Red White and Blue Outdoor Decoration - Life as a LEO Wife

Tips & a Tragedy

So let me tell you first off, hot gluing the metal stake to the plastic back of the thermometer did not go well for me. I truly believe it’s the crappy hot glue that I bought from Amazon. It doesn’t work on anything. It came with the WORST hot glue gun ever! My husband ordered it for me being sweet. It has a base so that it stands up. He got it because I’ve burned my table when the glue guns have tipped forward and the metal tip touched it. The glue gun has no pointy tip!! NONE! It’s wide and somewhat round, so you can’t target a small area to place the glue. Do not buy the glue gun I used in this project lol. Visit my blog to find out which one because I don't want to blast a company here!

Before you start to glue, bend the bottom 3″ or so of the metal stake up so that it doesn’t stick out below the thermometer. If you have a sharp saw you can cut it off, but mine was not sharp. Here is the funny tale…

I had my beautiful red white and blue outdoor decoration all finished and hung on the wall for a quick picture. Then I noticed the bottom of the stake sticking out. I took it down and had the bright, ingenious idea to use my hand saw to hack it off. Yes, this would be perfect! I laid it across my chair with the stake hanging off, held it firmly down, and began my work. Saw, saw, saw…. CRACK!! The glass in the thermometer had shattered- all in my chair. All of my hard work down the drain.

Great- what to do now?!

All I could think is that Dollar Tree rarely has the same items for a long time. I cleaned everything up and sat down to think on this tragedy. I was like, “Ok. I’ve got this. I’ll just walk up to Dollar Tree for some combined exercise and to get another thermometer to start over. Two for one, this might be a blessing!” Wait- I thought I felt something crawling on my leg. AGH- a bug! I swiped at it, causing a sharp pain. Not a bug, lol. A large piece of glass still stuck in my skin toward my inner thigh with blood running down my leg! HAHAHA! I picked it out, doctored it up, and headed to the store.

Miracle of miracles- Dollar Tree had a few thermometers left, hidden on a bottom shelf! I bought two… just in case. So today I got to start my project over again. The good part was that I was able to do it a lot faster, and I already had the bow made!

Attach the lawn stake and thermometer

Now on to the tutorial! It will more than likely work for you to hot glue the pieces together. If you have any doubt, you can add a little E6000 as well. Squeeze glue down the raised middle on the back of the thermometer, then quickly add a little strip to the top middle where the truck will sit.

With the thermometer facing down, press the metal stake down on it. Make sure the truck sits flush with the top of thermometer.

Tear off a few pieces of tape and place them across the stake and the raised plastic piece to add extra holding power.

Embellish your red white and blue outdoor decoration

Add a bit of hot glue to the back of one of your glitter scatter stars. I used a small red one because the larger ones covered too much of the C and the F. Place it between the C and F, just above the top of the temperature gauge, the middle of the star lining up with the middle of it.

Make a bow

For this project, a simple two loop bow will work nicely. You can tie one like you would your shoe, but the process below looks a little better in the end I think. Seeing the pictures will probably explain it better than I can in words.

Put a dot of hot glue on the middle of the back of your bow and place it toward the bottom of your thermometer. I put mine between the bottom degree line and the opening. You can put yours lower if you’d like.

To cover the pipe cleaner, put some hot glue on one of your styrofoam stars (I used blue) and pop it right over it. I think it makes it look more finished, but it’s optional of course.

Finally, you will need a way to hang your red, white, and blue outdoor decoration.

This is the finished red white and blue outdoor decoration porch thermometer. The truck is a little crooked in this picture. I straightened it before hanging it outside.

All Done!

If you are looking for more red white and blue decor, check out these DIY star wreaths and this patriotic centerpiece. Stick around after this tutorial because I have several more patriotic decor ideas to share with you! If you are looking for other summer decor, I’ve got plenty of that as well! You might like this adorable flip flop wreath. You can also search my blog for all kinds or patriotic and other summer decor. Follow my red white and blue Pinterest board for more decor ideas as well as food, fashion, and beauty ideas for our patriotic holidays!

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