Summer/Outdoor Living
Inexpensive Items for Entertaining Outside
It’s that time of year again when we hose down the garden furniture and fire up the barbecue. Life has once again moved outside and that means entertaining alfresco.
For some, the idea of eating out of doors conjures up pictures of mosquito bites and flies in the potato salad. But just as many of us relish the thought of cold lemonade and a hamburger under a shady elm in our own modest patch of nature. You don’t need a lot of specially made picnic ware to do that but you can enhance the experience with a few inexpensive items from the dollar store.
Here are just some of the inexpensive items for entertaining outside that you can find at a dollar store.
BBQ Tools and Equipment
If you love to BBQ, always check the dollar store before you look anywhere else. You can find long-handled spatulas and other tools for cooking, as well as metal trays for grilling veggies or other foods that would otherwise fall through the grill.
This end cap also included tablecloth weights and clips, food covers and plastic trays designed to hold individual servings of food.
Dinnerware
Melamine is a good way to go for casual dining out of doors. You’re sure to find some melamine plates and acrylic glasses that you’ll love. You can get plates, glasses and trays in colourful patterns.
Melamine bowls and plastic juice jugs are also available at the dollar store. Using non-breakables for outdoor entertaining will give you that much less to worry about.
There are also a lot of different serving pieces at the dollar store. You can get large salad bowls, rectangular sectioned serving plates and fun shaped serving pieces.
Pretty trays and acrylic wine glasses add a touch of class to refreshing summer drinks like lemonade. Good quality paper napkins in pretty patterns are also available at the dollar store for a lot less than you’ll find in other stores.
Add Placemats
You can also find an assortment of place mats suitable for the outdoors. I recently found these straw placemats that would make an attractive addition to your patio table. Of course, dollar stores always have vinyl placemats in a variety of patterns that you can choose from at a lower price point.
Add a Centrepiece
If you are entertaining, you might want to add a centrepiece to your table setting. When it comes to summer decorating, simple and uncomplicated is a great way to go. What could be simpler or easier than a metal bucket full of daisies from your own garden? Fill the bottom of the pail with river rocks to anchor the flowers of your choice. If you have an extensive cutting garden, creating a casual bouquet is easy. Try mixed bouquets and different types of containers.
No cutting garden, no problem. Inexpensive bouquets from the grocery store will serve admirably. Use your creation as a table centrepiece or, if you prefer, make up several and set them around the yard where guests will be mingling. Even fake posies, set in an empty jam jar, will look lovely.
Nighttime Lighting
For nighttime entertaining, go for glow with candles and lanterns. From Chinese lanterns to solar stake lights to candles and candle holders, the dollar store has everything you need to help light up the night. And don’t forget to add citronella candles to your shopping list to help keep the bugs at bay.
Dollar stores have everything you need for eating and/or entertaining in the great outdoors.
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