Outdoor
Outdoor Party with Pier 1 Imports and a Giveaway
We cleaned up the backyard and patio from the last remnants of winter and planned for everyone to hang out outdoors and enjoy the sunshine. The backyard needed some new accessories to brighten it up a bit for the Summer. I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Pier 1 Imports. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and to thank me for participating. Partnering with Pier 1 Imports was fun because of their huge selection of outdoor products. I picked out some nice, neutral yet elegant products to compliment the relaxed vibe I’m going for in the backyard.
I didn’t want to go all out with the party decor because we want to keep with the casual, outdoor vibe. So I used my natural linen tablecloths and paired them with some recycled plates and napkins. Even the cups we used were made of corn plastic.
We kept the menu pretty simple with all finger foods: homemade sandwiches, an organic veggie platter with vegan sanctuary dip paired with rustic veggie chips, a fruit platter, some olive, nuts and a great cheese plate. We wrapped the sandwiches in butcher paper tied with twine and served them in this great metal tub. The sandwiches were turkey and monterey jack cheese, salami and cheddar and a veggie option with tomatoes, avocado and cucumber.
The flowers in vases are all from the backyard and are mostly nasturtiums. I even threw a couple of nasturtiums on the veggie platter since they’re edible and very tasty!
I made some cucumber, rosemary lemonade to drink. The weather was hot, hot, hot so this went fast. This beverage dispenser was also big a hit.
We set up a temporary bar on the Mr’s potting bench, which worked out perfectly 😉
For dessert Arden and I made some chocolate rosemary mini-cupcakes, decorated with tiny sprigs of rosemary.
We outfitted the patio with these new outdoor drapes and these great modern lanterns to dress it up a little bit. Almost reminds me of my favorite resort…almost 😉
This ceramic stool was a great addition to the lounging area. The perfect place to rest some nice cold lemonade.
And to top it all off we added this new pagoda-style umbrella in natural. It’s really quite a statement piece.
Oh and a couple of items for nighttime patio enjoyment: an umbrella light and remote and some flameless candles also controlled via remote, very cool, right? Can’t wait to test ’em out!
Now for a little giveaway, hosted by Pier 1. They’re giving one reader a $25 gift card to Pier 1. You can enter below using the Rafflecopter widget.
Serena and Lily Riviera French Bistro Chair
A more recent version of this post can be found here!
A Front Porch Update
Happy Cinco de Mayo! We’re having some hot days over here in the Northern California burbs. Spring, Summer and Fall are the seasons where it’s possible to extend your living space outdoors. These are the days where I can swap my desk, aka my trusty living room armchair, for a comfy chaise lounge outside instead. It’s pretty amazing, I try not to take it for granted. I feel very, very lucky, believe me!
Our backyard has some great spots to sit and relax, but I can’t say the same for our front yard. We have a little porch area with a small patio right outside our front door, but it was wasted space.
It’s not very welcoming, I must say. It’s pretty neglected looking with a couple of forgotten potted plants and the skeletal remains of some long ago rock garden. So for the Lowe’s Creative Ideas May challenge we decided to tackle curb appeal.
Now, there’s a whole lot I’d like to do to the exterior of our home, but baby-steps right? First things first, we cleaned up the porch area and brought in some furniture and accessories, most of which we already owned.
We had all of these succulent pots in the backyard and thought that we’d share the love a little and bring ’em front and center instead. Same with the bench and the blue kwid-esque throw pillows. We also bought this great white ceramic stool to use as a small side table.
Our little bird bath from the backyard joined the party out front as well. Once we had her placed in the little patio area its was very apparent that, that little space needed some loving care as well.
The Mr, being the gardener he is, took it all on one morning while I was sleeping in. I woke up and opened the front door to a bare dirt patio. Needless to say, I was pretty surprised. We were originally just planning to work around the plants already in place, since they’ve probably been there for 20+ years at least. So it definitely was a big surprise. I wish I had remembered to snap a pic of the demolition phase 😉
The Mr had a great idea of turning this little area into an herb garden. I jumped on board 100% because who wouldn’t love having easy access to fresh herbs all day, everyday. The kitchen is very close to the front porch; the window overlooking the porch is actually the kitchen window. So all in all, it was a fabulous idea.
We reused some stepping stones from different areas in our yard and made a cute little curving path ending in the birdbath. Then we hit up our local Lowe’s and bought the following plants for our new herb garden:
rosemary | sage | oregano | thyme | catmint
lavender | LAMBS EARS | dill | chives | marjoram | CILANTRo
PARSLEY | borage | 3 DIFFERENT KINDS OF BASIL
We found a pretty good sized rosemary bush, some Spanish Lavender and a catmint plant with pretty purple flowers.
We used three different kinds of basil plants: Green Basil, Thai Basil and Cinnamon Basil. A little Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme 😉 Ornamental blue sage as well as cooking sage.
We also used Creeping Thyme in between the stepping stones.
We couldn’t forget the Oregano, Dill, Marjoram and some Chives.
Oh and some Lambs Ears and Borage to add some texture and interest. In the blue pots on the porch are basil and thyme that the Mr started from seeds.
All in all, a pretty well-rounded herb selection, wouldn’t you say? I love how they all color-coordinate too! And we’ve already seen a couple of birds using the birdbath. So I’d say it’s pretty successful all around. This sure beats the old view I had from the kitchen window!
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Copy Cat Chic Giveaway | Rockwell BladeRunner and Sonicrafter X2
One lucky reader is going to win a Rockwell BladeRunner AND a Rockwell Sonicrafter X2. Together these tools make a huge impact on any DIYer’s arsenal. We have a few Rockwell tools in our line up over her at the Copy Cat Chic household, including the BladeRunner and Sonicrafter X2. They are so versatile and handy to use. You’ll love them. You can also find them in Lowe’s stores if you’d like to check them out in person.
The BladeRunner is a mix between a jigsaw and benchtop scroll saw and it’s very portable. And the Sonicrafter X2 is the most powerful and fastest cutting tool in the Rockwell line. So basically a lean, mean, little cutting machine 😉
I was given both of these tools to check out and use and I can highly recommend them. The Mr. is a fan too! In fact, we used both of these bad boys when putting together the succulent wall frames that I posted about a couple of weeks ago.
Speaking of, I was planning on showing you pictures of the mounted succulents, but no dice. We’re still waiting for some of the succulents to take root and we didn’t want to hang them and have them all fall out 😉 So you’ll have to wait a little bit longer for the completed pictures. One of these days!
Now back to the giveaway details! Enter to win using the Rafflecopter widget below. And a Happy Mother’s Day (week) to you!
Outdoor Succulent Wall
But THIS month we decided to create some fun outdoor art to enjoy this summer. We decided to create a succulent wall. I took my inspiration from my favorite local cafe, Bumble. Bumble has the most amazing succulent wall created by The Botanist.
via my Instagram |
via yelp |
Of course we aren’t going for one on such a grand scale, I think Bumble’s succulent frame is the size of our backyard patio. Well, pretty close 😉 We decided to tackle doing two 2ft x 2ft succulent frames.
We created, and when I saw “we” I mean, the Mr., a box from some left over cedar we had laying around from making our raised vegetable beds.
I’ll do another follow up post in a couple of weeks when they’re ready to be hung!
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Copy Cat Chic Giveaway | Worx Trivac and LeafPro Collection System
BEFORE
Pottery Barn Black and White Striped Chaise Cushion
Horne Luxembourg Arm Chair
Ralph Lauren Home Desert Modern Woven Cocktail Table