white and blue decorations for your table that are inexpensive,” she said. “Choose bright colored tablecloths, candles, ribbons and buckets to hold utensils.”
To make another decoration, place mason jars on the table, fill with the jars with colored marbles and place fresh flowers or fairy lights inside each jar, she said.
“If you are entertaining guests and are pressed for time, make a simple flag cake for dessert,” Sutton-Darr said.
For those who never made a flag cake:
Purchase one or two pound cakes readymade from the grocery store. Cut in half lengthwise.
Line bottom of rectangle dish or pan.
Cover cake with whip cream. Add fresh blueberries to top left corner. Cut fresh strawberries in half and place horizontally across the top of the cake to make a stripe.
Skip a row in between each strawberry row so the white whip cream is visible.
“It’s delicious, easy and patriotic,” Sutton-Darr said.
Another idea is to make cupcakes with vanilla icing and use food coloring to dye some cakes red and others blue, then decorate it with tiny flags, according to Sutton-Darr.
Reid offers some money-saving tips.
“I went to Dollar Forever in Ansonia and found several great and very inexpensive decorations,” she said.
Among the finds:
Flag theme chairs, $15.99
Set of 16 each red plastic knives, forks & spoons, $1.29
Red or blue table skirts, $2.99 each
American Flag, $2.99
Red, white & blue leis, $4.99
Red, white or blue Balloons, package of 10, $1.50
Paper Plates & Napkins, 8 per package $1.50
“At Stop & Shop they had a great display of holiday flags, stickers, beads, bow ties, pins, etc. — all for 99 cents to two dollars,” Reid said.
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