Seasons > American Independence Day > Home Decorations > Centerpieces and Place settings

You don’t have to buy a red white and blue table cloth for the fourth of July. Here red and blue napkins layered on a white table cloth provide all the color you need. Tri-colored ribbons tie it all together. Plastic Christmas tree ornaments make cute place cards, and can be scattered over the table for added detail.

Uncle Sam’s top hat makes a fun centerpiece, and is a lot cheaper than flowers, since it was purchased at a dollar store. You could make one out of poster board or EVA foam, or out of fabric, if you can sew.  A star garland adds more sparkle down the middle of the table. Small flags under clear glass plates decorate each place setting.

This is a centerpiece your children can make. The firecrackers are made from paper towel tubes and toilet paper tubes that have been decorated with bits of ribbon and stars that inevitably fall off the star garland, and topped with mylar pompoms taped to a bamboo skewer to keep it from falling inside the tubes.. A white mylar Christmas garland winds between the “firecrackers” and down the table with plastic Christmas tree star ornaments accenting it here and there.

Instead of buying paper plates for every occasion, buy clear glass plates. Then when you buy a pack of seasonal paper napkins, use half of them as napkins, then sandwich the rest of them between white plates and clear glass plates for an inexpensive seasonal place setting for your guests. These napkins have been cut round to fit the plates.

A centerpiece doesn’t get any simpler than candles and ribbon. Most of these glass candles stands and all the candles were purchased at dollar stores, so it is quite inexpensive. Never mind that two of the candle stands are green--they are hidden by the ribbon curls. The place cards are “firecrackers.” They could just be made of empty tubes, but these are also party favors, since each is a tube of candy that has been wrapped in a paper napkin.

This centerpiece may look complicated, but it doesn’t take long to put together if you have all the components. It is made in layers. First, 3 mylar ribbons were put down the center of the table. Then a clear glass bowl was set on top of them in the middle. A white mylar Christmas garland is piled into the bowl. The red and blue stars are actually plastic Christmas tree ornaments. They tend to sink under the white garland, so to keep them from sinking to the bottom, skewers are inserted into the holes (that would normally be on the top of the star) to hold them up. The finishing touch is a star garland that twists down the table and around the bowl.

This centerpiece is simply a wreath with red flowers that has been set in the middle of the table--really quick!  A paper ribbon adds the blue element down the center of the table, and another one is looped around the wreath. The napkin rings are simply red white and blue ribbons tied into a bow.

This centerpiece is also a wreath with muted red, white and blue flowers. It has been layered on top of a maroon table runner that matches the napkins, and a blue paper ribbon that lies on the middle of the runner.  The napkins form a pocket for the silverware, so no napkin ring in needed. Each place setting is accented with a wooden star, purchased at a hundred yen store.

This centerpiece is the constitution that I looked for on line and printed out on parchment paper. It is on a plate stand, but could also be laid flat on the table with a candle, quill, and a pair of wire rimmed glasses (from the 100 yen store, of course.)

Each place has a small flag that has been covered with a clear plate.  Although this same idea was used earlier, it looks entirely  different this time since it is combined with a dark red runner and dark blue paper ribbon rather than the bright primary colors shown above.

This variation has even smaller flags arranged around the edges of the plates, with a protective glass plate on top. The wreath in the center is layered on a blue napkin, and flags are put in a small glass bottle to keep them standing up in the middle. it can be hard to find ways to make flags stand up. If you don’t have a jar with a small mouth, you could poke them into oasis, or play dough, or an apple or potato.

Flowers always make a pretty centerpiece. In addition to using red, white and blue flowers, this one has flags poked in --nothing subtle here!

Cut shapes out of blue and red paper and put them under a clear plate for one-of-a-kind plates for your July 4th celebration. Your children might enjoy using cookie cutters to draw stars.

This centerpiece only takes a couple of minutes if you have all the components. Layer a blue napkin on a dark red table cloth, and put a doily on top of that. Put dollar store flags in a pen stand, toothbrush holder, or some other stand, and arrange the flags. You’re done.

If you prefer to be more subtle, only use colors to decorate, without using stars or stripes as design elements. If all three colors are still too obvious, only use two colors, such as red and white or red and blue. Use more subtle symbols, such as eagles, bells, or tea pots (Boston Tea Party) as design elements. Make it a game to guess what the subtle design elements represent.