Backyard Wine Party

I'm so excited to tell you about our backyard wine party from last Sunday! We are part of a Supper Club and I LOVE when it's my turn to host. I love any excuse for a party anyway.
I was feeling inspired from our recent trip to Napa and knowing that summer was winding down, I decided a relaxed backyard gathering would be perfect.

Here are all of the pics!

This is my favorite photo of the evening. I feel like it totally captures the mood and how it felt to be outside enjoying the wine, food and friends!

Keith took this picture and I love it, too! Cheers. Salud. Prost.

It was a gorgeous night to be outside! The sunset was perfect-o.

Jessica and I, the originators of said Supper Club.

Kate and Sarah, my best gals from work, came in twinsie attire, unplanned but oh so cute.

Good times.

My fellow host and I - he is always so patient with me and my big party ideas!

Here are some of the detail photos:

We have a very flat, treeless backyard that has always felt so boring to me. So, it was really fun to transform it! We ordered 4 boxes of lights from Target, and strung them up using the edge of the house and 2 purchased dowels from a hardware store. They are pretty sturdy, so we'll keep them up as long as they'll survive!

I ordered 2 of these table sets from Walmart. I saw someone with one at an outdoor concert recently. It's perfect because the height is adjustable and they collapse down to an easy-to-carry format. I put 4 of them end to end to make one long table. I love how cheap these were! I can use these for tailgates, parties, garage sales and pretty much any time I need a table.

For the long tablecloth, I went to Joanne fabric and bought almost 8 yards of a cheap cheap white fabric. It was on the extra wide roll, so I didn't have to sew anything. I just rolled out the fabric and was done. Handy!

I decorated the table with a mix of lanterns I already had, blue mason jars with candles, and recycled wine bottles holding some leftover birthday flowers.

Oh, and there was definitely a hashtag for the evening.

Between the two poles, I strung up a banner I made using pre-cut burlap pennants. I bought the pennats at Hobby Lobby for $8 total and painted the letters on using gray paint and a big stencil. At the last minute, I decided this needed something else, so I went to my ribbon scraps (from crafts and gift wrapping) and assembled two bundles of a variety of ribbons and tied them to the poles. I loved how they looked when the wind blew!

I also got my craft on by making some of my own blankets. Going into this party, I knew I didn't have enough picnic blankets to surround the table. I saw a few ideas on Pinterest around painting your own using a canvas drop cloth, so I went to town. I bought 4 square drop clothes at Home Depot for $7 a piece. Be sure to buy the ones that are lined with a thin layer of plastic if you plan to put on the grass. 

Here they are!

This is the first one I did. I used a Martha Stewart stencil from Michael's and a mixture of 3 colors. It looked better in person and I loved the combo of colors. It was a great first start to get my confidence up for the others.

This is the second one I painted. I used painters tape to grid off the entire cloth. I used 3 shades of a teal blue color and rolled the paint using a small sponge roller. In some of the squares, I blended two shades so there would be a gradient. This one probably took the longest, but it's my favorite!

For this one and the next, I made my own projector! I printed out our monogram that I created on this site. I slid the print-out into a page-protector and outlined the whole thing in sharpie. Then, I cut the monogram transfer out, and cut a hole in similar size out of a box. I taped the transfer onto the box backwards, and placed the box over my iphone on flashlight mode. I had to do some adjusting on the height of the box and of the iphone, but I was able to project it onto the wall of the (very dark) garage. I taped up the drop cloth and transferred the monogram using white chalk. Then, I put it back on the ground and painted over my chalk outline. Easy peasy!

I used the same method for this pig version. I printed out a jpeg of a pig and outlined the silhouette. I used a mixture of free fonts to create the Hey Y'all! I think I'll be able to use this guy for Arkansas tailgates, too!

I scattered the blankets with pillows that I had collected over the years. I have an outdoor pillow addiction and every season, I tend to snag a couple at Target or another cheap store. I love to rotate the pillows on my front porch regularly, and my collection came in handy!

Inside the house, it was all about the wine and the food!

In my entry way, I set up the white and rose wines in a pretty bowl.

