I went low key for my birthday this year and decided to do a BBQ at my parent’s cabin for just family and close friends. What better theme could work better than a picnic theme but it seemed lackluster to just stick with the classic red gingham. While I was mulling over it, one day Brielle and I were taking a walk and she found this huge ant pile on the sidewalk. She was totally enamored by them and suddenly the inspiration hit me! Ants and picnics…of course!
I really just decorated the tables so everything was quick and cheap to set up. I found some amazingly cheap gingham fabric for runners and added those on top of plain white tablecloths. The next layer were place settings. I found gingham dinner plates, black dessert plates and the ant napkins on Amazon (they’re sold out or I’d link them) I LOVE layering place settings. I feel like it adds an elevated sense of the theme but it’s such a simple thing to do
Next up were centerpieces. I alternated tables with centerpieces so I had 3 tables of each centerpiece which added extra interest and kept the cost down as well. I bought these huge ants that were the perfect size to adhere Brielle’s play food to their backs. It ended up looking SO dang cute having them carting food away. I used heavy duty glue dots to attach the food.
The other centerpieces were these wooden boxes that I had Scott make for me. I painted them white, added moss and red daisies from the Dollar Store and they were done!
I tucked in ants around the food table…no pictures because the table was nothing inspirational, just a bunch of mismatched bowls, opened bags of chips and a big crockpot full of French Dip meat and juice. For dessert my MIL made my favorite texas sheet cake and my mom made these darling sugar cookie bars, which went perfectly with the theme since I had left over ants
Sometimes the best parties are the ones that require little effort but result in BIG results, especially when they’re full of the people you love the most!
