Outdoor and Garden Mama

Mother's Day Gift Guide for the mama that likes to spend time in her garden or just outside with the family!

Mother's Day is such a fun holiday to spend with family and celebrate all of the mamas in our lives! I am putting together several gift guides for each mama out there! For this gift guide I took a little bit of inspiration from my own mom and the things she enjoys. As a family we enjoy spending time outside, grilling and planting all sorts of things. Whether she is more of an entertainer outside, a plant and flower person or an herb and lettuce gal you are sure to find something in this line up!

1. What mom doesn't love a great fern! I would recommend going to a local nursery if you have one available or you can always stop by Lowe's!

2. If your mom is one who loves to plant flowers, I would suggest picking up some sort of flower that she can plant and have it come back the next year like a rose bush or a hydrangea plant. Just like the ferns you can always go by your nursery or another store that sells plants!

3. Chacos in my humble opinion are like the best shoe for spring and summer.. like ever. They are great for the river, working out in the yard or to just throw on to go to the grocery store. There are so many options when it comes to colors, number of straps and just different styles.

4. This herb pot set is perfect for kitchen herbs these are super popular right now and for good reason, they're adorable and functional!

5. If your mom loves a huge garden with tons of items these little garden signs are perfect for her! With these particular signs you pick the wood finish and really customize them for the perfect gift!

6. A fun planter can totally change an outdoor space. You can find these anywhere from Walmart, Target or Lowe's! With pieces like this I really think about how my mom likes to decorate and pick pieces accordingly.

7. If your family enjoys being outside and having some sort of competition then custom cornhole boards would be just the gift! What mom doesn't love bringing her family all together and these will do just that!

8. My family loves to cook outside in our pool house so a knife block is a must! I actually bought this set for my mom a few years ago when we had just built the outdoor kitchen, and it has gotten its use! Fiesta has some many fun items and the colors really brighten up a space.

9. Anything personalized is always so much fun. It really lets that person know that you were planning ahead. Our custom sign says "Bottoms Up At Bolt's Bar" which I find to be hilarious and something that people always comment on! This sign in particular is great quality and has really stood the test of the elements being outside.

10. Outdoor cushions are always a safe bet, especially if you know her style really well. My mom likes to get new cushions each year, so if I can beat her to it I am doing good! These are kind of like the planters, make sure you take her style into consideration when picking out the cushions you think she will love!

11. These stemless wine glasses are perfect for the outdoor area. Having a set of glasses out by the pool makes filling it up with more wine just that much easier! I love a stemless glass because I don't feel they as delicate as their stem counterpart.

Love from Oklahoma,

Courtney

How to create a Charcuterie Board for your next party!

I am so excited for this holiday season and to know exactly what I will be bringing to all of my holiday parties! This show stopping platter is sure to impress any group you share it with. Cheese boards have always been a popular dish to have at gatherings, but here is a way to spice it up and make it a centerpiece!

Somethings to keep in mind: these platters can be as elaborate or as minimal as you want, take the fast and easy route or go all out with various meats, cheeses and fruits. For this one I did a little bit of both. I am a college student, so I don't have the largest budget for this and still made it work!

First things first pick out your board that you want to use for the event. There are so many cheese boards from Crate and Barrel, William Sonoma, TJ Maxx and Target. You can really use anything! The board that I used was about $20 and the ramekins that I chose were $2 a piece. I found both of these pieces from Walmart! Such a steal!

I started by placing the ramekins where I wanted them and built around them. I put red pepper hummus and almonds in mine but you could put grapes, pistachios, almond butter or olives in these and it would look delicious! I took some shortcuts with the type of cheese in the variety package that I chose. The pack included pepper jack, cheddar, swiss and colby jack. The slices were in large rectangles so I cut them in half. I layered these around the ramekins and in other places on the board. I realized that the squares were to big for some of the spots so i cut them diagonally into triangles to give more variation.

My favorite part about creating this board was being creative with the placement of everything. I folded the pepperonis in half and then in half again to create the ruffled flower effect and for the prosciutto I just twisted them and fluffed them around the space.

Triscuits are a great cracker to use on this board because they come in a variety of flavors and in different shapes. I used a square and a triangle shape to add variety and flavor. I added the bell peppers, carrots, grapes and celery to add color and add something that could be dipped in the hummus.

Overall charcuterie boards are all about what you want to put on them! Think about what type of party you are going to. Is it a group that will want to eat prosciutto and hummus or would they prefer summer sausage and more cheeses and crackers. Making these boards are meant to be a fun and creative so keep that in mind when you are moving a bushel of grapes around for the fourth time! People will appreciate the effort and time that you put in and will wonder just how you did it!

Here are the items that I used for my board. Most grocery stores should carry most of all of these items. I was able to find all of these items at my local grocery store and Walmart! I wish you the best of luck if you choose to make one of your own! Send me pictures if you do, I would love to see them!

Love from Oklahoma,

Courtney