It’s Always Independence Day at My House

by Kassadee Marie, HSM team writer

Holidays have special meanings to all of us, and usually a lot of good memories to go with them, year after year. America’s Independence Day, known casually as the Fourth of July, brings a feeling a national pride to most of us here in the US. It’s a day and evening of celebration and fun, with picnics and barbecues in parks and backyards with family and friends. The highlight of this occasion is the fireworks, which start as soon as it’s fully dark outside. Fireworks involve almost all of your senses. It’s not just seeing them, which is marvelous — but the sound that is so deep that you can feel it through your whole body. Even the smell of the gunpowder, when the wind shifts in your direction, can be exciting. Don’t you just love them?

The Midnight Glade is the perfect place to celebrate this wonderful national holiday on Home. It’s a fenced-in moonlit field with a tree rising from a small hill and a campfire burning nearby. This night-time, totally outdoors space is free when you purchase the $6.99 fireworks pack from Lockwood. Included in this bundle are three fireworks multi-piece packs. One has four indoor fireworks, which includes two “Catherine Wheels” that go well on the fence and two cone-shaped fireworks fountains that also look great in the Midnight Glade.

There are also two outdoor packs. The first is the “Large Zeus Rocket” pack and the second is the “Large Comet Rocket” pack. Each of them has five rockets in various brilliant colors that shoot into the night sky. There is also a special fireworks reward for having eleven guests present in the space at the same time, called the Supernova Fireworks.

After you set up your fireworks there to suit your taste, the space could be considered finished. But there is more you could add to the space that would increase your enjoyment, and lots of ways to style your avatar’s outfits to match the occasion, too.

Ultimate Animated Fireworks PackYou may want to place seating around the campfire or in other locations to provide a good view of the fireworks. You’ll probably want to choose something casual, like canvas director chairs. LOOT offers one for free under their furniture tab. It would also be great fun to get one or more canvas chairs from Game Mechanics and personalize them for your guests. They are sold for $1.99 each in eight colors and two heights, and take up only four furniture slots, each. They are also sold in packs.

Picnic blankets, such as the one from Lockwood for $.99, would look great here, too. You could also add a dance floor, perhaps on the hill, for your friends and you to enjoy. For $2.99, Sony’s “Freestyle Dance Floor” comes with a multi-colored floor, music, lights and bubbles. Or you could use a simpler floor, such as one made from the “Animated Dance Floor Construction Pack” for $1.49 from nDreams or the Aurora Dance floor reward for reaching level 80 on the Orbs game in the Aurora space, and then add your own choice of music with the LOOT radio.

There is also a fun little item from Sony for $1.99 called the Active Item – Fireworks, which has a display that can be changed from small to medium to large (relatively speaking) and it has fireworks sounds. This item is located in Furniture Home Originals under the “Active Furniture” tab. Unfortunately, it has not been updated and still takes up 22 furniture slots. One of my wish list items for Sony products is to reduce the number of furniture slots on their active items, as some of the third party developers have done.

One thing that would add a lot to the space is Lockwood’s PODI (Pyrotechnic Overhead Display Interface) and the Independence Day Fireworks Display bundle for $5.99. This bundle includes the original five fireworks, plus six special Independence Day fireworks consisting of “Old Glory Blue”, “The Patriot”, “By George!”, “Tricolor Core”, “Stars and Lights” and “Liberty Rockets”. The PODI is a fun item, with spectacular fireworks displays and even a reward item. The holiday-themed fireworks packs are especially great.

Fireworks Themed Top (Male)

For clothing, Sony and third party developers have given away a number of themed items for this holiday, usually “Uncle Sam” hats and occasionally t-shirts with a bit of style. You may have Axe reward, the Anarchy Bag of Fireworks to carry as a hand item, also. You can bet there will be new reward items this year, too.

One of the best rewards ever for this celebration was given out during the Summer of 2010 in Central Plaza. These male and female outfits rocked! They are some of the most stylish clothing for this occasion made on Home. Simply called “fireworks themed”, there were four pieces for the guys and five for the ladies, including a really cute hairdo. The guys’ top has large sparklers on the shoulders and the ladies’ top has a Catherine Wheel spinning on the back.

Atom Republic offers “US Flag Biker” boots for $1.49 for males and females, but only the male boots use red, white and blue colors. Recently, JAM Games came out with “Stars and Stripes Wedge” boots for the ladies and “Stars and Stripes Button Trail” boots for the guys, in their Razor line. For $.99 you can have these fun and themed items in male or female styles in the traditional colors.

The Costume Home Originals store has an outfit for both genders, which is sold as separates at the incredibly low price of $.15 each piece for four pieces. There is an “Uncle Sam” hat, red and white striped pants, America’s loafers and a top called the “Tail-ored U.S. Suit”.

Uncle Sam Outfit - Female

Digital Leisure (DL) sold outfits called the “Uncle Sam Outfit” for both genders last year, priced at $2.99, and they may bring them out again this year. They are full body outfits, except for the head/hair item, as most of DL’s clothing items are. The female outfit is the only one that I’ve ever seen on Home in this theme that has a skirt instead of pants for the ladies.

There is a free outfit in three pieces for males and females in the Costumes store, under the GT5 tab called the “Gran Turismo 5 My Chemical Romance” racing outfit, that would look great for this holiday, especially if you have any matching race-type locomotions, such as a bike or motorcycle. You could also simply wear blue and white clothing and add the $1.49 “Ruby Aura – July” from Costumes Home Originals for a cool look, if you find the other items not to your taste.

There’s a lot to enjoy in the summer time, and this national celebration is one of the most fun and exciting of the season; I hope you enjoy it to the fullest in your real and virtual lives. But I also hope you take a moment to remember all that was given by so many for the freedoms we have here in America today.

July 3rd, 2013 by | 0 comments
Home is endlessly entertaining to this California girl. Kassadee has been in Home for about four years, and loves almost everything about it (with a few notable exceptions). She spends way too much money there, and perhaps too much time... Someday she will travel the world and write about the people she meets and the places she sees.

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