July Heritage Month in Utah

Here in Utah we have 2 BIG Holidays that the entire state celebrates and recognizes:

Of course, the 4th of July!!

Then we also have our State Holiday, the 24th of July, otherwise known as "Pioneer Days" or the "Days of '47". 

 

Pioneers are the people who settled Utah, when they came as Mormon settlers from across the plains from as far East as New York. Many came from a Mormon Encampment in Ohio. Either way, it's a long way across the continent, through very rugged terrain. And not in a car or even on a train, mind you. No, most Mormon Pioneers came by wagon. Some were pulled by oxen or horses, but many were pushed...by pioneers. Those are known as "Handcarts" and the people who pushed them were "Handcart Pioneers". They are the most revered of all our Mormon Ancestors for the trails they endured to reach this beautiful valley we now call home. 

 

Because I love to decorate, I usually do my porch decor to celebrate a portion of both of these holidays in July, even though it means a quick change-a-roo of some of the elements. Over the years I have done a wide variety of decor that worked for both holidays, but I prefer to celebrate the Pioneer potion of it on it's own when I'm able.

 

This is my porch for the 4th of July this year:

 

And some close ups:

 

Just a little FYI....this wreath won me a "Best of Show" Ribbon at our State Fair last year!!

 

The layout of my furniture stayed the same for my 24th of July Porch, but here is what it looks like now:

 

 

And here are some close-ups of this design:

 

I planned the colors and theme of this design around those in our state flag, including Blue, Yellow and Red, and I also included our state symbol, which is the Beehive. Incidentally, my OWN personal symbol is also the Beehive, because my name means "Industrious", and the beehive is the symbol for industry!

Tutorials for how to make the 2 Covered Wagon decorations below!

 

This past week, I presented some of these (plus more as shown below) Holiday Celebration Ideas on Studio 5/KSL TV.

 

Here is what my display looked like there on the studio set:

 

 

I shared some great ideas for four Holidays: Canada Day, The 4th of July, Bastille Day/French Liberation Day, and Pioneer Day! 4 different Holidays in one TV Segment....that's a first for me!

 

Here is the video so you can watch it:

 

 

  I want to point out that I got exactly 24 hours notice to present this segment! Lucky for me, (or more accurately, lucky for the show producers who called me due to a cancellation) I have a lot of STUFF and was able to pull this off despite being gone for 9 hours on the very day I got the request! That's crazy, right??

 

So all but 2 of the items (plus some International flags I picked up that day) were things I already own, and the 4th of July items were already on my front porch!

 

 The two items I created from scratch just for the show are the Covered Wagon craft, and the cookie craft. For not having a plan or anything patterns, I think I did pretty good! Especially given the very short notice to create something! 

 

During the segment, I highlighted how to make these cookie treats/place markers:

 

  And here's a Picture Tutorial for you to make them!

 

 

Cookie Wagon Supplies and Instructions:

 

~ Peanut Butter Base cookie (I used Peanut Gauchos from Mother's Brand, but you could use Nutter Butters or another square cookie. It could even be a chocolate cookie, I just liked the color of this one.) 

 ~  1 wafer cookie

  ~1 giant Marshmallow 

  ~ 4 Ritz Bits Crackers

  ~ 2 small Pretzel sticks

  ~ Candy melt (I wish I'd used some of the pumpkin spice candy melts I have left from the fall...the color would have been perfect to blend in)

 

 

And now I'll show you how I made this cute Shabby Chic Covered Wagon, which now resides on my Pioneer Day Porch:

 

 

Here is a Picture Tutorial for this as well: