Table Coverings

• Use the colors of your national flag to cover the table. For an American celebration, use red, white or blue solid cloths. Make it more interesting by taping strips of crepe paper down the middle of the table, keeping them flat or twisting them for a three-dimensional effect. Sprinkle patriotic confetti down the center of the tablecloth, or make a table runner by sewing several bandanas together and centering them down the middle of the table. Use red and blue ones for an American theme or green, red and white when celebrating Cinco de Mayo.
  
  

Centerpieces

• Make an American centerpiece using a white pillar candle, and affix red and blue star stickers all over them. Place a large candle in the middle of a table on a flat candle holder, or use several smaller ones down the center of a long table. Alternatively, paint a terracotta flower pot like an American flag, and fill it with red and white silk flowers. Paint the rim blue with white stars and the rest white. After it dries, paint red horizontal stripes on the side. Spray it inside and out with acrylic sealant before arranging the flowers, and then let guests take them home to plant flowers in them. Or, fill a tall, clear vase with coated candies in nationalistic colors. Insert lollipops, licorice sticks or rock candies for an edible centerpiece.
  
  

Napkin Rings

• Tie napkins with colored ribbon in nationalist colors of the country, and affix a big bow or insert a small flag on a toothpick. Alternatively, make a colorful rosette using national colors. Cut three 20-inch-long pieces of crepe paper from each color of the flag, with the first being 8 inches wide, the second a little thinner and the third the thinnest. Glue them on top of each other so each color shows, and fold them like a fan. Tie the rosette in the middle with a pipe cleaner, pull the edges around, and then glue. Tie it to the napkin with the pipe cleaner.
  
  

Favors

• Give guests something to take home to remember the celebration. Make a centerpiece with painted pots for each guest, and paint his name on the rim to use as a place card. Or fill small metal buckets painted in patriotic colors with small candies or other novelties. Paint the guest’s name on each one, and set it at each place setting. Alternatively, collect empty toilet paper rolls, and affix a heavy paper circle to the bottom. Fill the roll with candy, then wrap it in patriotic colored tissue paper. Gather and tie it with ribbon, and insert a small length of pipe cleaner in to make a fuse. Decorate the tube with patriotic stickers.