Patriotic, but Pink!

Patriotic, but pink? Sometimes decor is easy to find. You walk in a store and just find the perfect item that is exactly what you were looking for. Other times, you have your heart set on something that you can’t find anywhere. At these times, you either do without, or find a way to create what you really are wanting. Believe it or not, these pieces will definitely become your favorites. It can take a lifetime to cultivate a collection of decor that you truly love, so don’t be discouraged. This is why you see a lot of heirloom timeless pieces here. I love to find or make pieces that don’t go out of style.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the red, white, and blue. You will find that in many places of my decor. The back porch, has your traditional colors, and the log cabin is decorated with a more vintage/faded colonial flag theme. So, I have absolutely nothing against red. However, my love of pink, desires the soft colors in my sitting room, but I still like to add seasonal decor there. So what is a girl to do? What you can’t find, you make!

I intend to grow this blog post over time, so make sure to bookmark it if you love to decorate pink/shabby chic. I am starting a collection of DIY to create patriotic items in the soft pastel colors.This may include some soft reds also, not just pinks. You will be surprised how well, a soft red will blend in with pastels. I only have a couple at this point, but as I make and find others I love, I will post them here. This is something that isn’t easy to find. Once in a while you see something in the store, and you should grab it up quickly!

To start with, I found this awesome fabric years ago, and bought several yards of it. I have a couple pillows and a table runner. I haven’t been able to find any more of the fabric in years, but here is what it is called in case you want to search yourself! It is Robyn Pandolph Faded Splendor. You can see how the designer used a very soft red for the flag itself, and blended in the pink roses. I simple added this pillow, and put some pink silk roses in my market bag to tie it all together.

If you think about it, when you can add seasonal decor that is in the same color scheme as your other decor, you just added so many other options at no extra expense. I set a picnic table using my table runner, and pulled this old coffee tin from my collection, and it seems to match perfectly. The fresh pink roses, tie in and even though it isn’t your traditional bright red, it feels very patriotic, don’t you think?

One thing that was missing from my collection was a basic flag. So this year, I tried a couple things till I found one that worked! These flags were purchased from the dollar store. They were held onto their pole by a single staple. I pulled this staple out, pulled the flag off the pole, and put the fabric down in a basin of water that had about a gallon of water and 3/4 cup of clorox in it. I was so disappointed that the fabric didn’t react at all. I just left them there. An hour passed, nothing. Four hours passed, nothing. A day passed, nothing. Finally, two days later, you could see it starting to fade just a bit. This is the product of a three day clorox soak. I never changed the water or the clorox amount. I am assuming the flags are coated in something to help them retain their color, and it actually took that long for the clorox to break down that product and begin to fade the red out. I LOVE THEM!

Here is an example of the ‘soft red’ that I was referring to. While not pink, it is also not bright red. I love the vintage feel that items like this give. I purchased this pillow from Etsy. A fun little store called LeLisHome. She makes all sorts of lovely items with this feel to them. Here is a link to her patriotic collection. Sugar approves too, if you can’t tell.