Summer Birthday Barbecue!

Happy Monday!

How was your weekend? Our Saturday was busy, but in a good way. Let me fill you in...

My husband turned 40 earlier this spring, but we wanted to wait to do a party outside. The date was set & the guests were invited! 

The party date arrived. It was raining. Boo! 

We prayed over the weather & got to our party preparations anyway.

The menu was simple - we provided the hot dogs & burgers & we asked our friends to bring the side dishes. I just love a pot luck! Everyone makes their favourite dishes & it takes so much pressure off of the host family!

As I said, we had the party outside, so I wanted to add a bit of colour to our green backyard. :)

The rain stopped a couple of hours before the party started (ours prayers worked!), so we were able to get things "prettied up" in plenty of time.

Some lanterns with brightly coloured candles, paper lanterns, Off! bug lanterns (which work really well, by the way), my chevron tablecloth from HomeSense, topped with a vintage wire basket for napkins & paper plates, & some bright turquoise buckets held the plastic utensils. I brought out my yellow vintage step stool & we set up a drink station with it. 

The guests arrived & we had a wonderful meal with them. I didn't make the same mistake this year that I did last year: making blended drinks for our guests that had me running the blender all night! 

I made plenty of fruity iced tea (a berry blend from Steeped Tea), combined it with frozen lemonade concentrate & some Sprite to add a bit of fizz. It was a great punch that was easy to throw together as the night went on. I was actually able to sit & visit with friends instead of being in the kitchen all night! It also helped that my friend, Krysta, took on dishwashing duty towards the end of the party & cleaned up all the leftover food as well! Thanks, Krys! 

Instead of a birthday cake, I put together some of my sweet husband's favourite flavours - chocolate & peanut butter - & made a summer friendly (no turning on the stove!) trifle! Recipe coming soon - stay tuned!

It was a great party & my husband's 40th birthday was definitely celebrated in style! 

Thanks to all our friends for coming & celebrating with us!

Thanks for reading. If you like what you see here on Silver Boxes, I'd love it if you would become a follower on Google Friend Connect, subscribe by email (sign up on the right sidebar), 

or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

Insta-Friday #23, #24, #25

Another week of telling you the stories behind my Instagram photos! Three week's worth, this time! You may want to grab a coffee... ;)

Once our peonies started blooming it rained for days which means we didn't get a whole lot of time to enjoy them. In between the rain showers, I managed to get this shot.

After all the rain, the plants (and the weeds!) were growing profusely! And weeding was a super muddy job!

Skinny Strawberry Cream Fruit Dip

Summer is such a great time to fill your diet with fresh fruit. It's also a great option to have at a party or shower. Here's a great dip to include with your next fruit tray or just to have on hand for you & your family! 

It's low fat too so it's a guilt free treat!

Skinny Strawberry Fruit Dip

makes approx. 6 cups

2 envelopes Dream Whip or 4 cups low fat whipped topping

1 package strawberry jello mix

1 cup low fat strawberry yogurt 

Prepare Dream Whip according to package directions. In a separate bowl, prepare the jello  according to directions, but don't allow it to completely set. Only refrigerate for 45 minutes to an hour - until thickened, but still a liquid. Fold jello & strawberry yogurt into the whipped topping. Refrigerate for 2 more hours, until thickened. 

Serve with fruit. 

Note: If it gets runny, you can whip it for 2 minutes on high & it will bring it right back to life!

Enjoy the fruits of summer!

Thanks for reading. If you like what you see here on Silver Boxes, I'd love it if you would become a follower on Google Friend Connect, subscribe by email (sign up on the right sidebar), 

or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

Shopping Bag Turned Gift Bag

 I always enjoy walking out of a store with a paper shopping bag. Especially these lovely turquoise bags from David's Tea. 

Besides that fact that you're getting some retail therapy, they are also so easy to upcycle to a pretty gift bag!

Start with the shopping bag, glue or an adhesive runner, a pretty patterned paper, & some handmade tissue paper flowers. {Find my tutorial here!} 

This Way To Birthday Fun!

Well, after a little blogging break to get settled into summer, I'm back!

Taking a break always usually helps me think of some creative posts to share with you & get fired up for my next project. Breaks are good. They are needed. But it's good to be back.

