This Fourth of July, try a vintage patriotic look

Tag : Metal Grommets

Draping white clapboard houses with starred and striped yardage orweaving it through the splats of white picket fences has been acommon practice for generations back East, but not so much in themodern subdivisions of North Texas. If anything, an American flagcomes out of the closet for the day to hang over the front door.Afew line their property's perimeter with miniature flags impaled inthe turf.
Since Martha Stewart began showing examples in the 1990s of framecolonials draped, swagged in red, white and blue cotton bunting,manufacturers and how-to magazines have come up with ways to deckthe house for an old-fashioned Fourth whether you have a porchrailing or not.
Fabric stores carry bolts of patriotic novelty prints that can beincorporated into custom decorations. Jo-Ann, for instance, notonly stocks more than a dozen designs ($6.99 per yard)incorporating stars and stripes but currently has a blue-on-white"Democrats" pattern and a red-on-white"Republicans" version.
Other traditional outdoor adornments include pleated fans, whichare traditional semicircles of striped fabric. They can be mountedunder windowsills, over doorways or along porch railings.Ready-made versions, available in many sizes, are outfitted withmetal grommets to hang on nails or to anchor with rope on railings.Pull-downs are vertical cloth decorations, usually striped, thathang in front of tall columns or flank a doorway.
Many people in Dallas who take pains to decorate for the Fourthinstall their patriotic colors by Memorial Day and leave thedecorations intact until after Labor Day. This year, you couldproperly leave the red, white and blue up until after thepresidential election on Nov. 4.About Diva
Diva, the Jack Russell terrier in the photos, has a busy modelingcareer with Beast, an animal talent agency founded by photo stylistPaige Anderson of Dallas. Diva, 9, of Kaufman, Texas, is an athletewho competes in fly ball tournaments and loves to hunt mice and lieon the back of the sofa.