Our July 4th Party!

Monday, the 4th of July, was a LOT of fun!! And it started off quite eventful...when our neighbors back yard [brush] caught on fire! The flames were high and the fire was starting to spread as their wooden fence caught fire. Dele ran to their house pounding on their door....I grabbed our fire extinguisher out of our garage and ran it over to him. Just then, our neighbor opened their door and Dele ran through their house and out their back door attempting to put it out. I called the fire department and they arrived just minutes later!

We live in an attached townhome. Thank God {literally} that Dele had gone outside to bbq when he did and saw the fire. At the time, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction so the flames were staying away from our home, but they had started to jump to the townhome next to the house that was on fire and had Dele {and our friend who hopped onto our other neighbor's patio and grabbed their hose} not had put it out...well, it would have been a very bad day for many people. The cause? Cigarette butts that weren't entirely put out. Nice. Once the excitement was all over {I'd say flames trump firecrackers! Ha!}, we went on to start our fun-filled 4th of July celebration!

My tablescape was exactly the same as last year. I pulled everything out from storage and mirrored the same look; in fact, the first few photos are last years pictures.

I got these napkins at Hobby Lobby last year. Love them! So patriotic! Here's a close up so you can read some of the words on them....

A few weeks ago I spotted these red placemats that are the same design as the blue ones that I bought last year {the blue ones were the last ones and on clearance; at the time I wish they would have had more - preferably red so that I could interchange them}. What are the odds of getting the exact same pattern placemats, in a different color, an entire year later? Score!!

Let the party begin!.....

For a festive look, I wrapped my pitchers in red, white and blue ribbon....

We had sweet tea, raspberry lemonade, bottles of coca-cola and water with lemon.

Dele was the grill master! The patio was the guys' spot....us ladies stayed inside where it was nice and cool ; )

I made two dishes of mac-n-cheese, because I know how fast it goes!...

We had three different types of chicken/steak....bbq, jerk, and suya {that is made in Nigeria}. I'm not into spice so I passed on that one!

I realized {after it was gone} that I forgot to add cucumbers and blue cheese to my salad! Woops! The other things I added were avocado, cranberries, homemade candied pecans and croutons.

BBQ baked beans!....

The dessert side of the table.....

Refreshing fruit cups comprised of watermelon, strawberries and blueberries....

Get your dessert plate!....

I can't take credit for making these. They were done by KaLice Events. I sent them an image of a cupcake design that I wanted replicated and they did a great job! They were Red Velvet.

I put them in star cupcake wrappers to spruce up the look even more!

Onto cheesecake shots!! I saw them here and just had to make them!! They were a BIG hit and were super easy to make!! A delicious dessert that will be a staple one in my home now!!

It was my first time working with puffed pastry sheets {to make the stars}. Even though my stars didn't come out perfect {I think it more had to do with my cutter}, not too bad for a first timer ; )

I made some peanut butter cookies and packaged them for guests to take home as favors....

After our belly's were all full, we whipped out the games and started with Taboo {guys against girls!} - and then went on to play Cranium!....

Where was Ilah? She was having a fun-filled afternoon with my mom! Here are some shots that I got of her in her July 4th attire!....

For someone who doesn't even know it was the 4th of July, she sure was pretty excited about it! Ha ha!....

The bow that I made to match her festive attire.....

My happy little firecracker!....

We had a wonderful 4th of July! Hope you did too : )