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Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Free Patriotic Printable Tags

Oh boy, I'm just getting in under the wire here!

Below is a sheet of printable tags for the Fourth of July, Independence Day!


The Fourth was probably my most favorite holiday of all as a child -- possibly -- maybe even with Hallowe'en as "favorite." I loved Christmas Eve very much, too, but the Fourth was just resplendent in my mind. 

Since I was age 10, when I asked for an American flag for Christmas, I have flown our flag at every place I've lived. 

Until recently, I had a 40-year-old shot-off firework called "Happiness Pagoda" on display. Oh, how I loved that particular firework. It would spin, rise up to three little stories, and then have a flame inside to glow through red paper windows. I never liked the loud "popping" fireworks. I liked the pretty ones and the quiet ones, the "fountains" and the "snakes" and the "volcanoes" and the "ground flowers." 

We used to buy something called a "punk" to light the fireworks. Punks burned at a slow, constant smolder. There were buckets of punks on the counters of the firework stands. Punks were 2 cents each. The smell of a punk -- I think Heaven will smell like that. These punks were maybe eight inches long, probably made from compressed cellulose if I had to guess, with some gunpowder mixed in. The smell reminds me of the incense at High Mass. In fact, now that I think of it, punks look almost exactly like incense sticks, only uncolored, always tan.

The patience of the people who waited the counters at the fireworks stands! May God have blessed them and if they are still with us, continue to bless them richly. Their patience was astounding, as a bedraggled child put up stacks of pennies, nickels, dimes, and a rare quarter, and began a long, long laundry list of little fireworks in a shy whisper. 

Out of the past, and into the present!

We had a fifty-degree drop in temperature here two days ago, and then RAIN! And it has drizzled ever since. What a blessing and a boon to the desert! I can rest easy about "my" toads in my community garden plot, at least during this weather. 

The "ditch sunflowers" below are at least 11 feet high now. They tower over all the other plots.


I did get a picture of an unusual sunflower at the plot, right before the rain started. I think it is one of the Autumn Mix sunflowers. I don't pick them, as much as I'd like to, because some little yellow-green tummied birds were feasting on the seeds of the older blooms. Tiny little birds, like dull canaries!

pretty unusual sunflower orange and chocolate in the desert

 

The zinnias, despite being too shaded by the sunflowers, are starting to bloom, too. They are supposed to be the "candy stripe" zinnias, but the striping is quite subtle. I think the genetics that governed the striping went kaput.

zinnia blooms


I hope you will enjoy these printable tags, which are part of a set I have up on Etsy. But here some are, free to my Bloggie Frens. "Free and worth every penny," as they say. As always, use this
LINK TO THE DOWNLOAD <---- and don't try to just save the image below. It won't print nicely. The link is stored on Google Drive and it is safe, or as safe as anything can be, I do believe.


Are you prepping for the Fourth? How do you and how DID you celebrate it?

17 comments :

  1. Independence Day has always been my favorite! My Uncle Johnny always held a fun Independence party while I was growing up. I have special memories of times with my family. We also are proud American's. Our family has many that have been/and currently in the military.

    I bet it was a great joy to receive rain!

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  2. I liked the 4th too. The fireworks, my brothers getting into trouble while I stood by and stayed out of harm's way with their purchases. Now, around here, it's just another day...we old folks go to bed early and wake up to the sound of fireworks along the bay. I always get up and watch out the garage window, without mosquitoes.

    Love your sunflower. They have darker petals than what we have...called silverleaf sunflowers.

    Enjoy your holiday and thanks for sharing those tags with us Blogger buddies!!!

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  3. Your childhood memories of the 4th were delightful to read about. It sounds like you had a blast on the 4th of July. We always had a block party and ran around with friends,
    enjoyed good food and drinks, and then watched the fireworks with our families. Fun times for sure. Yes, I'm with you, I don't like the loud popping fireworks, and prefer the quiet outstanding ones. I'm so glad you got some rain! It is making all the flowers in the ditch bloom beautifully, especially that sunflower. I hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July, Holly. Mine will probably be a quiet one watching the fireworks outside with my son. : )

    ~Sheri

    *your pine needle comment made me laugh. I love the pine needles too, but you know what? That's the first thing that the neighbors get rid of on their roofs because here in the mountains, they can be a fire hazard. So, one of the first things I did when I moved here was pick them all up on my front lawn. But I love to look at them. I'm sure you could make something with them in your crafts cause you're so creative. I have lots of pine cones too that I wish I could give you. : )

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  4. You really do go all out for the 4th! That's wonderful! We always have our flag out every day unless it is raining. I am not sure what we are doing this weekend since the 4th is on Sunday. Probably will have a picnic supper with the family Sunday evening. Just haven't made any plans yet for certain. Normally we have had a big to-do in the past, with homemade ice cream, all the family together, etc., but times have changed since Covid and family doesn't want to travel, etc. (extended family, not our immediate), and I am not really up to making the homemade ice cream this year, even tho it will be missed. I am sure there will be fireworks somewhere in the neighborhood. I don't know who it is who does them, but they do them every year and we just have to stand on our front porch and watch! So nice of them to do that for us! LOL. Have a happy 4th and remember, freedom isn't free!

