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It’s the unofficial start of summer. Whatever you do won’t make or break your summer but why not at least launch it with great momentum? If your plans include hosting a celebration, Sandlin Homes has some ideas to help you get your home ready for the perfect Memorial Day party. The federal holiday was established to honor people who died while serving this country (while Veterans Day celebrates all servicepeople). Here in Fort Worth, Texas, we’re big on patriotic celebrations. Memorial Day is no exception! Show your colors-Any Memorial Day party starts with the color palette of red, white, and blue. Displaying the American flag is also not optional. You can, of course, choose how prominent the stars and stripes will be in your decor. Be subtle or go bold. That’s entirely up to you. Do you have friends and family members who gave their lives for our country? Display their photos around your home or make a poster. Let your guests know in advance, so they can send you photos to include. Welcome your guests with small flags poked into the ground along your walkway. Decorate your entry with a flag or patriotic wreath. Stick more flags in your container gardens by the front door. 

If you want even more decor, drape red, white, and blue streamers or string lights around your porch and doorway. Inside, continue your stars, stripes, and tri-color decorating theme. Put some themed toss pillows on your furniture. Limit your serving pieces to the colors of the day. Place small vases, pitchers, or mason jars of red and white flowers with a blue pick, flag, or stars-and-stripes ribbon (because true blue flowers are really hard to come by). Hang paper stars of different sizes from the ceiling around your home and tree branches in your yard. Continue your Memorial Day decor throughout your home, like placing a mason jar of flowers in the powder room and a string of stars draped on the mirror. Remember, you can repurpose your decorations for the 4th of July! Play time with an outdoor party, you can turn your yard into a festival. Set up lawn games, like corn hole, croquet, bocce, horseshoes, badminton, and yard-sized versions of tumbling tower (Jenga), yardzee (Yahtzee) and dominoes. You could even start a new tradition with a Memorial Day tournament. The Memorial Day menu-It’s traditional to barbeque on Memorial Day. If that’s your choice, you can stick with the other norm of hot dogs and hamburgers. Make it more special with an extensive condiments buffet, including bacon, Canadian bacon, guacamole, salsa, a variety of cheeses, BBQ sauce, hot sauces, and sauteed mushrooms (in fact, throw some portobellos on the grill). If you’ve never tried a BLT hot dog, now is the time!

It’s much easier to do a patriotic fruit arrangement than floral. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and watermelon are easy to find this time of year. Carve out the watermelon and fill it with the fruit. Make red, white, and blue fruit skewers, with a mini-marshmallow serving as the white component. Memorial Day desserts are plentiful, too. Frostings, sprinkles, and food coloring let you turn just about anything into a patriotic sweet treat.If your party continues into the evening, how about creating an outdoor theatre? Set up seating—from blankets to chairs to hammocks—and a video player with a screen (a white sheet will do). Then choose from a massive library of movies, including Saving Private Ryan, Zero Dark Thirty, Dunkirk, Top Gun, Flags of Our Fathers, Glory, Lone Survivor, Good Morning Vietnam, Three Kings, Black Hawk Down, and classics, like MASH, Bridge Over River Kwai, and The Dirty Dozen. 

As you plan your party, if you find your home just isn’t the right fit for the lifestyle you want, please take a look at Sandlin Homes’ communities of single-family homes in Fort Worth and the surrounding suburbs. Your next celebration could be taking place in a home worth celebrating! All of us at Sandlin Homes are thankful to the brave men and women who have given their lives for our country, and to those who have served and are now serving. We will also honor their memories. To everyone, please be safe this Memorial Day weekend!