Making a Patriotic cooler for a 'cool' Picnic. . .

I hope all of my American friends are having a fun 4th of July holiday.

 

As I mentioned before we usually host an outdoor breakfast.  Putting it off for a couple of weeks, but that doesn't mean we can't still have a bit of fun.  :)

 

This morning our youngest daughter, Kylee packed up a picnic basket and we headed to the park for a relaxing lunch.

 

Our son Dalan lives just down the road so she asked him if they wanted to join us.

 

I did very little work.  Kylee planned and packed the entire picnic.  She also made us a yummy fruit pizza for dessert.

 

 

And what was I doing while she was busy in the kitchen?

 

Painting an old cooler like an American flag.

 

I bought this cooler at a yard sale a couple years ago.  It was a bit rustic then, but after sitting out on our deck all summer it was looking pretty sad.

 

You know I love rust, but in this case it wasn't pretty.  lol!

 



I painted the entire top white with some latex paint I had on hand.  Then I taped it off with blue tape.

 



I chose to stencil it because I knew it would be a lot faster.  I did go over it twice.

 



You always want to remove the tape right away.  That way if any paint slipped underneath the tape you can get it off before it dries.  I always dab my loaded stencil brush onto paper towels before applying to the object.

 

I punched a couple of stars out of a recipe card.  Makes a

great stencil.

 

 

After stenciling the blue I added the stars.  I didn't measure, just did them randomly.  It's suppose to be rustic. (wink)

 



When it was all finished I sanded it lightly to give it a

 time worn look.

 



 

We kept it simple.  Went to a park just down the street and made sandwiches right there.  Can you believe we had the entire park all to ourselves?  Kylee made the perfect sandwich with lettuce picked from our garden.

 

My delicious lunch, and of course my favorite; Diet Coke!

Things always go better with Coke, and you know that "you've got a friend in me"!  Love the song lyrics on the cans!!

 

My cute patriotic grandsons, Will and Jack.

 

 

One year old Evan patiently waiting for mama to cut up fruit for him to eat.

Will, motorcycle man.

 



 

Oh to be young and swing high into the sky!

 

Evan is such a happy baby.

 

A bit blurry, but I laughed at how his hair is standing salute.

 

We found a little patriotic friend.  He seemed to be happy crawling up Jacks arm!

 



 

What a wonderful time we had celebrating Independence Day!

 

hugs,

Jann

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