Our back yard is nothing spectacular. We do have tons of room…definitely a perk of living in the country. The natural corn “fence” is definitely a perk too. But, I have never wanted to have a party in our backyard. We have always had parties in our front yard. Our backyard is not landscaped at all. We don’t have a patio or deck. There is no door into our house from the back. We have reseeded some of the grass, but not all of it. We have weird things in the middle of our yard…like two propane tanks…and old clothes lines. But in the evening it is very shaded so we decided to party in the back this year.
All that to say, your yard doesn’t have to be perfect to throw a party. With a few simple decorations you can turn your yard into the perfect spot for a backyard bar-b-que.
When I started thinking about Joel’s party I e-mailed
Heather to get some ideas. She is so sweet and helpful and has the BEST party ideas (and she is going to have a new baby any day now)! I told her what I was thinking and she suggested a “burlap and bbq” theme. Perfect. Here are the details:
1. Invitations: I made the invitations using photoshop elements and then e-mailed them out. I used free digital scrapbook paper I downloaded
here. The rest is just text boxes.
2. Decorations: I pretty much made everything using red gingham, burlap, jute twine, and red & white bakers twine. I purchased the fabric from JoAnns using 40% off coupons. The jute twine is from the dollar bin at Target and the bakers twine was from
here.
Pennant Bunting: Heather sent me
this idea and I decided to try to make something like it myself. (If you don’t want to make your own, the buntings in that etsy shop are super cute!) I made my bunting using 6 x 9 pennants of gingham and burlap. I zigzag stitched them right onto the jute twine leaving about 2 inches in between each one and enough twine to tie on each end. I am not sure if this is the best way to do this, but it worked for me. I was going to stencil letters on the burlap, but I ran out of time and added the gingham instead. I think it looked just as cute plain though.
Wreath: The wreath was made using an old wreath that I had in my basement. I wrapped strips of burlap around until the wreath form was covered. Then I wrapped bakers twine around the burlap. I printed out a “30” stitched it onto craft paper, punched two holes in it and tied it to the bottom of the wreath. I did this about 2 hours before the party. It took about 10 minutes. Super easy.
Lights: The lights were from Target in their outdoor/summer section. They were on sale last week!
3. Tables: We used two picnic tables that we had and borrowed the rest. I covered the tables with gingham and then cut a runner out of burlap to put down the middle of the tables. I didn’t sew any of it. In the center of each table I put a mason jar of hydrangeas that were cut from my mom’s bushes (thanks mom!).
4. Food:We served hamburgers (good thing we have so much meat!), potato salad, pasta salad, watermelon, and potato chips. My mom, mother-in-law, and grandma made all the salads. Apparently this person really liked potato chips! The silverware was wrapped with a red napkin and tied with bakers twine.
5. Drinks: We had lemonade and water in drink coolers that we borrowed. I wrapped a piece of burlap around each cooler and tied on a sign. We also had IBC root beer (or sugar beer as my niece calls it) and pepsi (both are Joel’s favorites). We put a lemon and a red straw in each mason jar. The mason jars were ones that I had from previous years of canning and a few extra borrowed from my mother-in-law. The straws were from a pack I had picked up at IKEA a few years ago.
6. Ice Cream Bar: We had homemade vanilla ice cream made by my sisters-in-law and Ruth. It is SO yummy. I would give you the recipe, but it is one of those family recipes that isn’t really an “exact” recipe. We use a White Mountain ice cream freezer. The toppings were sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, mini m & m’s, peaches, and chocolate sauce.
Heather also suggested homemade bbq sauce in little mason jars with custom labels for party favors. We didn’t do that, but it would be really cute!
I pretty much made everything and decorated the day of the party. I couldn’t have done it without the help of my sister and brother-in-law though. Thanks guys! Joel helped lots too. I really didn’t want him to have to work for his own party, but I really needed him! :o)
There you go. Now go plan your backyard bar-b-que! Unless you live in Kansas. It is way too hot here to have a backyard bar-b-que right now! Maybe I will start planning a fall party. Fall weather sounds so nice.
