The 4th of July Boat Parade: The Crafty Details

My blog followers will know that we

purchased a lake house a couple

of years ago. This is our third

summer there.

 

The first year we were painting

walls and remodeling when we saw

 this funny parade of boats go by.

We were like "what was THAT?"

 

We soon discovered it was the

annual boat parade for this lake.

 

The very next summer, we were

participating in it.

 

 

Last year, we won 3rd place.

The theme was the Roaring 20's.

 

We didn't have an idea,

we were just dressed in

red,white, and blue vintage

style clothes.

 

Now you know it was "game on"

this year and we wanted to win.

 

We even had my step daughter and

her husband excited about joining in.

This was the night before the parade.

 

The theme: "I Love NY"

 

 

We came up with the yellow checkered

cab with a NY cityscape behind it...

with a "3-D" type of effect. The

windows of the cab were positioned

where the boat seats were located 

so we could wave like we

 were riding in a yellow taxi!

The cityscape turned out
awesome... without my
step-daughter's artistic talent
it may have turned out like
the leaning towers of Pisa.

And what is that canoe doing behind us?
As an added bonus we pulled my step daughter

who was dressed up like Lady Liberty.

 

 

The crown: painted cardboard.

The gown: a gray sheet we pulled

out of the closet at the last minute.

The torch: A painted tiki torch

 

And she held that torch up the whole parade.

 

 

 

Here you can see the cityscape

a little bit better...

and the Hubs with Bebe and

my son in law.

 

There are other details we worked

on that aren't as noticeable.

 

Like the foam taxi sign my hubby

created from packaging materials.

He was so proud!

 

It was a VERY windy day

so we needed the metal bar

across the boat to reinforce

the cardboard cab and cityscape.

 

A few days earlier I had painted

the "I LOVE NY" logo onto

the front and back of this $2

yard sale American Tourister.

 

I do believe she is the prettiest

Statue of Liberty

I have ever seen in a canoe!

 

(And bravest... they wanted me to do it

and because of the wind I said "NO WAY!")

 

 

Talk about fun...

and we won FIRST PLACE!

 

The prize?

This odd set of men's hats

and a beer bottle

filled with patriotic décor.

They've been passing it

around since 1994!

There is a plaque

we get to engrave

our names onto.

 

We get to keep the mug and

I LOVE NY buttons.

We'll always remember

this day whenever we

use the mug!

 

PLUS we get to judge next year...

and then we'll be back for

more tough competition

laughs and memories!

 

Linking to "Share Your Cup Thursday"

with Mrs. Olson

 

and Coastal Charm's

Show and Share Party