While browsing around Kraft, where I found the inspiration for the Firecracker Cupcakes, I spotted this Patriotic Pie. It’s super easy but looks impressive, just the way I like it. And even better…it can be made a couple days ahead and stays great in the fridge.

How festive and it couldn’t be easier!

Celebrate 4th of July on Hoosier Homemade! 

It’s time for another fun printable! These Fourth of July Cupcake Toppers were in the Cupcake Chronicles Newsletter last Friday, but in case you missed them, I thought I would share them with you!

A BIG Thank you to Nikki from Papergravy Printables for designing these cool Fourth of July Cupcake Toppers! Aren’t they fun?

I love the Statue of Liberty topper! I used them to decorate my Fourth of July Table, along with other easy to make decorations. Don’t forget to join me tonight {June 18} at 8 p.m. EST for the Summer Entertaining chat on the Elmer’s Craft It Facebook Page!

These Fourth of July Cupcake Toppers are available free to all Cupcake Chronicles Newsletter subscribers.

Printable Fourth of July Cupcake Toppers

Cupcake Toppers are available to Cupcake Chronicles Newsletter Subscribers – SIGN UP it’s FREE

NOTE: If you are new to Cupcake Chronicles, {after today 6.18.2013}, you can still access ALL the newsletters. After confirming your subscription you will be emailed the link and password for the Archive Page. On that page you will find all the newsletters, including the printables.

You can also find answers to your questions on the FAQ page!

If you are a Cupcake Chronicles Newsletter Subscriber, once you are on the Archive page, click on the title under the photo, that will take you directly to the newsletter with instructions.

If you are NOT a subscriber, after you subscribe you will be emailed the link and password for the Archive page, once you are on the Archive page, click on the title under the photo, that will take you directly to the newsletter with instructions

Celebrate 4th of July on Hoosier Homemade!

I’m also super excited to be teaming up with ALDI during the conference! We will be helping with a Store Tour on Thursday morning, to share with other bloggers what ALDI has to offer.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with ALDI, but if you aren’t, they are a grocery chain that operates over 1,200 stores in 32 states, primarily from Kansas to the East Coast . ALDI sells more than 1,400 of the most frequently purchased grocery and household items, primarily under its exclusive brands, which must meet or exceed the national name brands on taste and quality. Through a select assortment and convenient grocery shopping approach, they are able to offer our customers the highest quality everyday items at the lowest possible prices—it’s Simply Smarter Shopping.

So how does this tie into the Savvy Blogging Summit? Well…snacks! We love snacking, and especially at a conference, we need to keep ourselves on top of it and this year, ALDI will be providing snacks to attendees at the ALDI Snack Cart!

If you will be at the conference, be sure to looks us up! Doug and I will both be there and are looking forward to seeing everyone! This is Doug’s first conference…so be sure to say Hi to the newbie!

Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as we share with you scenes from the conference, ALDI Store Tour and will be making you hungry with the ALDI Snack Cart!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. ALDI will be covering my travel expenses for the Savvy Blogging Summit. My participation is voluntary and opinions are always my own.

But this time, we decided it would be fun to share the instructions with you so you can make your own. And since it was time to do a little Summer Front Porch Decorating, it was perfect timing.

The construction on the Wooden Firecrackers is not difficult, and with a few standard tools you can make your own, but they did take some time.

I love how the Front Porch looks with the pop of Red, White & Blue. We used the Patriotic Shutter that Doug painted last year, the pillow on the chair received a little update with a red and white checkered napkin for the cover. The Vintage Red Coleman Cooler is fun too, and screams Summertime to me. And the galvanized double bucket is full of annual flowers.

I added some grapevine and wide burlap ribbon that was left over from the Spring Mantel to break up the edges of the shutter a bit.

So let’s get busy making some Wooden Firecrackers…

First you will need to get a 6 1/2 foot by 3 1/2 inch wooden fence post, they can be found at most farm supply stores or stores that sell lumber. Cut it into 3 lengths – 30 inch, 22 inch and 14 inches.

Then using a 1 inch wood boring bit, drill out a hole about 1 1/4″ deep.

Then give them a good coat of white primer. We left them unsanded, because we wanted the Firecrackers to look rustic.

Tip – set the poles on top of large nails to raise them off the surface a bit so the paint brush can reach the bottom easily.

After the primer dries, it’s time to paint. After painting the Garden Art Shutters, Doug has fallen in love with Krylon ColorMaster, so he bought some for this project as well. He used Bright White Satin, Navy Blue Gloss and Cherry Red Gloss.

Then using Frog Tape he covered the entire pole.

Then mark each of the areas that will be painted, the stars and the stripes. The largest Firecracker is marked 9 inches from the top, the middle size 7 inches and the shortest one is 5 inches from the top. The stripes are each 2 inches wide and the pattern for the star was printed from an internet search.

