Easy Fourth of July decor

SLIDESHOW: Holiday Decorations

Tomorrow's the biggest picnic day of the year -- and you have nothing patriotic to jazz up your Fourth of July table.

Not to worry.

Chris Nease can help you dazzle your guests.

Not the pricey, impossibly obscure-materials kind of help. The quick, dollar-store kind of help.

Nease, a Chester wife and mother of two, can take a few sheets of paper, some twine, a couple of pillar candles, plain white cups and a shower caddy and turn it into a party table worthy of an upscale home magazine.

Her celebrationsathome.blogspot.com, an offshoot of her eight-month-old party-planning business, is full of crafty ideas for events of all kinds.

"I get a lot of inspiration online," said Nease, who holds a degree in fashion merchandising from East Carolina University. "You figure out a way to tweak it and make it your own.

"Sometimes you just see stuff in a store or out in the world that gives you an idea."

At right are some quick ideas designed by Nease:

Contact Julie Young at (804) 649-6732 or .