backyard bar-b-que {the details)

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.