What have you been up to so far this summer?

~~~

Here's a fun birthday card that perfectly suited to a summer birthday party!

Insta-Friday #22

It's time for Insta-Friday - the time of the week when you hear the stories behind this week's Instagram photos. 

Last Friday was the first day of summer holidays for the kids. Exciting stuff, right? Yes! We had plans to start our 3rd annual park tour & go for frozen yogurt on the beautiful, sunny day... Ya, that would have been great except that... it rained all day. Blah. 

Plan B: Watch an old Disney movie with hot chocolate (in Disney mugs) & giant marshmallows. 

So, that's what happened instead.

Sunday: Father's Day. We spent the day celebrating the dad's in our lives. And I finally got a photo taken with my dad (it's been years)!

One of our kid's favourite things to do with wrestle & tickle with Daddy. Silliness abounds.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Butter Topping

It's berry season - strawberries, blueberries, blackberries - they're all over the grocery stores. I'm looking forward to them being ready for harvest around Saskatchewan!

In the meantime, we buy them at the grocery store & make lots of favourite goodies... like these!

Doily Birthday Card {Echo Park}

In the last several days, it's been raining cats & dogs here in Saskatoon. Today was the first day of sunshine since last week. Because of all the rain, we've been stuck inside. We've been doing alot of reading, playing games, watching movies, & doing crafts. I even got some scrapbooking in, which I haven't done in a long time. 

Sunshiny summer days call for bright, summery colours! 

This was a very fast card, made with a bunch of paper scraps.

Insta-Friday #21

School's out for the summer!!

Woot, woot! We're all really excited around here. 

We have all kinds of fun plans, most of them to take place around here since we're not venturing away from home for very long this summer.

Today was supposed to kick off our 3rd annual park tour (simple idea, but really fun: visiting a different park every week, preferably one that we've never played at before), but it's pouring rain here so that plan will have to wait until the gloomy weather clears up. 

Instead, we'll do some reading, play some games, & maybe bake some cookies.

~~~~~

On to the look at our week via Instagram...

Last Friday consisted of a lot of shopping - groceries, plus a whole bunch of gifts for birthdays, teachers, & Father's Day.

Here's where I ended up for the Father's Day gifts...

I'd never been in by myself. I was a little overwhelmed, but I think I picked out some great gifts.

On Friday night we went out for supper with some good friends. The very fun, laughter-filled evening was topped off by peanut butter pie (which was amazing!).

Boys Room Reveal!

The day is finally here! 

After giving myself the challenge of completing my son, Parker's, bedroom makeover by the end of May, bit by bit I got projects done & this past weekend we were able to put on the finishing touches. 

Let me show you around! Come on in!

This yellow-with-black-trim room was how it looked when we moved here 6 years ago. And wasn't my little guy cute when he was just 4? I just want to kiss those cheeks! (He's still cute, btw!)

When we moved here, we painted his room & replaced the flooring, but that's about it. 

Pink Lemonade Cookies

Ahhh... Summer...

Sunshine.

Swimming in the pool.

Vacations.

Lemonade stands.

Did you ever have a lemonade stand as a kid? 

I did. We weren't very successful as we lived on a q-u-i-e-t street in a small town. Plus, we probably drank all the lemonade. That can't help, right?

Maybe if we had made some of these cookies to sell along with our lemonade, we would have had more success! ☺

Insta-Friday #18, #19, & #20 (The late edition!)

Welcome to Insta-Friday... the late edition! 

It's been a few weeks since I've done one of these posts, so I have alot of photos to share.

Let's dive in!

Spring has brought such amazing weather here & I've been going on lots of walks to take advantage of it.

Boy's Room Makeover (Part 3): The Window Valance

Part Three! 

I'm excited & thrilled with how my son's bedroom makeover is coming along!

Greek Style Grilled Pork Chop Meal

Barbecue season is here! Well, it's been here for awhile, but now that school is almost done, we are planning to have more time outside with friends.

And this is the perfect meal to prepare for nights like that!

Repurposing with Spray Paint

Earlier this spring, as soon as it was nice enough outside on a weekend, I gathered a bunch of my spray paint & thrifty items, as well as some things I had shopped from around my house.

Out I went & set up my driveway as Spray Painting Central!

Here's what happened that day...

Polka Dot Baby Card

Polka dots are all the rage, have you noticed? Geometric patterns are my fav so I'm loving the polka dots, stripes, & chevron that I'm seeing everywhere. 

I also enjoy bringing trends into my paper crafts as well...

Enter the polka dot baby card! A fun way to mix & match patterns too!

Strawberry Covered Chocolate Trifle

Happy Monday, friends! I hope those of you in the U.S. are having a great Memorial weekend.

Last week, we were invited over by some friends for supper - it was a fabulous night with lots of laughs, great conversation, & delicious food. My friend, Sarah, asked me if I would bring a dessert & I was happy to oblige! 

I did a twist on my Strawberries & Cream Trifle. Here's what I came up with...

Boy's Room Makeover (Part 2): The Dresser

My son's room makeover marches on!

Last week, I painted his beat up dresser a fun shade of orange...

Here is the war-torn dresser before...

(Complete with little boy hieroglyphics from years past.)

Insta-Friday #17

Welcome to Insta-Friday #17 - My week in pictures!

Last Friday, I had an errand to do downtown. I plugged my meter with an hour's worth of time & then finished my errand in about 10 minutes. So, I took the rest of the hour, & walked around downtown by the river, enjoying the wonderful weather & our beautiful city.

Saturday morning, I was up bright & early to go out to a town wide garage sale. This house had a ton of homemade baking for sale as well as fresh (she pulled them out of the frier while we watched), homemade donuts! My friend, Vanessa, & I couldn't resist trying them!

Button Baby Card

Is there anything more sweet than a new baby? I think God makes them so adorable so that we want to be around them & take care of them. :)

And because babies are so cute, we want the things around them & the things that celebrate them to be cute too!