I love the fun times summer brings – picnics, cookouts, fireworks, and S’Mores. I mean S’Mores are great any time, but nothing beats the dripping gooeyness of marshmallow and chocolate when you get out of the pool from a day of swimming in the sun.
I’m heading to New Mexico, along with my niece and her children, to visit Sister Lady soon. We are not only celebrating July 4th but the twins’ birthday, along with their granddaddy. I put together a practice S’Mores board with a few things I found on Amazon.
I took a chalkboard tray (similar here) and with chalkboard pens wrote a fun message. Then came the fun part – the S’More ingredients. I like giving guests options so on my tray I am offering three different varieties of graham crackers – honey, cinnamon, and chocolate this way if your friends have never tried a different cookie base they can experiment at your party and their memory will always be of you! I added the twist of Biscoff cookies which I am obsessed with. I found a package of individually wrapped ones at the grocery store. Did you know they also make Biscoff Butter and ice cream? My friend Catherine gave me a tip – include Keebler’s Fudge-Striped Cookies for the base!
For candy – I purchased fun sizes of Hershey’s bars, Reese’s Peanutbutter Cups, and Ghirardelli Caramel Squares. But you could also serve KitKats, York Peppermint Patties, Twix, cookie butter, Nutella, or how about smoked bacon for something savory and sweet! Here’s a link to fun ideas for S’more recipes from Shared Appetite. I even filled a pail with Patriotic M&Ms to munch on while you’re deciding how to assemble your S’More.
I assembled everything in small red, white and blue pails I found on Amazon here. The pails are the perfect size to hold candy, marshmallows, and cookies.
Click the pic to shop the pails.
For sips, we love to drink sparkling sodas from Waterloo. Their summer flavors like peach and summer berry are amazing, but when I saw the Strawberry flavor I thought that was a perfect summery sip, especially with the pinwheels I also found on Amazon. I cut the ends off the handles so the pinwheels would sit downside in the beverage glass and added these straws. Won’t the kids have fun sipping their drink and watching their pinwheel spin during the fireworks show? I even placed a few wheels into my daisy centerpiece for an added touch of red, white, and blue.
Click the pic to shop the pinwheels.
The final touch is a printable I created. I sized it to 4 x 6 and popped it into the cutest white frame I found on a recent trip to the Japanese Dollar Store Daiso. Dollar stores are the perfect place for inexpensive frames you can use for parties as place cards, menu holders, on a buffet or beverage bar. I am sharing the printable with you here.
Click the pic to save it to your computer
I hope these inspiring ideas help your July 4th sparkle!
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.
