Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue

No matter how patriotic you are, Fourth of July has always been a wonderful opportunity to host an outdoor gathering with loved ones on a warm summer day. Although the red, white and blue color palette is a given, there is a huge variety of decor options that you can craft up to make your event unique and memorable. Here is our list of our favorite simple DIY Fourth of July decorations that you can make for the occasion. Plus you can use these projects as crafty activities to do with your little ones leading up to the holiday!

1. Printable American Flags

The most obvious place to start for planning your Fourth of July decorations is with American flags. You can style them anywhere around your celebration, or hand them out to your guests before heading down to your local parade. They are super easy to whip out in a pinch, and we recommend curling your paper slightly to add a wave to your flag. Find our two sizes of printable flags here, along with our DIY centerpiece idea that features white paper roses with flags sprinkled throughout the arrangement. 

2. Quick Sew Star Garland

If you have a sewing machine at home, you can bring this paper star garland to life in less than half an hour. It can be a great way to decorate your food tables, or to hang between trees if you have them in your yard. Use a classic Independence Day color palette, or add in some glitter gold and silver stars to mix it up. Feel free to trim a few extra stars to arrange around your tables as festive confetti.

3. Paper Pinwheels

Just like the printable American flags, paper pinwheels are something you can style into centerpieces or hand out to your guests as party favors. This is a classic kid’s craft, so you can even set up a corner of your celebration as a crafting table for your little ones to keep them occupied during the event. Download our Americana patterns for the pinwheels and print a different pattern on both sides of your cardstock before crafting.

4. Star Lantern Garland

Although this concept may have originated as a Scandinavian tradition for Christmas, papercut star lanterns are gorgeous for any time of year, and you can easily create some red, white and blue stars as DIY Fourth of July decorations. These will be much easier to make with a cutting machine, but you will still be able to craft a set of stars cutting by hand as well. Cover a set of string lights with these stars and you can keep this decor for years to come!

5. Tissue Pom Poms

When we think about hanging decor for any occasion, tissue pom poms always come to mind. Poms give you a lot of freedom to create different color combinations or monochromatic statement pieces. Our tutorial specifically shows you how to make spikey pom poms that are a bit more than regular circular ones. You can make these even more patriotic with the Americana tissue paper pack in our shop.

6. Printable Matchbox Labels

If you really want to add an extra festive touch to your Fourth of July celebration, you can continue your red, white and blue theme all the way down to your matchboxes. Sparklers are always popular for Fourth of July parties, so why not give your guests their own Independence Day matchboxes to go with the sparklers? All you need for these is some full sheet label paper.

7. Tissue-Covered Foam Stars

One particularly fun and simple Fourth of July decor project that you can do with your kids is our tissue covered foam stars. Although you will need to help your kids with cutting the foam, the process of painting Mod Podge and applying the tissue is safe for kids of all ages, plus they’ll get a chance to play around with color combinations to create their own designs. When you’re finished, use these stars as stands for fruit skewers, or simply as decorations for your food tables.

8. Celebrate Banner

If you want to set up some DIY Fourth of July decorations to welcome your guests as they arrive, our favorite easy project is to string up a banner to hang across your front door. Our printable Independence Day banner reads Celebrate, and it’s one of those decorations that you can store away for future years. For longer lasting use, feel free to laminate the letters.

9. Spiral Stars

Spiral stars have intertwined colors that almost dance as they spin with the breeze. Print our template and cut along the indicated lines – it’s that easy. Find some matching bakers twine and hang these in your window, or from tree branches in your backyard.

10. Tissue Paper Star Piñatas

Add a little good old play time to your July 4th celebrations with these July 4th Pinatas! See the full tutorial here.

For more Fourth of July party ideas, browse through all of our Independence Day projects. We would love to see how you are celebrating your holidays, so please share your project photos with us by tagging @liagriffith in your Instagram posts! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for daily doses of DIY, or head over to our membership page to join our community of crafty DIYers. See you there! ~ Lia & Team