Sunday, June 26, 2011

Lady Bug Picnic

Nothing screams summer like a beautiful summer day picnic.  Of course, you always have a bug or two buzzing around or climbing onto the blanket, trying to get a taste of the wonderful delights you have cooked up.  So I decided that this picnic is dedicated to those lovely little critters who I find adorable in serving dishes, food, and pillows, but would prefer to eat without.  Welcome to the Love Bug Picnic!
To set the scene: I laid a bright colored table cloth on the ground with a gingham black and white runner with little lady bugs stitched into it for our "blanket."  Then I tied a rope from tree to tree and put a table cloth in coordinating colors and used clothes pins to pin it up and give it a more playful look.  Next, I set the stage placing all the food items around the blanket.  Throwing the adorable LADY BUG pillows on the ground, and placing the cute Popcorn holder and sign at the edge. Now that the table is set, lets talk about the food!


 The basket of Retro Cherry Limeade Ingredients was a fun gift from my friend Andrea at "Its The Life." I have linked you HERE to her blog so you can have the How To on how to make it! Look up the Coca Cola one too, its just as cute!

The CUPCAKES were Cherry Cordial Cupcakes with a darling sugar lady bug on top.  The SLIDDERS were Lady Bug Slidders with an All American burger inside.  For the sides I had Little Lady Fruit Skewers, perfect for any little guy or girl to eat.  Veggie fries that I wrapped in Newspaper and sliced thin to look like fries.  I used carrots, celery, and Jicama.  
 I love the look of Milk Glass, but its hard to find these days.  I did however, find some "Not Milk Glass" replicas and just had to use them for the picnic.  The glasses were filled with Cherry Limeade, and the bowls had Cherries and fresh cut french fries for the little guys who just cant stand the veggies!
The bug dishes were filled with different dips.  The Ant had Ranch with Cayenne pepper for the veggies. The bee carried Fruit dip for the fruit skewers, since they are sweet like honey!  The three leaf sauce tray held all the dippings for the slidders with mustard, ketchup, and a Utah favorite, Fry Sauce.  Which is just mayo and ketchup combined, cant eat a fry without it!
'Bugs Eye" View of the Picnic
 A List of Purchases:
TJ Maxx- Bee and Ant Sauce Dishes, Ant salt and Pepper Shaker, Lady Bug Lights.
Tai Pan Trading Company- Gingham black and white ant table runner. Colored Popcorn.
Pier 1- Clearance green and white ladybug dish and the cute matching trio sauce dish.
Thrift Store- The cute "not milk glass" cups and pedestal bowls. The green plates, and the square plates were also a thrift store find.
World Mart- Popcorn containers, news paper wraps.
Orson Gigi- Red Straws, and Ant 



Recipes for this party will be posted in two weeks...

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

4th of July Party, Vintage Style!

 Nothing makes me tingle more inside than seeing the stores turn their seasonal merchandise to REDWHITE,& BLUE!  I can almost smell the scent of BBQ's wafting through the air. I rewind
to childhood memories of curling up on my Grandmother's quilt on a shady patch of lawn in Provo and watching the annual 4th of July parade. I watched for the prettiest costumes and my favorite float ,
while we busied ourselves throwing SNAPS at the ground while waiting for the next float to come by.  That night we would set up a DESSERT TABLE and gather the neighbors together, spread our blankets and lawn chairs on adjoining yards and thrill to the Cul-De-Sac of FIRE! Everyone combined both treats and fireworks to make the night a festive affair. We even adapted our own theme song from the local Stadium of Fire song. 
In loving memory of those good ol' CHILDHOOD days,before we all grew up and moved on, I decided to create a vintage style 4th of July celebration. Apart from the typical, this party was  
inspired by great yard and thrift store sale finds.


To start off with I adorned the table with my antique bobbin find from a yard sale.  The bright red napkin was folded to create a torch effect and then pushed into the top of the bobbin. In honor of our Lady LIBERTY!
An antique styled red bucket holds a brilliant red and white Dahlia. This FLOWERreminds me of a beautiful 4th of July FIREWORK bursting in the night sky. I love these flowers that spatter our yard with color and are usually in bloom during our summer BBQ's.

The blue and white plates are a favorite English village pattern, Old Stafford. They were an amazing full set THRIFT store find! They are placed here to remind me of my own English heritage and the beginnings of our own country which I am so grateful to be a
part of! The red SPARKLING dinner plates were a must have from World Mart. The beautiful blue goblets were my lucky DOLLAR store find. They went perfectly with the setting.  Each place setting had their own individual cherry red pie dish (dollar store). The pies were alternating cherry or blueberry with a stars or striped crust on top. How cute is that!

The fun STARS and STRIPES fanfare backdrop attached to the fence made the perfect backdrop for the festive dessert table.  The inspiration for this came from another fabulous yard sale find and it formed the setting for this party. The aged BLUE SCONCES were picked up for 3 dollars and turned sideways to frame the backdrop. I turned them on their side and nailed one towards the top of our fence. I painted a 3/4 dowel white and drilled a hole in the center of each end of the dowel. The sconces were meant to hold candles so they each had a spike in the center. I inserted the dowel onto the first nailed sconce and then onto the second sconce. I nailed the second sconce to the fence. The backdrop was a ROUND TABLECLOTH I found at Tai Pan Trading. I arranged it with folded corners and topped it off with ribbons and stars also from Tai Pan. I loved the effect.
The PARTY was on! The fitted denim buffet table cloth was also from Tai pan as was the draped table banner. The dinner table enjoyed checkered and rick rack place mats from Tuesday morning. All great finds.


Some of the DESSERTS were Red, White, & Blue Cupcakes, Cherry Pie Pops, Old Fashion suckers and Jaw breakers in Patriotic theme.  The SUGAR COOKIES were from SHIRLEYS Bakery. The DONUTS were from Krispy Kreme. I displayed the rice crispy treats in a tall glass vase to show off the fun colors and added a splash of stripped ribbon. The petite blue and red footed glasses held fresh blueberries for those who were avoiding the sweet temptations. 






Whats the 4th of July without ROOT BEER FLOATS! Since this celebration was a tribute to DAD as well, I picked up Dads Root beer in classic bottles and served the floats in Vintage style milk glasses with old fashioned paper straws. Then to capture the whole root beer float theme I made ROOT BEER FLOAT CUPCAKES with a root beer filling for the middle topped with a yummy vanilla Icing to mimick the ice cream on a root beer float. These were a party favorite.


The RED,WHITE,& BLUE CUPCAKES were a vanilla almond cupcake with a lemon frosting topped with red marzipan stars. The edges were striped with a sprinkle mix from Shirley's. Also yummy

 The DONUT TOWER TREE's on the dessert table came from an idea I had when I was staring at my mothers STAR shaped candle holders. They have been part of many celebrations for as long as I can remember. I often see them at thrift stores as well. I cut another 3/4 inch dowel into three varying lengths. I painted each one with white acrylic paint. I glued the dowels into the GLASS STARS with hot glue. They held well. I had purchased 3 cute bottle toppers at Pier One and I dug out the corks and hot glued the tops onto the dowel. I waited a short while and then popped them off and let them cool. This provided a good seal that I could pop on and off as the donuts were removed. They turned out so CUTE! Then I layered sprinkled donuts and crullers divided by cupcake holders for a festive feel! CELEBRATE!
For Recipes to this party click HERE!



This party was featured at Celebrations at Home, if you would like to see the link click HERE!