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  5. So what happened to your Happiness Pagoda?
    I have never heard of "punk". You always share so much new to me information. Thank you.
    I love the loud, booming fireworks display put on by our Port Authority. Thankfully the pugs are fine with the noise, but one pug I fostered was absolutely terrified. It was so sad.
    I'm sure the temperature drop, and the rain, was most welcome.
    Here in Ohio we have ditch lilies. I didn't know there were also ditch sunflowers ;-)

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  6. That sunflower is stunning, and so are your zinnias. Mine are in full flower in the pot of seeds I saved and the seeds I bought are just beginning to set buds.
    At the old house, my grandchildren would help me thin the perennials. Anything we couldn't rehome I had them throw in the ditch. We have lots of ditch flowers here in Ohio.

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  7. I have wonderful memories of my dad grilling on the 4th and then shooting off fountains and roman candles while we held sparklers. It was one of my favorite days too. We were in Las Cruces last week, but just missed the cool weather and rain, as we left early Sunday morning!

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  8. Ahhh...here we do differ in some respects. As patriotic as I (would like to) believe myself to be, as much of an American history buff as I am, and as much as I love and respect the "red, white and blue" (and enjoy decorating with it!), Independence Day has never been my favorite holiday. We never had any celebration for it growing up other than a few sparklers (and maybe some "snakes") if we were lucky and, being on an 80-acre farm in the middle of nowhere, we could not hear nor see any fireworks if any were even remotely near (which I highly doubt as "neighbors" were pretty much similarly situated). When I was "all growed up" as they say and exposed to them, I can say I liked fireworks much. Too loud...and ninny me is always worried about the wayward spark that could launch a fire that, you know, could lead to the destruction of life as I know it. ;-) And there are a few very unpleasant memories I will spare you to boot. We did start a (very short-lived) tradition at the lakehouse with a small get-together of firends to watch the fireworks from one of the best vantage points on the lake (and at a safe distance for me) but, sadly, the tradition was a brief one. I, too, am curious about what happened to your Happiness Pagoda. It sounds like something I WOULD have enjoyed. Happy Independence Day! ~Robin~ (And thanks for the great printables!!)

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  9. The memories of your childhood July 4th are so precious, sounds like you had a wonderful time. Enjoy this ears celebration.

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  10. I was raised in a family that the only holidays we celebrated were Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. Christmas we had food and presents, Easter Food and easter baskets and new dress clothes, TG was just FOOD... other than that I never celebrated any others and still do not. I did not even know there was a memorial day or veterans day and some of the others. our schools did not do any of those back in my OLD days. that sunflower is gorgeous and would love to see that ditch. your tags are really beautiful, but not sure what a tag would be used for on the 4th. to me tags go on presents and no presents on the 4th.

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    Replies
    1. They could also be used to make a garland to hang on mantle or such, or fasten to sticks and stuck into a vase or other holder, or... Tags - they're not just for presents any more! :-)

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  11. The 4th was yet another holiday that that the bare minimum was done for. We might have had sparklers & snakes, went to the fireworks only once that I recall. Otherwise it was pretty much just another day on the farm. Now, while I think fireworks are pretty, I can't help but feel for the animals (wild and tame), veterans with PTSD, and the chance of fires, especially since Iowa allowed everyone to shoot them off a few years ago. Do you have a photo of your pagoda firework? What I'm seeing available now don't look like they do the same things as yours did.

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  12. I nearly forgot - Thank you for the tags!

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  13. I agree with you that the best fireworks are the quiet ones. No doubt there will be lots of every kind tonight as we celebrate Canada Day.
    I like your glorious sunflowers! And those Zinnias! I am so sorry mine didn't come up ( well, one pathetic one grew and is trying to bloom). Nice that you're having cool temperatures and much needed rain.

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  14. All of the kids are coming over tomorrow night for a bbq and then we will all head up town for the fireworks later. First time since covid we have all been together. Such wonderful tags! When I was younger we wouls always get together at my gramma H's for a bbq. All of my cousins would take turns cranking the ice cream churn because we knew how good that ice cream would be after dinner. YUMMY. Janice

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  15. I used to take my vacation every year to coincide with the 4th of July, I've seen fireworks in more states than I care to count. Some are incredibly memorable, some were same old, same old.

    As a child, I had roman candles, snakes, sparklers, and bottle rockets. When I lived in MO, they had huge warehouses of fireworks in several cities. You could buy them at any time of the year. I brought a lot with me when I moved to KS., only to learn some, like bottle rockets, were illegal where I lived.

    Now I sit on my front porch and watch the kids shoot fireworks at night. Both my cats hide around the 1st, when the fireworks start being shot off, until the 6th, when people are no longer permitted to shoot them.

    Thanks so much for the printables. I appreciate them, even though I have no colored ink to print them. Have a lovely 4th, dear Holly.

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  16. It was so nice to hear about your childhood memories from the 4. July celebration. Here in Norway New Years Eve is the only day we have fireworks. Happy 4. July tomorrow!

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