Outdoor Summer Dinner Party

Besides blogging, one of our favorite things to do together is to host a great party full of delicious food, good company, and fun decorations. Since we bought our house last fall, I’ve been itching to throw an outdoor party on our spacious deck. With Sara and her family here visiting, and with it being our one year blog anniversary, we decided to throw a little outdoor summer party to celebrate. Usually we have things planned out several weeks in advanced, but besides our dinner menu everything else came together last minute.

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You might be wondering how we managed to pull this off with such a limited budget in such little time? Honesty, we were quite amazed ourselves, but in the end we were very pleased with the turnout. It was the perfect combination of fun and classy. The key to throwing together a nice dinner table layout with limited time and money is being creative and resourceful. Everything you see on the table, besides the white flower centerpieces and the aqua colored plates, were things we already owned that we used or re-purposed.

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I think what really made the table, were the fun ikat patterned chargers. And would you have guessed that we made them for under $2 a piece?! About a year ago Sara found a bunch of these gold charges at Goodwill for $1. They have truly been a great purchase as we have used them at several other occasions. For this outdoor summer party we wanted something a little more bright and playful, so we purchased some wrapping paper to cover them with. Below is a simple tutorial on how we did it.

First, trace around the charger on the back side of your wrapping paper, then cut it out. Make sure to cut the circle about 1/2 inch bigger than the actually size the of the plate. Since you only see the outside edge of the plate we decided to only cover the edges, in which case we measured and cut out the middle as well.

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Second. use spray adhesive to bond the paper to the plate.

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Flip the plate over and spray the excess paper with glue, then fold over to the underside of the plate.

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Lastly, spray a clear acrylic coating or sealant over the top for added durability and protection from food and water.

Allow each plate to dry before using, then add these fun new chargers to your table setting for some added color and interest.

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Linked To:

http://theblissfulbee.com/work-it-wednesday-no-55/

Share your Fun Creations – From Dream To Reality #125

http://www.bravenewhome.com/diyers-link-party-8/

http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com/2014/07/wow-me-wednesday-162.html

http://elizabethjoandesigns.com/2014/07/designs-time-no-18/

http://gracelangdon.blogspot.com/2014/07/making-monday-49.html

14 thoughts on “Outdoor Summer Dinner Party

  • Hanna
    Commented 10 years ago

    Thanks Emily! We really appreciate the feature!

  • Commented 10 years ago

    Your awesome project is being featured tomorrow at Your Designs This Time! Thanks for sharing with us.
    Emily & Erin

  • Hanna
    Commented 10 years ago

    Thanks Megan! We got the chalkboard clothespins at Target and then just pinned them to the twine we wrapped around the silverware. Super easy!

  • Commented 10 years ago

    This is such a pretty tablescape! I love the bold chargers and the chalkboard napkin rings!

  • Hanna
    Commented 10 years ago

    Thanks Emily! I’ve been LOVING my table! It’s been so nice to have a bigger table and one that looks nice too 🙂 You’re tutorial was awesome for making it!

  • Commented 10 years ago

    Hanna, your table looks awesome! Your did a great job on it! I am loving mine. How are you liking yours? Love the chargers too! Super cute!

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