Patriotic Picnic

As a blogger, I celebrate holidays early. It actually goes perfectly with my personality because I tend to dream, project and plan waaay ahead anyway. Always have. On Mondays, I’m thinking about Fridays, Winter, I’m looking forward to Spring and by 11am, dreaming of dinner… and dessert.

It’s no wonder I started thinking about the 4th of July in April, shopping in May and just celebrated in June. By the time the actual holiday or event rolls around, I’m over it and on to the next. Some say sad, I say it actually allows my insane brain to relax and be in the moment, for a minute. Until I get a vision for back to school, say, and then the hamster wheel resumes.

Much to Zach’s delight, I’m feeling low key this year and decided, in lieu of a big ole party, I’d do a simple family picnic, which was so much less stress, more economical and, in many respects, much more fun. And it was truly a family affair. Lilly made the cupcakes, my mom, who was visiting a few days before helped me run some last minute errands, baked the corn bread and helped with the cookies and Zach, well, he asked what he had to wear, complained a bit and lugged everything to the park. 🙂

I used star cutters, left over from Lilly’s birthday party, on watermelon and apples and then just sprinkled in some blueberries. Note: I kept them all separate (and squirted the apples with lemon juice so they wouldn’t brown) until the time of the picnic.

I lost my beloved white tray that I’ve covered and used at many parties (Valentine’s, pumpkins, mimosas) at this party so when I found this American flag one, I knew I had to have it. I can use it for Memorial Day, July Fourth, Labor Day… and then cover it for other events.

I love the idea of taking sandwiches and individually wrapping them in different fine papers adding an extra special touch. I found these cute crab, dot and star sheets from one of my all-time favorite stores and just cut them into small squares and taped them.

The cupcake liners (similar styles here, here and here) and toppers kicked Lilly’s treats up a notch too.

We made the cornbread (so easy!), cupcakes (boxed!) and ice cream sandwiches (cookies were slice and bake!) the day before. The morning of, I cut up the fruit and picked up the fried chicken and sandwiches right before because I’m not sitting in a hot kitchen frying up chicken and preparing sandwiches. I’m all about the half-homemade, half-store bought. The event and details are still filled with love but you’re still (somewhat) sane. Make. It. Easy. On. Yourself.

Instead of a blanket I chose this chic square (!) towel which is huge, has plenty of room for everything, most importantly, the food, is absorbent in the event of spills and when your hands get messy, you just wipe. No napkins needed! Afterwards, you wash. Sooo simple.

And then it was time to dig in. Someone tried to start with dessert. Can’t say I blame her.

I added berries to some sparkling water for a little pop. Serving things in champagne flutes is more fun. When they’re disposable, even better!

The best part? The playground is in the same location so we could take a break and run off some full stomachs before sweets.

Dessert and some silly family selfies on the next page.