Patriotic Summer Tree, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

 

I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

 

 

I am now posting TWICE  a week !!!

 

 I will be posting on MONDAY and FRIDAY!

 

 

As always, click on each picture if you would like to enlarge it....

 

 

UPDATE: I WILL BE DOING AN EXTRA POST THIS WEEK ON WEDNESDAY SHARING OUR MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCE.....

 

 

 Happy Memorial Day!!

Let us remember though the true and somber meaning of the Holiday.....

 

We will be having our traditional Cook In with the kids and grand pups coming here later today....

 

 I hope you get to spend the Holiday with those you love too!!

 

Today, I will be sharing how I decorated my Seasonal Tree in the Living Room for the Summer Patriotic Holidays this year....

 

In my last post, I shared how I planted all my annual flowers in the front of our house in a total of 20 containers and then decorated the Front Porch for Memorial Day!!

 

 I also made a new Patriotic decoration for the Front Porch.....

 

 

 Click HERE if you missed that post!!

 

 I want to Thank Dee, over at Grammy's Grid, for choosing my post, Buys, Bees and Blazing Blooms, as one of her featured from the last Unlimited Linky Party!!

 

 Thanks so much, Dee!!

Please stop by and link up to this lovely party!!

And now for a few Personal Notes...

 

 

On Thursday, Joe and I had the pleasure of attending our Great Niece's graduation from a joint program between King's College and LCCC that was held at our Arena....

 

Both local colleges....

 

 

 She graduated with an Associate Degree in Applied Sciences in the Nursing Program....

 

 

 

 She is now able to work and already has a job in an ICU.....

 

 

 She will continue to complete her other courses that will unable her to obtain her Bachelor's Degree in Nursing while she works...

 

Her goal is to become a Nurse Anesthetist like her late father was....

We sat in the handicapped section ( nice padded seats) with one of Joe's Usher friends who also knows Cortney because she works at the Arena on the Ice Crew.....

 

It was on the side of the stage and had a great view....

Joe's friend let him look through his high powered glasses to see where Cortney was sitting...

 

 

The Principle Speaker was Paul Pringle, a Los Angeles Times investigative reporter who was born and raised here and wrote the book, Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels....

 

His book is a nonfiction thriller about corruption and betrayal radiating across Los Angeles from one of the region's most powerful institutions....

 

I think I may order the book from Amazon as it sounds so interesting.... 

If I was allowed to choose my profession , I definitely would have considered Journalism as I fell in love with it after taking a class on it in high school....

This is President of the College, Mr. Leary...

I will never forget Joe, myself and Joey meeting with him when Joey was thinking of attending this college about what Computer Information Systems degree he should go for.....

He gave Joey great advice, Joey graduated from there and now has a job he absolutely loves....

Thanks so much, President Leary!!

And here is Cortney!!

We left after Cort received her degree as Joe wanted to beat the traffic, even though we live 5 minutes away, and wanted to watch a hockey game for the Stanley Cup but we did get to see her before the ceremony to Congratulate her....

Hockey reigns supreme with Joe!!!

Congrats, Cort and Good Luck as Nursing is not an easy profession!

 

Next up will be her sister Caitlin's Graduation from High School , also held at our Arena....

I finally bought my flowers for the back yard and patio and got them all planted....

I went back to the local place, Omalia's, where I bought the ones I planted in the front of the house...

This tray was $21.20....

 

Impatiens....

 

Begonias.....

 

This box was a total of $13....

 

Salvia and something I can't remember the name of....

 

Zinnias....

And I went back to get 2 more flats of 6 Impatiens...

Soon I will be sharing what the Patio and Back Yard looks like now that flowers and seeds are planted....

For Memorial Day, I thought I would start to share my inside Summer Patriotic Decorations in the Living Room which is really the only room that I decorate for the Summer Holidays....

I will be posting those decorations here and there from now until July 4th....

Today, we will take a look at my Summer Patriotic Tree and the area underneath it...

This year, I added a set of red lights, bought after Christmas, to the blue ones I use on the Tree for the Patriotic Holidays...

 

Also new this year are the rose lights that I left on the Tree after Valentine's Day....

Just the addition of these 2 light sets changed the appearance of the Tree this year...

Over the years, I made a lot of my Patriotic ornaments .....

 

Patriotic Angels.....

Ornaments made from coasters received in the mail from all those Veteran's organizations that Joe donates to....

Paper mache stars

 

And Patriotic cards.....

 Along with ornaments that I embellished with Patriotic stickers...

I added these to a few Patriotic ornaments that I was able to buy and a red, blue and silver tinsel garland bought several years ago at Dollar Tree....

 

I topped off the Tree with what is actually a table decoration that I think looks like Fireworks....

I tucked 2 flags, 2 stars and 2 Patriotic hats into each side of the Tree on top.....

There is also a bow made from 3 different types of ribbons....

This ribbon says "God Bless America".....

Streamers of 3 different types of ribbon trickle down the Tree....

 I also used red, blue and silver stars and silver birds to decorate the Tree...

 

I will let the pictures do the talking.....

 

I have a few more of those coasters that Joe gets from Veteran's groups that he donates to so I will be making a few more ornaments out of them.....

 This Tree is set up on a platform which I like to decorate along with the Tree for the various Seasons and Holidays...

This year, I used a new Patriotic tablecloth on the platform.....

I simply cut a slit in it to fit around the Tree and I also used this red Tree Collar that I bought after Christmas......

On the left side....

A floral arrangement in a vase with a Patriotic pinwheel....

Uncle Sam....

One of 2 Patriotic Birdhouses that I bought a few years back at Gabes and a vintage Fostoria Avon cobalt blue Pitcher........

 

The pitcher has a cameo of Mt. Vernon, the Washington's residence.

 

Fostoria manufactured several of these pieces for Avon in 1976 to commemorate the US bicentennial. 

You will see 2 candle holders from this collection when I share the top of the TV entertainment center....

I displayed this Patriotic wood sign, laying it against the Tree collar....

 There is also a tinsel wreath from Dollar Tree against the collar....

 

I made these Firecrackers from paper towel and toilet paper rolls....

In the center.....

An American flag that actually moves like the wind is blowing it and plays a few Patriotic Songs ( one of Joe's Buys) is behind the wagon filled with Bears...

In this cute little red wagon that was my son's, sits 2 of my late neighbor Elly's Patriotic Bears that were part of her extensive Bear Collection....

 They are wearing hats from Dollar Tree....

In front the wagon is another vintage Fostoria piece....

I brought this beautiful hob nail basket down from the sitting Room where I normally have it on display.....

Even though it is more of an aqua color, I thought it fit right in with this display....

I surrounded it with a few red, white and blue stars....

And on the side is another firecracker I made.....

Another wood sign against the Tree collar.....

New this year, I moved my park bench onto the platform....

A very sweet bear, who is all decked out in her Patriotic garb and sings "God Bless America", is sitting on the bench next to a wood sign resembling a book....

In front of her is an Uncle Sam nutcracker, another bird house and a bird that I recently bought at J.C. Penney's....

On the floor in an urn is a faux boxwood ball that I decorated a bit and placed it on top of a Dollar Tree tinsel wreath....

 

 

Like I always say....

 

"There is nothing like the Glow of a Lit Tree in the Evening".... 

 

 

 

 

     

 

And it does not need to be a "Christmas" Tree...

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I decorated this Tree this year for the Summer Patriotic Holidays .....

Along with the platform that it sits on....

 

The Tree will stay decorated like this until the week after July 4th when I will change over to my late Summer "Under the Sea" theme....

On FRIDAY, I will be posting about a special Anniversary....

On June 1st, 2022, I embarked on a Journey toward living a Healthier Life....

This picture was taken in 2020 and was one of only a few pictures that I allowed to be taken of me in many years because of my weight....

Even though this was not taken in 2022, this is what I looked like at my heaviest weight which was right before I decided that I needed to take back control of my life....

This pictures was taken yesterday on our way to morning Mass....

I have lost 50 pounds in a year!!

And a Saturday, going shopping....

So I hope you will stop by to visit again on  FRIDAY to see my post as to why I am FEELING MORE ALIVE AT 65!! 

 

 

 I WILL BE DOING AN EXTRA POST THIS WEEK ON WEDNESDAY SHARING OUR MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCE.....

 

 

 Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

I am linking up to these parties:

 

All Things American and Patriotic, Red, White and Blue Themed Link Up Party 

 

TUESDAY
Inspire Me Tuesdays
Lou Lou Girl's Linky Party
 All About Home Party
Tuesdays with a Twist
Tuesday Turn About Link Party 

Karins Kottage Link Party 

Talent Sharing Tuesday Link Up

 

WEDNESDAY 

Fluster's Creative Muster Wednesday's

Ducks in a Row Wonderful Wednesday

  Homestead Blog Hop 

  Whimsy Home Wednesday

 Vintage Charm

 

  THURSDAY

Share Your Style Thursday Link Up Party
 Encouraging Hearts and Home Party
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop 
Grace at Home Party 

Crafty Creators Link Party 

To Grandma's House We Go Link Party

 

  FRIDAY

 Funtastic Friday
Home Matters Linky Party
Farm House Fridays

Create, Bake, Grow and Gather Link Party 

A Morning Cup of Joe Party 

  Unlimited Link Party 

Traffic Jam Weekend

 SATURDAY
Saturday Sparks
Pink Saturday-Anything Goes!!

 

 SUNDAY
Happiness is Homemade Linky Party

Sundays on Silverado 

 Sunday Sunshine Blog Hop

  MONDAY 
Inspire Me Monday
Love Your Creativity Link Party
Busy Monday

 Handmade Monday
You Are The Star Blog Hop

Craftastic Monday Link Party

Welcome to the Really Crafty Link Party  

Metamorphosis Monday

 I Made It Monday Link Party

 

Themed Link Up Summer Craft and Decor

 

 Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!