Backyard Fun, Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Holidays & Gift Ideas, Outdoor Entertaining, Outdoor Lighting Ideas, Outdoor Living Spaces, Portable Fun

Thoughtful Gifts Combine Fun and Function

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Finding fun gifts that are also useful can present a challenge.  Gifts that are purely fun can quickly become space hogs when they lose their appeal.  Gifts that are purely practical in nature are, frankly, pretty boring.  There are quite a number of great gift ideas out there that successfully combine the fun with the practical, but the key to choosing the right gift is knowing the recipient.

If you have a football-loving friend who also loves to cook out on the grill, it would be hard to go wrong with a gift like the Portable Football Grill.  Shaped like a football, it definitely offers a unique and fun spin on grilling out.  Because it is portable, this grill can be used on the back patio and at the tailgating party.

Football Grill

If, on the other hand, you have a friend who is environmentally conscious but also enjoys fun home decor, a smart gift idea would be a Solar Mosaic Glass Lantern.  These colorful and casual lights are solar powered, so no wiring is involved, and there are no operating costs.  Solar lanterns are ideal for illuminating backyard patio tables since they require sunlight to operate.

 

How about the friend who loves spending time outdoors, but who also appreciates quiet time in front of the television watching movies or shows with the family?  The ideal gift would combine the fun of watching TV with the ability to enjoy the fresh, clean air of the great outdoors.  The solution comes in an Outdoor Weatherproof TV.  Outdoor TVs are designed to withstand weather exposure, and they make a welcome addition to outdoor patios, sunrooms, pool areas, and covered decks.

SunBriteTV 22 In Outdoor LCD HDTV 2220 PRO

Fun and functional gifts are everywhere, but they provide the most joy to the recipient when you take time to consider your friends and what characteristics they would most appreciate in a gift.  It really is the thought that counts.

Backyard Fun, Holidays & Gift Ideas, Indoor Living Spaces, Outdoor Entertaining, Portable Fun

The Key to Bringing the Party with You

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New Year's Eve Party

Photo Credit: Getty Images

So many exciting events are coming up…New Year’s Eve and the Super Bowl are two in particular that rank high on our family’s “Best Excuses for Hosting a Get Together” list.  Frankly, the best part about get togethers, aside from the wonderful company, are all the yummy eats and lip-smacking drinks.

Whether or not you like to spike the eggnog at your party, you’ll want to have plenty of beverages on hand for thirsty guests.   At our house, there’s no room for a stocked bar, so we keep our GoBar Portable High Top Bar tucked away until we need it for special occasions when drinks will flow continuously.  Once we set up the bar in a convenient spot near the food table, we stock it with whatever we’ll need for the evening ahead.  Beer, wine, soda, juices, blender, ice buckets, and glasses can all be kept on the bar and on the sturdy storage shelf, which remains hidden behind one of three festive skirts.

What are festive skirts, you may ask?  This is one of our favorite features of our portable GoBar.  Depending on the theme for the party, we dress our GoBar in one of the three skirts that are included with the bar.  For the New Year’s party, we choose the formal skirt, the Super Bowl party features the football field skirt (of course), and our summer beach party requires the tiki-themed skirt.  They add an extra touch of fun and flair to each of our parties.

Now that our friends have experienced the GoBar, they ask us to bring it with us to their parties.  Because it is lightweight and portable, it’s never a problem.   We’re not planning to stay up until midnight this New Year’s Eve, nor do we care which teams finally make it to the Super Bowl — what we love about these events is spending them with family and friends and having a memorable time.

  

Backyard Fun, Holidays & Gift Ideas, Outdoor Entertaining

Gather ‘Round the Fire for a Memorable Family Holiday

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Fire pits and Fire bowls

As families gather together for holiday happenings, take advantage of any unseasonably “warm” weather you may be experiencing, and gather your family in your outdoor spaces.  Chicago, for example, has experienced temperatures in the 40s over the past few days, unusual for this time of year.  What a perfect opportunity to stoke up the fire in your fire pit or fire bowl.

Even on chillier days, there’s something so cozy and inviting about gathering around a roaring fire burning safely in an outdoor fire pit or fire bowl.  The crackle of the burning logs, the aroma of the wood, and the early fading sunlight inspire many families to pull out their best stories and tall tales for multi-generational entertainment.  Only hot chocolate and marshmallows could improve the experience.

There really is nothing that can adequately compete with a gathering of family and friends in the cozy comfort of your outdoor spaces when those spaces are lit and warmed by a toasty fire.   The cherished memories created in these moments when loved ones come together make the best gifts of all.

Holidays & Gift Ideas, Indoor Living Spaces, Portable Fun

Parents Unite! The Ultimate Boredom Buster is Here

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Bust that Boredom with Indoor Games

Attention Parents!  Winter break is upon us, and I know the last thing you want to hear from the kids while they are home from school are those two dreaded words that have the magical ability to muster up a hearty helping of frustration and irritation — “I’m bored.”  Look around you, you may say to your children.  Do you see all of the toys, books, and other various activities that virtually crowd out everything else in the house?  How can you possibly be bored?  This is the kids’ cue for dramatic eye-rolling.

Not this year!  This is the year when every kid in the family can find something fun to do, and here’s the best part…it won’t cost much money and requires very little space, both of which are already at a premium for most families.  My favorite new fun family you-have-no-reason-now-to-say-you-are-bored purchase is the Hat Trick 4ft Air Hockey Table.   There truly is something for everyone. Personally, I love that my kids don’t come away from this table with a blank, mindless stare so often accompanied by screen-time activities.

Banish boredom!  Yes, it can be done.  Let them soak in it for a while, and I guarantee they’ll eventually head to the game table for some rip-roaring, boredom-busting good times.

Backyard Fun, Holidays & Gift Ideas, Portable Fun

Snow Forts When There’s Not Enough Snow

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Snow Fort

 

One of the amazing qualities that most children seem to possess is the inability to get cold on frigid, snowy winter days.  Maybe they’re having too much fun to notice the cold, but it’s only when fingers and toes are numb that kids think about retreating indoors to huddle around the fireplace with hot cocoa in hand.

When I was a kid, I recall my older sister and her friends creating elaborate snow shelters in the yard and how much fun it was to pretend we were stranded in an arctic hideaway with only our creativity to get us through the “harrowing” experience.  As a little kid, though, I wished I could create my own snow shelter, but I lacked the ability, and older siblings aren’t always willing to let little ones take part in the action.

It was only recently that these memories came flooding back to me.  My own young child asked if we could build a snow shelter this winter, and I had to stop and think whether or not we could.  As I grew to be an older kid, I gradually learned the finer points of snow shelter construction, but the key element in the process is snow.  What if we don’t have enough snowfall this year to produce the kind of colossal shelter that exists in my child’s imagination?

When snow is at a minimum, or if time is not available to build a full-scale shelter out of snow, the solution can be foundSno Fort / Snow Shelter in the cleverly designed inflatable Snow Fort.  The snow fort, which is made from heavy-duty PVC, resembles an igloo and provides a cozy hide out on cold winter days.  Whether there is snow on the ground or not, kids will always be able to enjoy their own private shelter thanks to the inflatable snow fort.  Fun outdoor times don’t have to be limited by the amount of snow on the ground or by the willingness of older siblings to include younger ones in their big-kid adventures.