Decorate with patriotic lights at your next 4th of July or Memorial Day party. Great lighting helps set the mood for a party or barbecue. There's nothing worse than walking into someone's home for a party when they've got all the lights turned up bright. It just doesn't feel festive. If the light is bright enough to read by, it's way too bright to party by.

Unusual Patriotic Lights

For really cool, unusual patriotic lights, try lining your walkway, yard, or pool with paper luminaries. You can buy your patriotic luminaria supplies online. Try using red, white, and blue luminaria bags, instead of traditional brown or white ones. This is an inexpensive way to decorate your home.

If you plan to burn luminaria, make sure you do it the smart way. Forget about the sand. Sand is messy, bulky, and a pain in the neck. Instead, order plastic luminaria bases when you order your patriotic bags, and your star sleeves. Plastic luminaria bases are indented with a space to hold a candle, tea light, or battery operated candle. You fill the hollow base with sand or water, and cork it with its plastic cork, at which point you can reuse it for years to come without ever refilling it.

Patriotic lights look great around a porch or patio. You can hang red, white, and blue paper lanterns from your porch beams. You can burn inexpensive red and blue candles on surfaces, while twisting white fairy lights around banisters and over doorways. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to transform a patio, porch or deck into a great party spot.