BARbecue Party Photos + Printables

I’m finally posting about the “Bar”becue we celebrated here last week. My husband’s brother and his wife had birthdays on either side of Memorial day this year. The family decided it would work out well to celebrate them both with a birthday/holiday get-together. My mind started thinking “party” and of course I wanted to come up with something special and custom made just for them. I think it could work for anyone really, so if you like the design, let me know!

As I was looking through many fabulous blogs I came upon the idea of a French Fry Bar. That led me to a Sliders bar for some reason, which then led to an Ice Cream & Toppings bar. (Do you see where I’m headed?) I started designing little icons for the different ‘bars’ and thought – hey! BAR becue! I can’t imagine I’m the first to come up with the idea but it was new to me and I went with it. Pink is the birthday girl’s favorite color so I used that but offset it with a fun blue for my brother-in-law.

I set up the tables with their respective signs (card stock with a scalloped edge, a dowel rod added to the top with crepe paper attached).First up – the Snack BAR. We were only a few so I tried to keep it light. Ranch pretzels that are a cinch to make but OOOOO so good. Plus, some fruit and veggies with ranch dip.Beverage BAR – “Gabby’s Pink Punch” (birthday girl’s favorite color) & “Mark’s Caffe Frappe” (he’s a coffee lover). This coffee punch is one of my absolute favorites – coffee, cream and Ice Cream!) I also included a “cotton candy” icee because I really wanted to try the cotton candy flavored syrup I found. I wish I had ice that was crushed finer but it did taste like cotton candy.Then came the main course. The Slider BAR and the French Fry BAR. I made buffet cards & circles using the little icons from their respective bars, though the little cups could be used for either.Finally, the Dessert BAR. Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream that churned during the earlier festivities. Toppings for it included my homemade caramel and my freshly made strawberry syrup. There were pigs’ ears (puff pastry rolled with sugar & butter) and for the “birthday cake” I made s’mores cupcakes. I labeled sundae cups with our names (they were really plastic martini glasses but they fit the color scheme and were the size I needed – at the right price.)
A note about the decor. As I said, I didn’t spend a lot of time planning the table before hand but I wanted to add something extra for height and fun. I ended up running white paper lunch bags through my printer and then filled each with a hurricane candle (didn’t have foam) to hold the colorful candles and stars I cut out and attached to skewers.

Now, to be honest, I didn’t have enough time to pull off all of the decor above. I did a lot of it, but it wasn’t until after everyone had gone that I finished so I could take photos. (yes, I had enough food left to recreate everything.) I wanted you to see some ideas you might use should you want to try it on your own. And I wanted to show you how the little tags, wraps, signs & circles could look at your own gathering. Happy BARbecue-ing! (Click here to purchase the printables!)