Summer Entertaining Ideas
Posted on June 20, 2005 2 Comments
As the weather heats up outside, retailers offer a bevy of products to throw fun, easy summer gatherings. Before you stock up at Crate & Barrel, here are a few cheaper ideas for summer entertaining:
1) Float the Party. If your building has a pool, or if you live near a river that allows this sort of thing, pick up a Coleman cooler raft for only $10 (relax, if you don’t have a cooler, someone in your group will!), (http://www.coleman.com/Coleman/images/PhotoLib/CoolerFloat.jpg), pick up a few floats like Economats from The Pool Toy Store (www.thepooltoystore.com) for about $3.50 each (they’re buy one, get one free right now) , grab some cheap sunscreen from Wal-mart and you’ve got a floating party.
Oh yeah. Drink, sun and float responsibly.
2) Have a picnic. When paper/plastic utensils won’t do, Pier 1 (www.pierone.com) has durable, colorful party/picnic supplies. If you have a nice backyard, these are also great everyday outdoor supplies. The butterfly stackables are currently on sale (for instance, the tumblers are $3.20 for four right now, while the bowls are $4 for four). They hold up well in the dishwasher, too – in fact, I bought these last summer and now use them as my everyday plastic cups. They’re way cheaper than Tupperware.
Pick up some butterfly straws while you’re there ($1.60 for 24), then head to your local TJ Maxx and raid the garden department for incense candles and paper lanterns. If you can’t find the lanterns there, you can also look online at www.pearlriver.com.
If you insist on having a centerpiece, find a vase that you already own and fill it with tightly packed fresh-cut tulips, which you can get at your local florist relatively cheap.
As for food, you’re on your own. I’d stick with the potluck concept and save yourself the trouble!
3. Get inspired. Check out the budget boards at Budget Living Magazine for lots of ideas and entertaining tips (http://www.budgetlivingmedia.com/boards/viewforum.php?f=5).
4. Reconnect. Have your aunts, sisters, girl cousins and nieces over for a mid-summer gathering. Use an E-vite to save money on invitations. Serve home-made cupcakes (with pink frosting and sprinkles, of course!), strawberry ice-cream and Shirley Temples. Watch “A Little Princess” (1995) and then play hopscotch.
5. Host a wine tasting party. Friends in town? Have everyone bring a bottle of different wine (Should not be expensive! My favorite wines cost less than $10 per bottle), then head over to Trader Joe’s or your neighborhood grocery store to pick up some cheese.
If you have time to plan ahead, assign a type of wine to each person and then buy the accompanying cheese yourself (check pairings at http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/cpairing.htm). Use index cards to write a bit about each wine and cheese so your guests know what they’re trying.
Feel free to share your bargain party-planning ideas.
In general, you don’t need to spend tons of money to entertain your friends and family. They’ll love you no matter how elaborate your centerpiece is. And for those of you bemoaning the costs of $4 party rafts and pool floats, remember, life is about more than just sitting on your couch, at least, that’s my take on it.
During the beautiful summer, the majority of us don’t need to spend money on flights and vacations running away to warmer climates. The best times can often be found in our own back yards. It just takes a bit of creativity and some advanced planning to get the most of the season.
Category: Life
Tags: parties
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2 Responses to “Summer Entertaining Ideas”
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June 24th, 2005 @ 6:37 pm
Actually, if you’re going to Trader Joe’s, pick up some “Two Buck Chuck.” Charles Shaw sells exclusively in Trader Joe’s stores and they make a merlot, cab, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc ranging in price from $1.99 – $3.39. Check it out. I enjoy the merlot, haven’t tried the other three. If nothing else, worth trying out to see if it could become a low cost alternative in the future.
July 9th, 2009 @ 1:22 pm
ice cream social. I hear these go over very well and it's def. not going to sink your budget. make it family friendly and include some different "Sprinkle" options for the kids to make their own. comb the dollar stores for these topping ideas.