Lifes a picnic

I don't know about you guys but, ​I love nothing more than having a picnic! My daughters first birthday was a picnic, as was my baby shower and we took Emelia for her first picnic at 2 weeks old! There is just something so quaint about eating alfresco digging into the nicest picnic food. Our picnics have changed over the years and although they aren’t as relaxing and glamorous as they used to be ladened with pimms and smoked salmon, they are certainly enjoyed by Emelia. We make it super fun for her and pack her own little picnic and get her involved with it as much as possible. Its a really cheap day out to do and you dont even have to leave your own home if you don’t want to. Having a picnic at home in the garden can be just as fun. I'm pretty sure as soon as we get out her cute little Nuby  lunchbox she knows we are going on a picnic !

​When having a picnic there are so so many  at home diy ideas to make it feel really cute and cosy, and I feel like its a really fun thing us brits love to do.  As soon as the sun is warm enough for the grass to be dry we drag out our picnic blankets and make the most of summer sun. Its been an exceptionally warm summer here so the picnics have been had in abundance and there are plenty of perfect places to have one. Whether you head to your local park so that children can play on the park play equipment. Or head into the forest amongst the trees which act as the perfect parasol. Or even just stay at home and use the garden and the on hand facilities you can make it perfect! Having it at home is always a great idea if your not sure if the weather will hold up too!

Getting creative

For Emelias birthday picnic and also the picnics we have been having at home. We have been using our garden cushions on the floor and a simple pallet covered as our “table” so that its a perfect height for children and also makes it easy to create a party style table. The cushions maek it really comfy for adults to sit on the floor too. Make sure the pallet is sanded if it has any wood splintering off of it. If we are having a picnic party we decorate with bunting and paper decorations, obviously not necessary for an everyday weekday picnic and play but  helps to add a more party vibe if you are inviting guests over if its a special occasion. The cheaper budget stores like pound land and home bargains have some really cheap decorations that are really good which we used for Emelias birthday picnic (we even managed to get her birthday helium balloons from poundland! blown up aswell) . And for her christening I brought metres of bunting which I have been using for just about everything since! Bunting again is a really classic, really easy decorative item and very reusable when its not paper!

The location we chose for Emelias birthday was high lodge in Thetford. It has a very well kept green surrounded by trees, so was perfect for the really really hot weekend of Emelias party! Food wise this completely depends on what sort of picnic you are planning. Obviously if its for children it will very much depend on age and what you child likes to eat. Emelia tends to eat most things I do and so I made sure we had a couple of sandwich selections and a ton of fruit with some treats aswell of course. But you can obviously do more dishes to cater for bigger parties and different tastes. For her birthday I did a fruit platter with blueberries, strawberries and sliced grapes. Sandwiches of marmite, cream cheese and jam, which I cut into stars. Pizza slices, and a range of baby friendly snacks like melty puff crisps, breadsticks rice cakes and some mini muffins. This was enough just for babies. I know with Emelia that if you put too much in front of her she does not know what to have! This worked well though and there was something for all the little ones.

We took some toys for the children to play with which included, a ball pit, a tunnel to crawl through. Balls for the children to play with and then take home afterwards. And a bubble machine because its just a massive favourite for children! We brought the bubble machine from Asda and it works really really good. The only downside is the 10 batteries that it takes! rechargeable ones highly advisable! But I think the £15 ticket price is very reasonable for a very good bubble machine. It also works with cheap bubble mixture aswell so it doesn’t need to be amazing quality. 

When choosing whether or not to do party bags for babies I was unsure whether or not it would be worth it. However, when I found a few perfect little bits to add I made one each for the guests we included.
Bubbles  (poundland for a pack of 8)
A mini baby board book (We brought a 10 pack of board books and then split the pack) 
A garden windmill (we brought from Ebay)
I did buy some white chocolate to add to the bags but to be honest it was such a hot weekend there would have been no point in adding them! 
I was so pleased with how her party worked out and we had the perfect weather for it!

As long as the sun keeps shining we will definitely still be enjoying our Picnics !

​Robyn x