Tide & Table
We are halfway through summer already! It’s as hot as it gets down here in Florida, so we spend most of our days at the beach or in the water. If you are doing the same, this coastal picnic might be for you! Cool off and have fun gathering with friends with a seaside picnic full of pretty coastal details and delicious seafood.
The Stationery
I have a deep love for all things watercolor when it comes to stationery, and it works so well with coastal themes, so this watercolor design was a no-brainer to put together. I’ve been really into creating 3D and more interactive paper elements these last few years. These pieces are all glued together in multiple sections for the added dimension.
The seashell place cards were super fun to make with watercolor clip art from Canva and giant pearl beads I found at Michaels. I printed them on thick card stock and cut them out by hand (make it easier on yourself and actually use your dye-cutting machine if you have one :P). I then assembled them with double-sided foam mounting tape to give the inner card a little lift and hot glue for the pearl.
The Scenery & Settings
Living by the beach, I have the most beautiful summertime backdrop for picnics! If you are local, I set this party up at one of my favorite parks, Sebastian Inlet. It does get buggy at night, so bring bug spray!
To start, I used a folding picnic table from Business & Pleasure and topped it with linens from my friends at Solino Home. I love these lightweight but large floor cushions you can find on Amazon. For the centerpiece, I picked up 18 blue hydrangea from my local grocery store and two sailboats from a discount home goods store. To put this floral waves design together, I anchored two floral foam blocks by taping them to dinner plates. I then used the sailboat pegs that came with them to attach to the tops of the foam blocks. After that, I simply cut and stuck the hydrangea blooms around the foam block to fill in every space, making sure to leave some longer stems to create taller wave areas.
The place settings are inspired by rattan and bamboo elements. I found these rattan trays at a thrift store and thought they’d be perfect chargers! The blue-rimmed plates from Target are made of melamine, which is beach-approved fancy dinnerware. And the bamboo silverware I found on Amazon here.
Cheese Pearls & Charcuterie
For a group appetizer, I made a grazing board using a piece of old driftwood. I used seashells to create little individual bites with shaped cheese balls as the pearls. I only selected soft cheeses so that I could easily shape them, and added all my favorite sweet additions like candied pecans, berries, and honey.
The Main Catch!
For dinner, I wanted all my summer seafood favorites, so I headed to my local fish market and purchased a few things that were sure crowd pleasers and then a few items that might be more adventurous to some. That way, everyone can have something to eat and something to try. I first roasted the vegetables in butter with heads of garlic and sliced lemon before adding the fish and continuing to bake until everything fell off the bone.
A tasty lemonade is always a refreshing beach beverage! For this cute sailboat garnish, I halved limes and added basil leaves with a toothpick for the sails. The bottoms are cut at an angle so that they can fit on the glass rim at a tilt.
Dessert
I made simple vanilla cupcakes with hydrangea-shaped buttercream flowers for dessert, but the toppers were a culinary creative project! Marzipan is fun to work with; it’s very soft, dries on the counter, and handles like playdough. Here is an easy marzipan recipe I use so you can create your own fun shapes. For these toppers, I made octopus tentacles and little whales. You can use molds to make it a really easy project, or have fun creating, as I did with these, and sculpt away.
Happy sailing through summer, beachy buddies!
