Ocean Terry Oversize Fouta Towel, Nine Space
Reversible Beach Chair, Julie Brown Designs
Lunch Pot, Black + Blum
Wooden Utensils, Sucre
Splish Splash Pool Party Invites, Paper Culture
Baby Float with Sun Canopy, Swimways
Lomography Camera, La Sardina
Summer Fun Paper Plates, Tag
Medium Tote Bag, J.Crew x Sea Bags

Start off your watery escapades with one of Paper Culture’s summer party invitations, find the one that best fits your pool party, and invite all your dear family and friends. Then pack a picnic lunch in Black + Blum’s ingenious lunch pot to eat with the crafty wooden utensils from Sucre. And, as always, a camera in fun colors to document the memories.

Needless to say, my daughter’s first pool adventure was a blast for the entire family filled with yummy food, refreshing water games, and laughs and relaxation. We practically had to drag her out of the water with promises of future pool parties!

Ooh la la summer is finally here. It’s time to pull out the beach bag, grab a swimsuit, and find some hot summer shades. Here’s a list of our summer-approved shades. We pulled out our top favorites for their sharp style and sustainable features.

First up are some gorgeous golden glasses from Schwood, a Portland-based company that makes bespoke shades from sustainable wood. We love the vintage vibe that anyone with an eye for design can appreciate. Each pair of frames is handmade and comes in a super sturdy matching wood box.  You can even order a pair made from recycled skateboards! Guaranteed to give you a one-of-a-kind look.

The TOMS shoes one-for-one model doesn’t just apply to shoes. Buy these super-slick frames and TOMS will give sight to a person in need with prescription glasses, medical care or sight-saving surgery. It’s an offer you can’t refuse. They’ve already helped over 50,000 people and are aiming to reach 100,000 by the summer’s end. Not to mention they look great on.

And finally for the sportier type, check out the skateboarding legend Bob Burnquist recycled glasses from Oakley. These classic eye protectors are made from the excess materials from other Oakley shades and feature stylish bamboo accents. You’ll wear these recycled sunglasses with pride knowing how little impact they had on the environment. Get them while you still can.

1 Prime Cut Apron by Sur La Table, $24.95
2 Bamboo Barbecue Cutting/Serving Board by Crate and Barrel, $29.95
3 Backyard BBQ Invitations by Paper Culture, $1.39
4 Burger Coasters exclusively at MoMA, $22
5 Oliver Appetizer Plates by CB2, $2.95 each
6 Barbecue Sauces by Williams-Sonoma, $12.95 – $14.95
7 Hamman Stripe Monogrammed Hand Towels by West Elm, $10 each
8 Mobile Foodie Survival Kit by PLANT, $26
9 Extreme Barbecue by Dan Huntley and Lisa Grace Lednicer, $8
10 Fyrkat Picnic Charcoal Grill by Bodum, $80
11 Tool Set with Hardwood Case by Mr. Bar-B-Q, $120
12 Everything’s Better T-Shirt by Stubb’s Bar-B-Q, $15

Fun items like the burger coasters and Oliver appetizer plates will be a smash at any summer party. And dear ‘ol dad can always use an apron highlighting all things meat as well as a grilling tool kit in a hardwood case. We’ve provided direct links to all of the items, but we’ve also created a Barbecue Mood Board on Pinterest as well. Check it out and also take a look at our other Pinterest boards while you’re at it.

We at Paper Culture hope that this will help you kick off your summer in the right way. Don’t forget to send an invitation our way!

Martha Stewart’s Honeydew Agua Fresca – Tired of the tried and true mint lemonade and peach iced-tea recipes? Don’t be bored by your summer beverages — enjoy this refreshing traditional Mexican fruit drink in just a few minutes.

Serves 10

14 cups honeydew melon or cantaloupe (from a 5-pound melon)
1/3 cup superfine sugar
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from 4 limes)
Ice
2 cups raspberries

Set a large fine-mesh sieve over a large pitcher or jug. In batches, in a food processor or blender, puree melon until smooth. Pour melon puree through sieve, pressing on solids with a rubber spatula (you should have about 4 cups juice).