Rach - LOL! Too funny. Such cute pictures!
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Micah - We have had a terrible time with flies lately!! My 3 year old is better at killing them than I am ;). I just love to see Levi’s monster legs sticking out from under that walker – that is just too much ;).
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The Tesdalls - That is adorable!!:)
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The Schilling's from Cimarron - This post is cute! Jaylee got a hold of the fly swatter the other day and chased BLAKE with it! ahaha Never a dull moment at our house! miss you lots! have a great week! 🙂
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Lauren - HAHA! Love it, sooo cute!!! 🙂
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Everday Edwards - What a cutie! Looks like he’s a big helper! :o)
Jaimi
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eeguiltner - These pictures remind me of our Weston. He used to run through the house with a fly swatter in each hand. One of his favorite games!
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Mrs. Southern - Levi is so cute! I really like the walker thing he is in, I had such a hard time finding one that I liked that I never got one but might have to look that brand up. So funny that the dog just puts up with whatever Levi does, at least that’s a good sign of what’s to come with your all boy!
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purejoy - man… that levi is looking like your hubby!!
sucking on a fly swatter… eeeeewww!!
he is just too cute and love him and the dog… they’ll be best friends.
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Anonymous - Your post made me smile today 🙂
Kim
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The Moffats - He is so stinkin cute. love that boy.
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Michelle - Such a beautiful dog. Our little boys sleep with our dog, they were instant best buddies.
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Amanda - We have a really bad fly problem too right now! It is easily solved by giving all 4 children fly swatters and setting them loose. They love it…is that weird??
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Andrea - Hehe. I had a good giggle at that. I also got a kick out of seeing that baby walker. We can’t get them in Canada so you don’t see them in friends photos. I love his chubby legs scooting around in the walker. So cute!
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Rob and Andrea - Hi Jess! I have been following your blog for some time now and I absolutely love the items you have made for Cora’s ETSY shop. I recently found out that I am having a girl and am ready to shop! Could you let me know when you plan to restock the Cora’s shop so I can be ready to snag up some cute items when the time comes?? I really appreciate it and I thank you for sharing your life and family with us! 🙂
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Stef - CUTE!! I love that he looks so manly with that swatter 🙂
Also, thanks for writing down the paint colors!
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Melanie Martini - I love your blog! Every entry makes me smile. 🙂 Thank you for sharing the color and brand of paint you used in your home. I’m really looking forward to getting some new ‘color’ in my home and this might just be the ticket! Thanks again.
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Robin in Benton - Your pictures of Levi and stories always give me a smile – one that was badly needed today!
Blessings to all of you!
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Nancy - He couldn’t be any cuter!!
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Sheryl from Colorado - Hi there….
Just enjoying your blog…thanks. i want to know what kind of running shoes you have? I don’t like to run but want to so I need some advice on shoes….thanks a bunch!
Sheryl
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Mory - Totally random thought on flies. I read something online that is suppose to help with flies. (We live in Montana so don’t have a/c and the kids are always out in the back, so doors are left open all the time for ventilation and to keep tabs on the kiddos – anyway). I tried it and it looks crazy but it works. Instead of 27 flies in the house at the end of the day, there are only 2, maybe 3. I had a friend over recently and she said it was the strangest thing, she watched 2 different flies come in, fly around for a few seconds and then fly back out. Give it a try….get 5 or 6 pennies and put in a ziplock bag. Add about an inch or two of water and then tack the bags up around the door posts. I just started with one up above but now I have one up above and one about eye level on either side of the doorway, on the outside. I can’t remember how it works, something along the lines of the flies see the magnified pennies and it scares them….anyway, it works for Montana flies. Another thing I do, when it starts getting darker earlier and want the flies gone…is to turn out the inside lights, turn on an outside light and open the door…flies always go toward the light. Just my 2 cents on flies….hope it works for you.
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