Make outdoor parties festive with simple and inexpensive touches

The windows are open wide, the perennials are back to greet us and we're staying outdoors later and later with every warming day. Let the outdoor entertaining begin with some ideas for budget-friendly, naturally good backyard bashes.

'PLANT' TO PARTY

Fill your yard or containers with plants that will actually play a big part in your entertaining.
Grow edibles that can be used in your favorite summertime dishes. Explore herbs and edible flowers like nasturtiums, pansies and johnny jump-ups that will pleasantly surprise your guests.
Grow natural bug repellents like lemongrass, catnip, rosemary, sage and basil. Guests can simply crush plants like lemongrass and catnip to rub on their skin, as needed. Sprigs of rosemary or sage can be placed on the grill to deter pesky flying insects. You can also research recipes for teas out of certain herbs to use as bug sprays.

Creatively plant things that are also fragrant and colorful for built-in, natural ambiance. Serve some of them up tableside by using gelatin molds and Bundt pans as your planters so they can slip over your patio umbrellas to create a beautiful, functional centerpiece.

BUDGET-FRIENDLY LIGHTING

Create your own beautiful, inexpensive lighting options using candles or Christmas-light strands. Stock up on old canning jars with lids at flea markets or antique shops. Fill them halfway with play sand and insert candles. Replace candles as needed and top off with lids when not in use, so the rain doesn't put a damper on things. Group them together or hang with wire for a safe, long-lasting light display.

"Summer-ize" strands of Christmas lights by adding artificial-flower petals, whiffle balls or painted window-screen shapes to each bulb for a colorful string of hanging patio lights.
For a fabulous, effortless way to light up walkways or garden paths, use rope lighting.

PLAYFUL THEMES

Host a "No Waste" party by using food as your serving pieces. Serve all drinks in fruit shells like pineapples or coconuts. Dish out salads in citrus bowls. Create finger foods that can be served up on kale, lettuce, tamale wrappers and the like. Have a portable compost bin nearby, and all of your party leftovers can get served up lovingly back to the earth.

NATURAL DECOR

Embrace everything nature has to offer for your outdoor-party decor. Use larger logs and stones for interesting seating and table options. Smaller rocks can be painted for colorful table markers or used naturally to prop up grilling utensils. Tabletop sandboxes complete with sticks and stones can provide fun and games.

PARTY TUNES

Hang various-sized colored glass bottles from a tree, and as the wind blows beautiful organic music plays. Make chimes using old silverware, found objects or natural elements. Create a simple water feature for the relaxing sounds of running water using a watertight container and a fountain pump. Top off with decorative touches like water lettuce or floating balls made out of old light bulbs.

The most important tip: Make the time to enjoy every glorious day the warm-weather months produce and include family, friends and neighbors in your creative celebrations.
Michele Beschen can be contacted by visiting www.couragetocreate.com or www.borganic.net.

SOURCE: AP NEWSIRE

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Copper garden accessories, the new "Green Thumb"

With hopes of April showers bringing May flowers, homeowners will again be tending their gardens and planting an assortment of flowerbeds, fruits and vegetables for the spring and summer seasons.

Home and garden centers today are seeing a booming business helping gardening "hobbyists" transform their yards into private sanctuaries complete with trellises, statuary, fountains and water features. And copper is the building material of choice when it comes to decorating and adding elegance to their backyard retreats.

For centuries, copper has been used by builders for its beauty, longevity and practicality. Not only does copper offer a warm and natural look, whether glazed to remain shiny or allowed to age gracefully to a weatherworn gray-green patina, this all-purpose metal offers sustainable qualities not attainable with other building and construction materials.

Some of the same attributes that attract architects and builders to copper -- durability, easy installation and low maintenance -- also attracts gardeners to a proliferation of handcrafted copper outdoor ornaments and garden decor.

Each year, homeowners spend as much sprucing up their yards as they do decorating their home's interiors.

"Copper is the metal of choice by many for its aesthetic beauty and rugged properties," said Wayne Seale, an architect and regional manager with the Copper Development Association. "It was once used primarily by architects and designers to adorn the outside of lavish homes, castles and cathedrals, but now copper is being selected by homeowners and landscapers to add interest and beauty to backyards and gardens."

Garden accessories such as statutes and sculptures, bird baths and feeders, weathervanes, lanterns, torches, wind chimes, planters, garden stakes, sundials and trellises are typically available in copper or brass, an alloy of copper.

Many of these decorative pieces are fashioned into staked ornaments, copper weathervanes or wind chimes and can be made to look like sculpted, full-bodied animals, or be shaped into flowers with petals made of hand-hammered copper. With shapes ranging from manatees, birds, cats, butterflies and dolphins to suns, moons and stars, there's likely to be something to suit every taste.

Planters are popular copper garden motif. Often coated with an antique finish, they are available as boxes, urns and large pots. Sundials, placed in the center of a sun-filled garden for obvious reasons, are another staple. Frequently made of solid brass, with or without faux verdigris (green or bluish patina) highlights, they typically include intricate designs such as Celtic knot-work, some may also include sentimental inscriptions like Robert Browning's poem, "Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be."

Source: Marketwire

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