Today I want to welcome Barbara from
The Treasured Home. She is here to write about some great July 4th decorating and hosting ideas, and I can't thank her enough for this wonderful guest post. Please go visit her here (but then come back and read this post!)
First of all, a big "thank you" to the beautiful and talented (gotta butter up the star, you know!) Stacy, for letting me guest post here, at Conspicuous Style! This is one busy woman! I absolutely don't know how moms with little kids, jobs, blogs, volunteer work...do all that they do! Hats off to mothers of little ones! Take the day off, Stacy! I've got it covered! :) We're getting ready for a backyard 4th of July Barbecue, and I thought I'd share some of my plans and ideas. What actually
happens may be something else entirely, but my heart's in the right place! First of all, I want to create a festive, comfortable, enjoy yourself kind of party. There will be plenty of comfortable seating outdoors, and some fun music. While I don't usually go crazy with theme decorations, I have had some fun with my glue gun lately. You'll find directions for this banner
here and fun cone wreath
here.
If you want to have more fun than glue and paper should allow, I highly recommend making some pinwheels, to hang from the trees. I've got them on my to-do list!
I've found that this is a real get-out-of-town holiday, so I'm sure we won't have a big group. I sent out "save the date" notes a week or so ago, and know that lots of friends already have commitments. (likely story!) As soon as guests arrive, I like to get a drink in their hand, or at least point them in the right direction. I think we'll offer several choices, with and without alcohol. (I don't want anyone skinning their knees, on the walk home!). My friend Moka, makes a mean Sangria and hopefully he'll help me put a batch together. Then, there'll be iced tea and some sodas and waters on hand.
For me, since I'm not a
professional, I like to have
everything done ahead of time. While I envy the casual, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pans entertainer, that's just not me! So, I make a list of what can be done a week before, a few days before, the morning of, etc., and have everything, plated or at least bagged with all the serving trays and serving utensils I'll need selected ahead of time. I do just about everything buffet, so I'll arrange the trays as I want them and then just fill them at the appropriate time, if not already done. Generally, the only thing that has to be done last minute is grill the meat. Now, unless you've been living under a rock for some time, you know about Pinterest. Well, I've always limited my time on the site to design related items. Whoa! Have you checked into the food/recipes? Oh-my-gosh! Where have I been?
It's where I found these beautiful images, many of which include the recipes!
You can never go wrong with a variety of salads, vegetables, dips, chips, grilled meats, burgers or hot dogs.
Since I have an insatiable sweet tooth, you can bet I won't forget dessert! I make a pretty good brownie, I've been told
Now, come to think of it, why have brownies, without some vanilla ice cream?
Now, that's better! Just a couple of other points... If friends offer to bring something, say "yes, thank you!" and most important of all,
relax! If you're relaxed, your friends will be relaxed and the world will be a better place! Thanks again Stacy, for the opportunity to be here and meet all your friends!
Thank you so much for this lovely post Barbara! I love the pinwheels and am going to try them with my daughter...no promises on how they'll come out though.
Thanks for reading!!
I hope you'll visit my store for Rugs, Lighting, Art, Furniture and more:
