There’s “Snow” Place Like Home For the Holidays

Planning an Outdoor Holiday Celebration can be tricky, but I’ve got some great tips on how to pull off a successful party!

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An Outdoor Holiday Celebration! Doesn’t that sound like a lot of fun!   I’d love to share a few simple tips on planning an outdoor holiday celebration!  

Today, I am joining together with eleven of my friends to share an abundance of Holiday ideas!  From recipes to decorating ideas to tablescapes and more, I am sure you will find ideas and inspiration for your holiday celebration! 

Welcome to the first Fabulous Friday Link Party Blog Hop. The Fabulous Friday Link Party is a place for bloggers to link their best posts every Friday and potentially get featured the following week. The Link Party has now extended its presence to some bloggers who link up regularly. Today the 6 Hosts have asked 6 Talented Bloggers to join their 1st Fabulous Friday Blog Hop.

Follow along to see all of the amazing Christmas Entertaining Inspiration. All the links to the Hosts and their Featured Blogger Friends are at the end of the blog.

Before we get started:

No matter how you arrived here today, whether you are one of my regular readers or you “hopped” over from one of my blogger friends participating in today’s hop, I am so glad you are here!  My name is Kimberly and I have a passion for flowers (a former florist) and flour (a former pizzeria owner) and many things in between!  Especially rusty and chippy items!

I love to share all the things I have learned over the years.  Sometimes I tell stories about my life.  Other times, I will share a craft, decorating tips or a recipe. I hope you enjoy your thyme here today and learn at least one thing during your visit!

Hopefully by the time you are finished reading, you will feel less like this:

and more like this:

Let’s Get The Party Started!

There really is “snow” place like home! When I was growing up, my Mom held an open house every Christmas Eve.   The party would start at 6 in the morning with biscuits and gravy and end sometime in the late evening.  People would come and go all day.  In addition to the Christmas Holidays, we were also celebrating my Dad’s Christmas Eve birthday!

Even as small child, I knew that one day I would want to entertain just like my Mom!  Here I am, asking Santa for my very own outdoor area where I could hold family holidays when I was a grown up! 

Santa Has Green Eyes Just Like My Daddy

My Christmas wish was to have an outdoor space where my friends and family could relax and celebrate the season. I also gave Santa a list of all of my Holiday Decorating & Entertaining Essentials in order to have the perfect Outdoor Holiday Celebration!

Planning an Outdoor Holiday Celebration

My project involves taking the inside Holiday Celebration/gathering outdoors to the family’s porch, patio, lanai using a cozy Holiday theme.

If you live in a warm climate, like I do, it will be fairly simple to have your celebration outdoors.  But don’t be discouraged if you live in colder climates.  Have plenty of cozy blankets or throws to help keep your guests toasty warm.  A fire pit or an outdoor heater can also help keep your guests warm. 

I like to use a snowman theme accented with snowflakes for my Holiday decorations.  By using snowmen and snowflakes, my Outdoor Holiday Celebration could be held anytime from right after Thanksgiving thru the New Year.

How to Create a Christmas European Dish Garden with Gingerbread Accents

Snowflake Wishes & Gingerbread Kisses Holiday Dough Bowl

How to Decorate a Dough Bowl for Christmas

Food & Beverage Ideas

I plan to set up a Hot Cocoa and Cider drink station on a rolling potting bench.  My favorite Hot Chocolate Recipe can be found here: Kim’s Chocolate Sauce

Cranberry Mulling Spices make a delicious hot drink.  I sometimes like to package up extra mulling spices and send them home with my guests as a Holiday favor. 

Cranberry Mulling Spices

A selection of charcuterie boards can help make your Holiday entertaining so much easier!  I like to have a variety of sizes and shapes on hand to add interest.

A selection of fruit and cheese trays as well as cookie trays help keep the menu simple. 

I kept the menu simple for this Holiday Open House.  If you are looking for a menu with heartier foods, please see my post Cajun Inspired Christmas Eve Buffet

Quick Tips For Decorating Your Outdoor Living Area

If you have been following me for a while, you might know that I may have a fondness for accent pillows!  It has gotten to the point that I am running out of places to store my out of season accent pillows!  Pillow covers are the perfect solution! Instead of purchasing new accent pillows for each season or whenever I want to change my color scheme or theme of a room, I can simply purchase new pillow covers.

WHAT IS A PILLOW COVER?

Most of you probably are familiar with pillow covers but in case you aren’t let me describe them for you!  They are like a heavier pillow case with a zipper.  Pillow covers allow you to change the look of your accent pillow with just a tug of a zipper! Just like magic!

 

I ordered these Retro themed Holiday pillow covers from Amazon on a Tuesday and they arrived the next day.  I hadn’t planned to refresh the lanai at that particular moment but when I saw how adorable they were, I grabbed the pillow covers, a few things for a tabletop centerpiece and raced out to the lanai!

 

These pillow covers are actually meant to be used indoors.  To help them weather the outdoor conditions, I keep them under the roof part of the lanai .  I also sprayed them with fabric protector. A word of caution when purchasing pillow covers.  Be sure the check the size of the covers against the size of your pillows.  Covers and pillows come in different sizes and you want to be sure the covers will fit your pillows.  The pillow covers I purchased are 18 x 18.

LESS THAN 30 MINUTES LATER

I went from  this: to this:

 

I changed out the wicker coffee table centerpiece in no time.  I used a pine garland and some red berry picks that I have had for quite a while. If the lantern looks familiar, it is because I have used it before .  I originally shared it in this post: The Evolution of the Lanai at the Florida House The lantern works well inside as well as outside.  I love the iridescence of the globe!

Thanks for stopping by today for some easy tips on Planning an Outdoor Holiday Celebration !

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A FEW SHOPPING LINKS:

My very favorite Battery Snowman Candles!

If you are interested in purchasing some pillow covers, here is a link to the red ones I bought. 

The Retro ones I purchased are no longer available but these are similar! And they come with a set of 4 Holiday coasters!

There are hundreds of options to choose from!  Just remember to check the size of the cover to make sure it will work with your pillows.  The ones I bought fit 18 x 18 pillows.

If you need inserts, I have purchased some like these 

You might want to purchase some fabric protector too to help protect your covers from the elements

Cozy throw

This adorable Snowman Charcuterie Board is still available!  I have one just like it!

The Party Continues!  Click on the links under the pictures and you will be redirected to more Holiday inspiration!

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. The opinions here are all my own. It helps me to continue to bring to you DIY and projects on my blog.