Backyardigans...

If there is anything I love more than the first day of summer, it's when daylight savings time starts this time of year.  Ever since the time change I have been DYING to dine outside in the evenings. Growing up we had a huge backyard complete with picnic table, hammock, sandbox and swing set.  Having my own large backyard now has been great, it's just needed a little love.  We had friends over a couple of Saturday nights ago, and I was determined to have dinner outside. So I improvised, used what I could find, and we dined under the stars.

I've been on a craigslist hunt lately for some backyard furniture, but instead of purchasing some, I ended up finding an old table that husband uses for his home and garden shows.  I didn't have a table cloth either, so I just used an old curtain from World Market that I forgot to return.  Turns out I would use it!

I also dug around our backyard and found some old rusted up tiki torches that I re-filled.  Added great ambiance to the patio. 

I picked up some cute lanterns at a thrift store a while back and never got around to painting them.  I spray painted these lime green to match our little charcoal grill.
                                      

Before & After 

And he's our little charcoal grill that we have already been putting to good use

Used the left over Christmas lights from our wedding and strung them up between the house and trees...

I also wanted to add a small touch of home along with adding more candles outside.  Roomie gifted me with this awesome antique vintage window for Christmas this past year.  I would like to eventually hang it against the wall outside, but for now I just rested it against the house.  I added some votives left over from our wedding and it made a great feature piece for our dining area.

And what backyard is complete with out a mutt! Here's Shadow looking ever so regal with his chew bone.

Website of the Day:  I might try to attempt this craft project to add a whimsical touch to the patio area.  We'll see how brave I get...