After the red paint is dry, now it’s time to add the stars and blue paint. Trace around a star template.

Then he cut and remove the Frog Tape from the areas for the red stripes, spray the edges with white paint to seal them down.

Then spray paint each of the poles with red, you may need several coats, let dry in between and then over night.

Cut out around the star where the blue paint will go, leaving the star covered with tape.

Spray with blue paint, you may need several coats, let it dry in between coats.

After the paint is completely dry, peel away the tape where the star is.

Touch up using a small foam brush. Doug used the same spray paint, and just spray it into a container and then touched up around the edges, that way the color of the paint is the same.

Then cut pieces of rope and push into the holes for the wick.

Celebrate 4th of July on Hoosier Homemade!

Be sure to use #SummerHunt on your social media channels  so everyone can follow along. You can also add photos to Hoosier Homemade’s Facebook page! Here are the Summer Scavenger Hunt details…

• Begins Monday, June 10th. – runs for 10 weeks
• Every Sunday evening I will post 5 items to find during the week for the Hunt, and there will be a printable for you also
• Follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram with hashtag #SummerHunt
• Tag your photos on any social media with the hashtag so everyone can follow along with the fun
• Feel free to share them on my Facebook page and @HoosierHomemade on Twitter so I can see what you have found

Last week we found…a red car, yellow flower, black dog, pinwheel and bird feeder!

Once again, I made a very simple printable for you too, if you would like to print it and follow along.

Click HERE to download the Summer Scavenger Hunt Printable - it will open to a PDF, save and print

Have fun!

We have 4 Easy Table Decorations to share with you today…No Sew Table Runner, Paper Snack Bowls, Pinwheels and Cupcake Toppers. There is lots to cover but first I wanted to tell you about a fun evening I have coming up. Next Tuesday, June 18th at 8 p.m. EST, I will be hosting a Facebook chat for Elmer’s Craft it and we will be sharing Summer Entertaining ideas. So mark your calendars, it will be lots of fun and there will be a prize too! I know how much you all love Elmer’s products!

Now, let’s get crafting! I used a Red, White & Blue theme for this Fourth of July table, but you can certainly change the colors to whatever theme you would like. Perhaps you are hosting a bridal shower or birthday party, just swap out the colors for whatever matches the occasion.

Let’s start with the table runner. We used ordinary bandannas that we bought at Walmart for $1 each, and then glued the edges together to create a seam.

No Sew Table Runner Supplies

• Bandannas
• Elmer’s Craft Bond Fabric & Leather Adhesive

Just simply run a bead of the Elmer’s Craft Bond Fabric & Leather Adhesive down the edge of the bandanna, being sure it’s on the right side. You will be putting right sides together to create a seam.

Then press the seams together, and let dry at least 5 minutes.

Then we just laid the Table Runner down the center of the picnic table.

Next let’s make these cute little Paper Snack Bowls. Thanks to Our Best Bites for the idea.

Paper Snack Bowls Supplies

• Paper plates
• Elmer’s Craft Bond Glue Spots {my favorite product}
• Scissors
• Ribbon

Step 1

Lay a 3 inch square piece of paper in the center of the plate

Step 2

Mark all corners with a pen or pencil

Step 3

Then cut from the outside of the plate up to each mark

Step 4

Crease the plate on each corner

Step 5

Use the glue spots to secure each of the corners down

Step 6

Then secure the ribbon around the bowl with glue spots

Step 7

Fill your snack bowls with peanuts or any other snack you like.

Down the center of the table we have mason jars that are holding pinwheels.

In each of the jars, we added a glow necklace and then filled it with tulle. Then in each jar we added the pinwheels and sparklers. Last year I showed you how to make pinwheels and have a video showing you step-by-step directions. After the pinwheels were done, I used Elmer’s Craft Bond Glue Spots to attach them onto the lollipop stick.

And finishing off our table decorations are the Fourth of July Cupcake Toppers. These are available to Cupcake Chronicles Subscribers, read all about it and sign up, it’s FREE!

Each of the round toppers were cut with a 2 inch hole punch, then I used Elmer’s Craft Bond Glue Spots to attach the short lollipop stick onto the back. And then pushed them into the cupcakes.

We had a blast putting together these Easy Table Decorations! I hope that you will join me on Tuesday for the Summer Entertaining chat at 8 p.m. EST on the Elmer’s Craft it Facebook Page.

Disclosure:  Products for review were provided by Elmer’s Craft Bond.  I received a free sample of the products for the purpose of this review.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of Elmer’s Craft Bond.

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So, just in time for Father’s Day, we have a great Giveaway for you to enter!

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