Happy Independence Day!

To begin the celebration for America's 140th birthday, I decided to set up a pretty but simple July 4th table for dinner this past Friday. Although I have seen many elaborate outdoor tablescapes (and even created a few), I have to confess that I love to use paper plates on the deck. I like being able to have different looks for different occasions without having to buy another set of tableware (not having to do as many dishes is a bonus!).  

I found these patriotic paper plates at Target (there are two here- a dinner and a salad/dessert plate). I like to use this red plastic plates to add more support.  The tablecloth is one I have had for years, along with the placemats. 

I brought out these little bottles for our drinks again- still trendy!  You can see where I made them last year here.  I found these plastic straws at the Dollar store a couple of weeks ago.  

These little Uncle Sams have helped us decorate for the Fourth for years. I had several of them, but they have broken or gone missing and only a couple of them are left.  It may be time to find replacements, but I really like them.  

I think that my favorite thing about this particular table are the napkins.  I found this really cute way to fold paper napkins on Pinterest at Miscellaneous Topics and Ideas by Dee.  She has a really great tutorial on how to fold a cocktail napkin and dinner napkin together for this cute and easy little napkin/utensil pocket. I imagine I will be using this a lot in the future. 

Of course, we had to eat!  I decided to give "Firecracker Hot Dogs" a try for the holiday.  

Of course, I found these on Pinterest too. You put a skewer through a hot dog length-wise, leaving about an inch and a half at the top. Then wrap refrigerated bread dough around it. The recipes I saw called for bread stick dough, but I could not find that in my local stores.  I used crescent roll dough sheets and cut them into strips with a pizza cutter. After baking in a 350 degree oven for 13-15 minutes, place a cheese star (make sure your cheese is about 1/4 inch thick before cutting with a cookie cutter) at the top of the skewer. Serve with your favorite condiments. What could be more American to serve on Fourth of July than firecracker hot dogs!  

I hope that you are enjoying a safe and fun-filled Independence Day weekend! 

Thanks for stopping by today! 

~Cynthia