Front Porch Decorations for Mid Summer

 I decided when 4th of July dec's came down to go with a colorful theme for the next month or so until September comes around and harvest season.

First, please don't hate me.  I say that because most of these decorations came from my good old buddy Freecycle and it's sister site, ReUseItStLouis.  ReUseIt is a Yahoo user group.  So what I am trying to say is this is another FREE project.

I love this little Tuscan style print.  A cute little freebie.  It was framed already when I picked it up.  I think the colorful basket ties in nicely and carries the print colors through.  I just leaned it up on one end of my old church pew for some color and interest.  The basket is actually from Mexico, someone's vacation souvenir.

Not everything on this shelf was free, but the brown crock, which is very old and collectible and the plaque that says "Garden" + the plaque holder were all free.  I added the other items from my own collection.  The plaque still had the Target sticker on the back.  Looked like the sticker was still in great condition, so I am guess it may be from only a season ago.

And this 1/2 basket  and creamy colored flowers were mine for the taking as well.  I added the yellow flowers and the ribbon.  The red ribbon was Hallmark 90% off after Christmas.  The blue ribbon was from a blanket set from Target.   That was the wrapper ribbon from the shelf display (it came with the blanket is what I am trying to say, I didn't just take it off the shelf :) .   Hallmark has some of the nicest ribbon.

Do you know what makes a great ribbon iron - your flat iron that you may or may not use on your hair any longer.  Turn it to a medium to high heat and then run the ribbon over the flat iron.  Adjust the temp. of the iron based on the weight of the ribbon material.  If in doubt, start on a low setting and work your way gradually up to higher heat, if needed.

I'm posting this on Metamorphosis Monday on Between Naps on the Porch blog.