Decorating for the 4th of July

I hope July has been a *BANG* of a month for you all!

In Indy, August brings school mid-month so July really is the end of summer around here! 

This was the first year I really decorated for the 4th of July, even though it's one of our family's biggest holidays, and so I thought I'd share 7 things we did to make it pretty festive around here.
 AND the best part was that we ALREADY had everything (we made a couple of decorations too).

Thrifty and Nifty! 

Linking up with Kelly for 7 Quick Takes. 

1.

We put a few things outside:

Like a wreath and pillows - 

2.

The family and living room got some love - 

I put the flags the girls made on either side of the fireplace shelves.

I made this rag banner for the mantle - 

3.

The guest room got some love because we were hosting Bill's family the weekend after the 4th - 

I hot glued some triangles of fabric that I found last year on clearance to some twine for a banner for the headboard - 

4. 

And then the Master - 

I made this small rag banner and it will probably go in Trip's room.  See #6 below.

5.

The girls' room:

We made firework art with paper towel rolls - 

And we made pom garlands for their beds - 

6.

Trip's room we didn't have to touch because it already is red/white/and blue, woo! 

7.

And finally, a few decorations in the dining room - 

I didn't realize I had so much red and blue to put around the house, but I'm glad I did!  And now I have homemade decorations that I'm excited to use next year too! 

***Sorry that the picture quality wasn't the best because I didn't edit them but we enjoyed out festive house over the past couple of weeks!

I'll share our DIY pallet board flag soon! 

Happy Summer, 2016