Outdoor Table Top Entertaining

As I drag my feet and enjoy the last few days of Summer, I am already thinking about my fall patio decor.  We spend a lot of time outside during the hotter months but we LIVE outside during the fall. Morning coffee on the weekends, garden lunches, and of course family dinners fill our time as we watch the leaves change colors.

This year we are planning a complete patio renovation. We are tearing out our existing slab, which is almost 20 years old and replacing it with a modern California style sanctuary. Think outdoor kitchen and a long low gas fireplace with Italian strung lights gleaming overhead.  However, that is a whole other blog. 

In any event, I can't wait to break ground and get started on this project, because the sooner we finish the sooner I will be able to enjoy my new tabletop place settings from Crate & Barrel. Knowing that we were going to reconstruct the exterior of our home, this summer I invested in Melamine place settings so that we don't have to drag our heavy (breakable) dining plates outside. 

As you can imagine, I heard, "Why do we need three different kinds of plates?" from my husband. We also have "good china" from our wedding registry that he hates but once I explained the importance of shatterproof plates with children he was quick to get on board. 

I found these Melamine plates from Crate & Barrel. They come in 4 different colorways and can be accompanied by the matching serving plates in 2 colors. I opted to mix and match colors for a little more dimension. We have a lot of blue accents in our house and I wanted to keep the same feel to seamlessly transition to the outside.  

I also purchased Crate & Barrel's Vaso plastic stemware glasses to complete our tabletop. I found our Sunbrella table runner (with umbrella hole) from Ballard Designs as well as our plastic water pitcher and placemats. I also rounded out this look with matching Sunbrella outdoor pillows from HomeGoods and a white Vinglace wine bottle chiller to keep our vino nice and cold!  

***Shop the look by clicking on the photos below***

0

Jump On It

Thursday, September 3, 2020 -

Who knew that trampolines would become such a hot commodity during a pandemic? If you're like me you spent the first month of quarantine trying to figure out how to entertain the kids while being stuck at home and social distancing. I think we have things under control now but it was touch and go there for a minute and I'm sure we will continue to have ups and downs. In the meantime, I try to find activities that exsert some energy and produce the "happy hormone" serotonin.

Right before baby Jax was born I started thinking about trampolines for Cashton. I always thought a trampoline would be a cool "big brother gift" for Jaxson to give to his big brother to help avoid jealousy. Never did it cross my mind that I might as well be looking for a unicorn when it came to purchasing one. That's right, apparently, I wasn't the only one with this bright idea. Everyone in America must have been trying to get their hands on them at the same time because they were sold out EVERYWHERE! I mean you couldn't even get one of these bad boys on Facebook Marketplace. 

Every time I would find one that someone was selling 2nd hand it would be gone in an instant! So, I finally gave up on social media to help me with my little project. I started searching the internet, scouring Amazon, Dicks Sporting Goods, Walmart, and even Costco trying to get my hands on one. No such luck! 

That is until recently. Walmart now has a 14'  in stock! Which is the size we ended up getting. It comes with an enclosure net for the kids and peace of mind for parents. We LOVE ours! Cash spends hours outside jumping and burning off his pent up energy from being stuck at home all day. I'm not gonna lie, I love taking my turn on it as well!  

There are also all kinds of fun accessories for the trampoline too! I think the sprinkler and water balloons always score big with the kids! 

If you're thinking about one for the kids you can get your trampoline here, or click on the photos below to shop

0

DIY Baby Shower Planning

Tuesday, September 1, 2020 -

Sure we're still in a pandemic and some things can be rescheduled, but babies are coming no matter what! Pretty much all of my friends have had or are having babies this year, so we have MANY children to "shower" with love. This weekend it was my girlfriend Cara's turn. Myself, and 3 other women put together the most beautiful drive by baby shower for little baby Sutton! The thought that went into this party was detailed.

Carin was our ring leader, ordering and putting together the invitations as well as determining our "woodland" boho theme. She prepped "take away" lunchboxes with custom stickers she ordered off of Etsy and hulled decor from her stockpile in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Laken was in charge of ordering flowers and designing the backdrop for our celebration table. She hung linens on her PVC frame and added greenery and balloons that read our little man of honor's name.

Friday night I started baking the 4 layer "surprise" cake with blue edible confetti inside and finished icing it early Sunday morning before heading over to the pavilion to help set up. 

Saturday afternoon we prepped for Sunday's festivities. This included the foundation work for my balloon arch. I get so many questions every time I do a balloon arch and the truth is, it gets easier every time I put one together. 

I have mastered the art of simplifying the setup. I blow all the balloons up the day before and recruit someone to help me tie the balloons in twos while I blow then up and shape them. I then tie them into small clusters with fishing line instead of the balloon tape because I find it much faster. That way I can just string the clusters together when I get on site. The key is an electric blower and a balloon arch PVC frame that I found at Micheals. You can build the piping any way you wish. Short. Tall. One-sided. Skys the limit (well not really, it's not THAT tall).

This install was one of my favorites because I got to build it around Alpha Lit Charlotte's light up letter sign that read "baby".

Below is a video tutorial I found helpful on YouTube.

During one of our brainstorming sessions, we talked about a "She's about to POP" bar where we would bring in a popsicle stand but after pricing it out we decided to make our own. Instead of popsicles, we went with cake pops from SAS Cupcakes that were individually wrapped to be COVID 19 friendly. We also gave away gold mini Rondel champagne splits with "POP it when she POPS" labels as favors. 

We solicited the husbands to build a teepee for cheap by grabbing wood and a canvas drop cloth from a local hardware store,  saving us a TON of cash. Which we were then able to provide a "to go" boxed lunch for everyone. 

Carin got disposable paper lunch boxes and labels and we stuffed them with pimento cheese and chicken salad sandwiches, with a side of fruit salad and a Krispy Cream donut. 

All in all, everything came out super cute and our woodland themed shower was thrown on a budget, everyone was comfortable splitting. Be sure to scroll through the rest of our detail photos and feel free to shop the photos at the end of this blog by clicking on them! 

Shop by clicking the photos below.

0

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)