In a small bowl, combine superfine sugar and fresh lime juice; stir until sugar dissolves. Add lime mixture and 4 cups water to melon juice and mix well. Adjust sweetness with more sugar if desired. (Mixture can be refrigerated, up to 2 days.) To serve, add plenty of ice and 2 cups raspberries.

101 Cookbook’s Summer Corn Salad – Fresh corn is easy to find in the summer at the farmers’ market and this tasty salad is quick to make and a big hit with adults and children, alike.

Serves 6 or more.
Prep time: 10 min

6 ears of corn
1 large shallot, minced
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
v. scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
3/4 cup / 4 oz / 115g toasted pepitas
3/4 cup / 4 oz / 115g toasted sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

Shuck the corn and use a knife to cut the kernels from the cobs. Place the kernels in a medium bowl with the shallot while you make the dressing.

Combine the lemon juice, salt, and sugar in a small bowl or jar. Gradually add the oil, whisking vigorously until the dressing comes together. Taste, and adjust with more lemon juice, salt or sugar, if needed. This dressing should be on the sweet side, not overly tangy.

Just before serving, add the seeds to the bowl of corn along with 2/3 of the dressing. Toss well, really get everything well coated. If you want more dressing, add more to taste. Crush the oregano between your palms and let it shower down on to the salad. Toss one more time and serve.

Epicurious’ Fresh Fruit Ice Trio: Lime, Watermelon & Pineapple (by Lourdes Castro, Simply Mexican) – Having lived in Los Angeles, I’ve had the great fortune of savoring the Mexican street vendor fruit cocktail. This ice cold dessert is inspired by the plastic bag-fruit-concoction and is a perfect way to end a meal.

Serves 6

Lime
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 6 limes)
Finely grated zest of 3 limes

Watermelon
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups water
4 cups chopped seedless watermelon (about 3 pounds whole fruit), rind removed
Juice of 1 lime

Pineapple
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 pineapple, peeled, cored, chopped (about 3 cups)

LIME
Prepare a Simple Syrup. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan set over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow the syrup to cool. Add the Lime Juice and Freeze. Pour the simple syrup and lime juice in a 9 by 11-inch nonreactive baking pan and stir in the lime zest. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the freezer. After 1 hour, stir the mixture well, using a fork. Return to the freezer for another hour, then stir again. Allow the mixture to freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight (it is not necessary to continue stirring after you have done it twice).

Serve. Remove the pan from the freezer and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes. Using a fork, scrape the fruit ice and serve it in a small bowl.

WATERMELON
Prepare a Simple Syrup. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan set over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow the syrup to cool. Puree the Watermelon and Freeze. Puree the watermelon chunks (it is fine if small seeds are still attached) in a blender until smooth. Pour the simple syrup, lime juice, and watermelon puree in a 9 by 11-inch nonreactive baking pan and stir well. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the freezer. After 1 hour, stir the mixture well, using a fork. Return to the freezer for another hour, then stir again. This time allow the mixture to freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight (it is not necessary to continue stirring after you have done it twice).

Serve
Remove the pan from the freezer and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes. Using a fork, scrape the fruit ice and serve it in a small bowl.

PINEAPPLE
Prepare a Simple Syrup. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan set over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow the syrup to cool. Puree the Pineapple and Freeze. Puree the pineapple chunks in a blender until smooth. Pour the simple syrup and pineapple puree in a 9 by 11-inch nonreactive baking pan and stir well. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the freezer. After 1 hour, stir the mixture well using a fork. Return to the freezer for another hour, then stir again. This time allow the mixture to freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight (it is not necessary to continue stirring after you have done it twice).

Serve
Remove the pan from the freezer and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes. Using a fork, scrape the fruit ice and serve it in a small bowl.

