Brack's birthday is actually the first week in May. It was the first week of June before we could have his party. I wanted to at least get this post written the first week in July, but, oh well. You get the idea.
We were pushing it with the weather in early June, but Brack decided he wanted to camp out in the backyard for his 12th birthday. We have had a wet, and for the most part, cooler summer, so it all worked out OK!
In fact, I think the weekend of his party was when the wet weather first settled over our area. I decided to keep the food inside, but they did sleep outdoors! Luckily, the weather held.
The chalkboard above is one I've used many times. Even though it's white, I didn't think it was "girly". I literally pulled the bug spray off the shelf in the garage as I was setting the table! I did wipe it down a little! I sent Brack out to pick up pine cones for me that afternoon. (Keeping the yard and flowerbeds pine cone free is one of his jobs. And a never ending one, at that!)
I began my tablescape with a couple of my black tablecloths. I used two because they're not quite big enough for my dining room table. I found the PERFECT red plaid fabric on the remnant table at Hobby Lobby. Didn't even hem it...
The light's not great, but here's a look at the whole table.
I bought aluminum pie-plates at Dollar Tree for us to eat on! The yellow napkins, also from Dollar Tree, pick up the yellow in the red plaid tablecloth.
I make really good baked beans, but I start with a canned bean. When I was making them, I kept a can for the forks. I carefully rinsed and dried it. Pretty cute, huh?!
The pie plates are three for $1. Can't beat it! I've used them to serve build-your-own-nachos, too.
Usually I cook my baked beans in the oven, but I made them on the stove in my Dutch oven this time. They went straight from the stove to the table!
The cute wood chips came from Hobby Lobby. They were less than $5 a bag. Don't forget your 40% off coupon!
"Wood Chips" were served in an aluminum casserole tray, also from Dollar Tree.
TIP - I keep lots of these aluminum containers on hand. They're great for making casseroles ahead of time to freeze for when you need to take food to someone at the last minute. They're cheap, disposable, and they come in a million sizes.
So maybe this is a little "sappy", but what else would you serve with wood chips? This is the simple chip dip I served at Mother's Day. You've probably got the ingredients on hand!
To cover all my bases, I made smoky sliders and pigs in sleeping bags. The sliders are ground beef seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and Montreal steak seasoning. Brack doesn't like the sweetness of an Hawaiian roll, so I found these little slider buns by Pepperidge Farm. They're a lot like a dinner roll.
Costco's all-beef wieners are our favorite. I wrapped them in a crescent roll and baked them at 375 until they were warmed through and the crescent roll was golden brown.
I pulled out a thermos and a coffee percolator for looks, but I actually served my "souped up" Countrytime lemonade and Bug Juice punch. More on that later.
I laid out the makings for Smore's, of course, and we had them later that night.
I found these cute and colorful (and amazingly bright!) flashlights on Amazon. Each boy got one to use and then take home.
What's a campout without classic oil lanterns? They helped to authenticate my tablescape. Well, them and all the fun plastic bugs from Dollar Tree. I mean, it's not a campout until someone gets bitten, right?
Ever helpful, Possum stood guard as I set up my tablescape.
These boys were so sweet and they had a blast! Between outdoor Nerf wars, and playing Zombie Apocalypse tag, they stayed busy just about all night. I'm so glad Brack is blessed with such good friends!
I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!
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