Bradley and I had friends over for a low country boil again this Memorial Day. I forgot to get the camera out once everyone got there and the food was cooked, but I can share the set up. I started building my cache of decor this year since we have been holding this every year for a while now. Previously, I just used a hodge-podge of summer-ish items. Now, it is more patriotic for a day that is about remembering what the service men and women do for our country.
I got the oblong blue chevron tablecloth and star swag from Hobby Lobby and the round red polka dot tablecloth from an online deal site called Zulily. I covered each of them with plastic tablecloth protectors (from Tuesday Morning) to keep from having to wash them. The Zak! melamine plates and bowls came from Tuesday Morning also. To take my gold NYE drink tub in a Memorial Day direction, I used a plastic tablecloth from Target to make a red polka dotted skirt for it.
I made the basket planter for the geranium by loosely following this tutorial. We got our outdoor burner set from Home Depot several years ago. The low country boil recipe we use can be found here. For dessert, I made my favorite homemade vanilla ice cream recipe (found here). And since no outdoor party is complete without a game, we set up the cornhole boards that I painted using this inspiration in UGA colors. I got my boards from Wayfair.
Around the gazebo, I hung a couple of paper buntings that I got from Old Time Pottery. Each year, I try to minimize the number of flies and mosquitos that visit our party using ideas I come across online. I use mesh food tents (from Dollar Tree and Old Time Pottery) to keep flies off the food table and citronella oil lamps to ward off mosquitos. Last year, I tried putting a penny in a hanging ziplock bag of water with no luck. This year, I added some plants that supposedly help, including marigolds and lemongrass. Also, I used some essential oils (peppermint and lavender) on sponges in mason jars that I read about here and placed a bowl of apple cider vinegar on the food table, which I read about here. I don’t know which idea/combination of ideas worked, but I wasn’t bothered by any bugs during the party.