| Throw a Labor Day party with leftovers

Throw-a-Labor-Day-party-with-leftovers Have your seasonal summer decorations taken over your house? Why not plan a party this Labor Day that gives you an extra kick to get rid of your leftovers?

Time to clear out your pantry, your closet and your summer storage. Use this last summer hurrah to finish off the Fourth of July decor, your beach items, and invite friends and neighbors over for an outdoor, potluck, family-style celebration.

I’ve created a fun mishmash I’m calling “red, beach and blue” since it uses my leftover summer items. Here are some tips.

Leftover decor
When you are having a family-style potluck and you are incorporating a theme, the best advice is to keep everything looking uniform. So suggest to guests that they bring their items in glass or white bowls so the dishes don’t conflict with your color scheme.

For your outdoor dining table, use an oversize beach towel as a runner or as a festive throw. I’m using a red striped towel from my leftover Fourth of July stash. Mini bamboo torches anchor each end of the table and can keep the mosquitoes away.Next, create a functional centerpiece. Use a trifle bowl or punch bowl filled white sangria. This also works with a colorful, chopped garden vegetable salad, too.

Sand pails aren’t just for sand at this outdoor barbecue. You can use them to hold hand sanitizing wipes. I find when you have kids running around you can’t have enough wet wipes to clean their sticky hands.

Small metal pails can be used to hold your old citronella candles. Maybe you have a few leftover pails that were favors at past weddings. You can also decorate votive holders with shells to create an “oh, wow” factor at the party.

Do you have a collector in your house? Maybe someone who goes to the beach and collects shells, sea glass, various found objects? Well, if you are feeling artsy, you can take these objects and create beautiful leftover decor such as these sea glass orbs. Large seashells can also be used as place cards or to identify the food for a family-style dinner.

Keep your place settings simple. This is a great time to finish up all of your disposable red and blue plates, cups and utensils at this sit-down bash.

Got to feed the people!
Barbecue sauce is easier to make than you might think, and most of us have all of the basic ingredients in our pantry. You can personalize it with your own touches if you like it hot or sweet. Just throw the ingredients into a blender.

Homemade barbecue sauceCathy Riva - | Throw a Labor Day party with leftovers |