In the corner of the dining room, I used my bar cart tray for all of the drink glasses

I made my own drink tags and got creative on the names! All of them were tied to wine or drinking in some way. I printed them out on a thick kraft paper, punched a tiny hole and tied using a burlap twine. If you'd like the print-out, just email me at mkendalljones at gmail dot com.

The food spread!! I swear I still haven't learned how to not go ALL OUT on food. It's a sickness that runs in my family. We tend to go overboard. I just get so excited and want to make 1,000 things.

Another view after candles had been lit.

We provided a sampling of a few wines, but lots of folks brought bottles, too. I didn't want to complicate things by covering labels and having people vote on favorites, although that would be very fun and I'd like to do that someday!

A wine party would not be complete without a charcuterie board.  I received this big wine barrel lid for Christmas and it was perfect for this. I loaded it up with grapes, pears, cheese, breadsticks, salami and some Parmesan crackers I found at our farmer's market.

I also placed more cheese on a couple of chalkboard slates I found at Hobby Lobby. I also got one of those chalk markers and LOVE it. New favorite craft item!

I also served the cheese board with a cracker assortment and some toppings: honey, mustard, olive tapenade and sun-dried tomato pesto. There were also some pickles. olives, pecan and blackberries to combine with the cheeses.

I made some Caprese Tortellini skewers. I bought a package of Bertolli Chicken tortellini, boiled it and threaded onto some cute picks with marinated mozz balls, tomato and basil, then drizzled with balsamic.

This little appetizer was a big hit. Everyone LOVED this. I brushed baguette slices with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Toasted in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Then, spread each slice with goat cheese, added some orange fig jam, a piece of proscioutto and topped with a basil leaf. SO GOOD.

I made this Southern Living recipe for Marinated Shrimp and Artichokes. It was quite good and is something I know I will make again and again. 

For a more hearty appetizer, we grilled up 4 pork tenderloins using my favorite recipe of all time. We served with King's Hawaiian rolls and Archer Farms Ginger Orange Barbecue sauce. 

You can also see where I made a recommended wine pairing notes with each food item.

I made my Stuffed Mushrooms, which don't look so pretty here, but are always a knock out. These were devoured.

I also could not have a wine party without some cheese truffles. I made my Gorgonzola version, rolled in bacon. You just can't go wrong!

In the kitchen, I set up the dessert bar. I also had some sparkling wine out as it was a great way to round out a yummy meal.

I made the best chocolate mousse! I have been making this for years, but never blogged about it because I've never had a good picture. That will soon change. This was the one food item that was most discussed at the party!

These little strawberry bites were my favorite new recipe to try. I used those pre-made phyllo shells and in each one, I placed a few tiny pieces of chopped brie, some chopped strawberries and drizzled with honey. I baked them at 350 for about 10-12 minutes and they were delish. Couldn't be easier!

As cliche as it sounds, I do love drinking some red wine and having dark chocolate. I purchased 3 varieties of Lindt chocolate - regular dark chocolate, dark chocolate with sea salt and dark chocolate with orange. The orange was by far the winner in my book!

I picked up these macarons at the Farmer's Market as they were too pretty to resist. That was not something I was going to find time to make myself!

I also put out some cucumber water and mason jars. You can't just drink gobs of wine without balancing it out with water!

It was such a wonderful night, and quite possibly, my favorite party I've ever hosted. It was relaxed, laid back and exactly the way an end-of-summer party should be.

No matter how many decorations, how much food or how much planning goes into a party, it's meaningless if you don't enjoy it and the people you share the evening with! For me, the planning is just as much fun as the night of - entertaining is one of my biggest passions! And, I'm so thankful to have friends that get that. They know I didn't do this to show out or try to be Martha Stewart. They know how much joy it brings me! Oh, and I think they like my cooking, too :)

Once it was dark, the mosquitoes of the Delta swarmed us and carried us off. We headed indoors for NFL football and a hilarious group narration of the Miss America pageant. Even though we had Citronella candles and treated the yard, those pesky bugs still invaded in full force. It would have been so great to lounge out here under the stars all night, but we had such a fun time laughing inside, too. I can't wait to do something like this again when it cools down and all the bugs are dead :)

Thanks for stopping by and reading about our party! It is now one of my favorite memories of the year....a great night with dear friends.