334/365 Tire Swing Bench Monday!

Summer’s here! Which means airport runs for some families. Instead of packing for a stressful flight elsewhere, why not save money, enjoy a staycation and let your kids “fly” at home?!

I’ve spun myself silly for hours on end with this favorite childhood past time — the tire swing. And the best part aside from it being pretty easy to set up, is it really brings the neighborhood kids together. All you need is a strong and willing tree, a tire (save one from the junk yard), nylon rope or metal chain, and simple hardware.

Martha Stewart‘s team shares easy-to-follow directions with helpful reader’s comments including this one, “Tires have a tendency of leaving black on the kids clothes. If you will paint the tire with a marine grade urethane varnish this will not happen.”

Popular Mechanics offers a visual how-to for making a horizontally hung tire using tire chains for those who prefer hardcore Ikea-like building instructions.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, summer makes me nostalgic for long days spent manning lemonade stands, riding bikes, crafting with friends, and swinging into the sunset. If backyards are meant for family activities, tree swings are where fond memories are made. What are some of your favorite tree swing moments? Mine include, holding on for dear life, leaning all the way back and lots of loud belly laughter!

Bonus: Enjoy this sweet “Tire Swing” song by Kimya Dawson to get yourself in the mood for lazy summer days.

Observing my young cousins today, they’re all really good at being on trend, but none of them seem to actually make anything to share with their peers anymore. Their time is spent virtually hanging out with their buddies and ordering things versus actually hanging out in real time together, making things. Since summer’s about more  friends and family togetherness, I thought you might enjoy doing the following activities with your young roommates:

The Purl Bee: Molly’s Sketchbook: Friendship Bracelets – I spent hours after school weaving friendship bracelets for anyone who wanted to trade them with me. They were bright and colorful and pretty easy to make. They lasted a long time and were easy to replace. Best of all, the bracelets were very affordable jewelry and I always had something to match my favorite JAMS shorts and Rugby shirt!

lovelydesign: Making Personalized Children’s Buttons – Buttons are an easy and fun way to customize an outfit (or as previously mentioned, a favorite tote bag). lovelydesign made buttons for a birthday treat giveaway which I think makes a perfect any-day gift giveaway.

TLC: How To Make Beaded Pins – The easiest craft for kids who were all thumbs. All you had to do was stick beads on to safety pins and hand them over to your besties.

Do you remember the universal bead color code? Me neither. So I had to look it up! And exactly how important was it to receive these little sneaker decorations? Read Life as a Supermom‘s comical post and relive some teen angst.

Parents Magazine: Get Your Groovy On – How to Tie-Dye with Kids! – This is an outdoor activity both parents and kids love to do together. Parents love the flashbacks — not those kinds! And their sexy hippie years never seemed closer. For kids, it’s a fashion-science project: dye clothes, create spectacular patterns, and have lots of colorful and fun fashion for the year ahead!

If these activities made you nostalgic, then consider my work here, like, totally done and a great success!

Are there any crafts or DIY activities you like to do in your household? If so, please share them with us!

[Special thanks to my friend Fiel who inspired me to write this post!]

I’m a big fan of lemonade stands as they teach children the basic rules of commerce (making and saving money) and entrepreneurship and are a fun and easy way to practice math. My 11 year old cousin, Ari pays for his summer purchases by operating his lemonade stand every couple of weeks and enjoys the outdoor activity tremendously.

Hearing kids yell, “Ice cold lemonade! 50 cents a cup!” is totally endearing. Lemonade stands always make me smile. A bit of whimsy and a lot of nostalgia, I can hardly drive or walk past kids in action without stopping to support their efforts. If you’re interested in helping your child organize a drink booth, One Charming Party has step-by-step instructions for creating the loveliest lemonade stand, I’ve ever seen. And if the stand wasn’t adorable enough, check out the treats and toys to accompany the summer refreshers. I think you’ll agree, it’s so sweet!

Martha Stewart, drink your heart out!