It’s been so long since I’ve been here with you!  I’ve been doing a little traveling, gearing up for a baby, house projects, and settling into summer.  This month my daughter is in a preschool summer camp, so I’m hoping to be here with you a lot more!

Let’s kick off summer together with some summer party inspiration shall we?  Don’t you just love summer?  I think casual get togethers that last longer into the night are so fun and create that special memory of summer.  Give any of these parties a try and put your backyard to use.  Here’s a round up of inspiration to get you started.

Picnic Party

I love the idea of doing a mid-day playdate picnic party.  Invite all the friends over for a backyard picnic.  You’ll be amazed at how much less of a struggle it is to get kids to eat when having a picnic outside.  Here are some great ideas and inspiration to host this red an white gingham filled party.

via Mind My Beeswax

Theme ideas:

• Use a red and white gingham paper as your invitation
• Package food in individual boxes for each guest.  Wrap in red and white twine to tie into
• Ask everyone to bring a picnic friendly food (that way it’s less work for the host)
• Have kids make an ant themed craft project

Use to go boxes for individual picnic lunches. via Paper Mart

via Etsy

Backyard Field Day

The kids don’t get to have all the fun during summer!  If you don’t have kids, I highly recommend hosting an adult only field day.  The biggest tip to make this party go smoothly is to be organized and put one person in charge.  The person in charge should be a neutral party so there isn’t any favoritism.  Here’s how to host this fun, competitive summer party:

• Organize guests into teams
• Have them compete against each other with backyard games and classic field day competitions
• Have the neutral party or referee keep track of points to see which team wins at the end of the party
• Award prizes to the winning team
• Be sure to provide refreshments to keep your competitors fueled up.  I’m sure adding a summer cocktail will make things even more interesting!

I love this blog post from The Creative Bite.  The games they used for their family Olympics would be perfect for an adult field day party.

via The Creative Bite

Camping Sleepover Party

This is such a great idea for summer time when the weather is warmer and the sun stays up until 9 pm.  If you have a kid’s birthday in the summer, try a camping sleepover birthday party.  Kids will think they are so cool sleeping outside in the yard in tents.  A few pointers to hosting a camping sleepover party:

• Set up tents with plenty of blankets, cushions, and pillows
• Provide some late night activities for guests like telescopes for star gazing or flash lights for ghost stories and shadow puppets
• I’m pretty sure that s’mores are a requirement for a camping sleepover party.  Be sure to stock up on chocolate and marshmallows, then break out the fire pit.

via Little Greenwoods

I hope these three fun Summer party ideas will get your creative juices flowing and help to put your backyard to use.  Which party do you want to try?  What’s your favorite way to celebrate summer?