The Table
I’m not sure which idea came first-the watermelon or the ants at the picnic-but I loved combining the two things together.
Finding watermelon tableware was fairly easy at this time of year and I picked up plates, platters, and tablemats at various places, some from Wal-Mart, some from Hobby Lobby, and some from Winco. Then I used my Christmas green and red plates and chargers. A large checkered picnic tablecloth covered my standard white tablecloth. Tiny strawberry teacups and teapots matched the colors and fit in since I didn’t have a watermelon teapot. The watermelon planters and birdhouses were purchased at Hobby Lobby and the watermelon cups are from the Dollar Store.
To decorate the chandelier and place settings, I used packages of watermelon party decorations from Amazon. Adding red and green flowers from the Dollar store beneath created a nice balanced centerpiece. The army of cute ants came from Hobby Lobby.
The Decor
I found a package of watermelon-themed wire ribbons on Amazon and made them into bows for the staircase and also found cute wooden signs to hang along with my usual accordion fans in shades of red and polka dot.
It took some searching to find watermelon lights. These are vintage and I only found two strings. They were made by Target several years ago and I found these for sale on eBay.
Isn’t this watermelon gnome adorable? When I saw him I just had to have him. He was on Amazon with a lemon hat partner. So cute. You can see the ants up closer here along with the large red lady bugs who came along to the picnic too.
The Watermelon slice birdhouse was at Hobby Lobby. The Dollar Store also had Watermelon hand sanitizer and hand cream so my tea party attendees also got a little gift along with their tea.
Isn’t that watermelon rind bow so cute? I love it!
The Menu
“My weaknesses have always been food and men — in that order.” — Dolly Parton
Cookout Cupcakes
Loaded Deviled
Ants on a Log
Bite-Sized Burgers
Tasty Thumbprints
Italian Pressed Picnic Sandwiches
Watermelon Caprese Skewers
Picnic Prawns
Grill Grub
SMelon Sorbet
Watermelon Macarons
The Sweet Taste of Summer Tea
Unfortunately, my nephew didn’t take photos of the Strawberry Lemonade Tea we did in July. It was gorgeous too! All I could find was a photo of the stairs. It was inspired by these lovely sliced lemon lights. The menu is listed here below. It was a good one. So sorry you are missing out on the photos. I’ll do that one again. I promise!
You can see the scones and the top layer of cookies and macarons I always add to my tea service. There are strawberry and lemon candies adorning the table and I have strawberry lemonade cake pops as my centerpiece. I also made gorgeous strawberry lemonade teacakes that aren’t listed on the menu. Scrumptious!
Houck Hollow 
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