It’s here, Labor Day weekend, the official unofficial end of summer and whether you’re sick of sweating and ready for the fall to run it’s familiar chill down your spine or you simply cant believe it’s time to spare your shoulders any more rays and slip your toes into some socks, it is upon us like it or not. But have no fear, no matter which side of the meridian you fall on, lusting for additional lazy days bronzing or already unpacking cozy knits and chunky cottons, it’s time to celebrate. That’s right, celebrate — love it or hate it, you have to accept it, so either surprise yourself and muster up one last gangbusters weekend or save the tears for another day — live in the now, you will see your sweet sweet summer again. In fact, it’s still here so stop being such a baby and give summer a proper send off. You can shed a tear come September 23rd with summer’s official farewell that goes largely unnoticed, like Groundhog Day.
But not to sound completely unsympathetic to your betwixt mind body and soul, my sister and I have rounded up all the best summer showstoppers in honor of our fading season. We’ll help you get that party started and get you off the ‘ready or not here I come’ rollercoaster so you can simply soak up some fun wherever the long weekend takes you.
In fact, feel free to consider this your sweet little love letter to summer, or your going for broke break-up revenge text, it’s up to you. We promise not to judge. But I will warn you, these ideas will put a smile on your face and add some happy to your heart and perhaps maybe even make you wish you hadn’t been quite so harsh in that text. So before you go and rub sand in any wounds, keep all your options open and make this weekend one you’ll remember with memories to cherish and possibly even make a few to get you through a long cold winter.
We’ve kept it easy, affordable and totally up to you. Just let go, take it easy, don’t be afraid to get messy and live in the moment — not just on Instagram — and try something new! (But do post photos, we love photos, especially the messy ones, we give credit for trying.)
First up to entice you into celebratory submission is a summertime favorite that will throw you down memory lane with little warning and tug at your heats strings. The Popsicle. As in, hello Popsicle Party, and welcome to my mouth.
Iconically a summer staple, you may be thinking popsicle, interesting, it’s been years (dare I decades for anyone who has yet to embark on that other rollercoaster ride, parenthood) since I’ve had a popsicle. Which probably means you also have the wrong friends — because we aren’t just talking some frozen juice on stick here, we are talking the ideal summer receptacle for transporting frozen spirits into your taste testers. I know, right! So, rather than bore you with any more details as the concept here is pretty straight forward and simultaneously genius (and also not new), we would rather make you google the nearest grocery (west coast, me) or liquor store (easy coast, sis) and allow you ample freezing and sampling time.
And just be fair, we’ve found The Perfect Poptails for celebrating fall’s impending arrival or a summer’s last festive fling. At least one of these frozen concoctions has your name dripping all over it (and that’s when you send us the photo)! Click the pics for recipes and image credits.
Now, it goes without saying these lovely little libations are not for the little ones you may have lying around. So keep them separate should your farewell fete be serving minors. But don’t dismay, being as Kristi and I each have 3 boys of our own and zero sitters on call for the weekend, we made sure to find plenty of ways to freeze their little brains too.
We’ve also made sure to take care of the designated drivers (yay!), non-drinkers and knocked up ladies alike. But if you do the math and add a little ingenuity and be a bit resourceful, I’m sure it won’t be hard to throw some alcohol into any of these and then you can practically double down! But look closely before you just go free pouring bourbon unsupervised and you’ll notice that we managed to sneak one in for Fido or Boomer as well. Not all kids have only 2 legs, we know and we get it. Boomer has 4 legs and an Instagram account, so…how do you spend your free time?
A refreshing poptail or popsicle is awesome, but if you’ve got kids to entertain, the only way you’re going to enjoy your ‘mommy pop’ is to get Dad to wrangle them in, highly unlikely if he’s manning the grill or simply around beer and other men, or to keep those kiddos busy. Much more plausible and let’s face it, it’s better to be prepared than left with an empty bag of tricks. You’ve got the popsicle sticks so let’s make this r e a l s i m p l e and stick with it. So, what do you with a bunch of kids and a slew of sticks? Click the pics for instructions and image credits.
Now that pretty much takes care of the toddlers or inspirationally challenged, but depending on the caliber of your crafters, and how much time you want to have sans kids, here’s your go-to thanks to good old Martha Stewart. And if you play your sticks right, this could end up like monopoly and if that’s a good thing, monopolizing their time with an awesome all hands on deck effort. And if you’re buy a pool, the boat is a must for all ages. Race anyone?
And this one is just so darn cute and clever I could eat it! Plus it’s suitable for any age as a brain sharpening tool, so go on and test your mental agility after a poptail or two!
And finally, no kids, lots of sticks…no problem. Just sit down with your girlfriends and whip up one of these. It will only take a minute! Ha! Alternatively you could just save the sticks for the holidays. Kristi is obsessing over a DIY carmel apple gift set that takes care of any leftover popsicle sticks in a flash! But keep them somewhere safe as we are saving the idea for the holidays.
Flash forward to your weekend soiree, hopefully by now you’ve had a chance to suck on a cocktail, fashion a cow or a superhero from a stick and are all tuckered out from a heated game of Balloon Tennis with the neighborhood crew. And you’re probably getting hungry right about now. What’s on the menu? Food on a stick of course! It’s fun, easy and there’s sure to be something for everyone. They work on a grill or in the kitchen and a skewer or popsicle stick will be just fine too. Click on the image for recipes and image credits.
Whew! You made it through quite the party! Nice work, now are you ready to do it again? It is a 3 day weekend and just in case you use up all our inspiration before the weekend comes to a close, I’ve included and encore for Monday!
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