S’mores Party Time! Our First Party On The Recently Renovated Backyard Patio

Welcome to the 913th Metamorphosis Monday! I think you’re going to like this transformation! This was my backyard when I bought the Dollhouse. I had not even looked at the backyard in detail the first couple of times I walked through the house, so I didn’t really take a look at the backyard until the final walkthrough. I think I was in shock when I saw it. The backyard patio that had once been surrounded by flowers (when the previous owners lived here for twenty years) was now surrounded by a bazillion weeds.

The only plants that seemed to have survived were Spiderwort (which I detest since it reseeds everywhere!), 1 Black-eyed Susan, 9-10 Catmint plants, which I’m positive could survive a zombie apocalypse, 1 Salvia, and 2 Bloody Cranesbill—per my garden app.

The large tree you see on the left broke off that giant limb seen sticking out toward my neighbor’s yard. Turns out, it was actually 4 Little Linden trees all grown into one. We later discovered someone had tried to put a brace in. That was found after it split off into the neighbor’s yard. After the tree split incident, it had to be removed.

Thousands of dollars later, the large tree was removed (still gotta get the stump removed), and the gardens have been weeded several times by myself and others I’ve employed to help. I hope to have the patio cleaned, sanded, and sealed very soon. In the meantime, a tremendous amount of progress has been made! I added three purple coneflower plants near the surviving Black-eyed Susan. I’ll share better photos of the gardens soon.

Even though I don’t use a lot of orange or red in my gardens, I added a single Firestarter Crocosmia (that’s it on the left) when I learned that hummingbirds like it. I planted it up high in the garden so the cats and I can view it from the sunroom in case a hummingbird decides to visit. I love hummingbirds, so I love the idea of having some plants in the garden that they’ll enjoy. I left one single catmint—it’s there just to the left of the stairs going down. It is surrounded by rock on two sides and pavers on a third side, so that should help keep it in check. Hopefully, catmint doesn’t reseed like spiderwort!

Last night, I set the table for a last-minute gathering with family. It was a very simple outdoor table, so I didn’t take any photos. Plus, we ended up not even sitting at the table as everyone just snacked away throughout the evening.

My grandsons had pizza earlier, so all they were interested in was making s’mores on the new fire pit. We didn’t use the beautiful glass windscreen that came with the fire pit since there weren’t any strong winds to worry about last night.

Nighttime is my favorite time in the garden. For our gathering, I placed a small, folding table with a black tablecloth covering it over in one corner of the patio. I used THESE to cover the food. One is visible toward the back on the table in the photo below. Since everyone was content sitting in the comfy seating area around the fire pit/coffee table, we eventually ended up moving some of the food to the dining table.

In addition to lights going down the stairs from the driveway to the patio, I have the same set of lights running along side the lower stairs that lead from the patio to the lower-level garden. (That set of lights is available here: Solar Lights for the Garden.) I also added fairy lights everywhere! I purchased three different brands of fairly lights, and my favorite was this 4-pack set: Fairy Light for the Garden. Oh, and I love these that I ordered earlier in the summer: Outdoor Garden Lights. I like placing them low enough that the stakes are mostly hidden by the flowers.

The steps that lead from the driveway down to the patio are interrupted by a flat area that’s just dirt. I covered it in pine straw as you can see in the photo below, but what I really, really wanted for that spot was a whimsical stepping stone, something that would be a wonderful surprise and make you smile each time you walked down the steps. It’s extremely difficult to find large, whimsical stepping stones. Most are around 10-12 inches wide, which in my opinion is too small for a proper stepping stone, decorative or not. A shoed foot will barely fit on a stepping stone that small. For now, I ended up buying two cast-iron turtles and placing them side by side, one turtle headed one way and one going the opposite direction. You’ll find quite a few of those here: Cast Iron Turtle Stepping Stones for Garden.

The furniture was a big hit with my family! I’ve shared it in previous posts if you would like to see more photos. (Furniture was purchased here: Outdoor Dining Set, AND here: Seating Area with Fire Pit.) The seating area was a huge hit with everyone since it’s so comfy—like sitting in your favorite chair in your living room. You may remember that I purchased 20 x 20-inch pillows for the chairs in the seating area to coordinate with the seat cushions on the dining chairs. Those worked great, and I like how the pillows tie everything together.

The candles I placed on the coffee table/fire pit earlier in the evening (before we began using it for roasting s’mores) were some I picked up in TJ Maxx earlier in the day.

This was the solar light I had on each of the two side tables that came with the seating set. They looked so pretty lit up after dark. I really love this patio at night with all the lights. (Solar lights are available here: Solar Lights in Set of 2.)

I’ll share better photos of the garden later, but below you’ll find Echibeckia ‘Summerina’ along the front, a surviving salvia that I transplanted from another spot in the garden, two white phlox that will eventually be very tall behind the tall Summerina and difficult to see, but there are three foxgloves planted back behind and to the right side of the white phlox. They won’t bloom next year, but I hope they will come back and bloom again one day. In Georgia, I could never get my foxgloves to return. They acted like an annual. I left room in front of the Summerina to add some annuals, but not sure I’ll do that this year since it’s so late in the growing season here.

This was our setup for the S’mores party. Learn from me and don’t buy these giant Campfire Roaster Marshmallows for making s’mores. They are way too big! I’ve never made s’mores before and thought these were what I needed. Next time I’ll buy the regular-size marshmallows! The Reese’s Thins were a big hit for the s’mores, though!

(Note: This S’mores Bar comes with handles that can be attached to carry it like a try, but since it had just arrived a few hours earlier, I didn’t have time to attach them before the party that night. I attached them right after taking this photo, and it was super easy to do.

Here’s a photo showing how the S’mores Bar looks with its handles attached. I didn’t use the little stand that came with this s’more bar it since we used some really nice roasting sticks I had purchased earlier. The ones I purchased have extendable handles, which I think makes roasting marshmallows safer for children. You’ll find the Roasting Sticks I purchased here: Roasting Sticks. The S’mores Bar is available here: S’mores Bar.

Still so much more I want to do back here, but I’m slowly getting there. At least the patio is now a place my family and I can enjoy hanging out. The boys loved playing ping-pong on the driveway while the adults enjoyed visiting around the fire pit. If I can leave you with one tip that I’ve learned, it would be to add a few solar lanterns and fairy lights to your garden. Once you’re back inside for the evening, you’ll find yourself stealing glances into the yard all night long. I think I’ll be hanging out here a lot in the evenings. It feels like I’m on a tropical vacation when I’m in this space now. Oh, one last tip: We never got bit by a single mosquito last night. I had two Mosquito Repellent devices running at the perimeter of the patio, one at each end, and I’m very happy with how those worked!. Those are available here: Mosquito Repellent. Looking forward to all the awesome Before and Afters linked below for this week’s Metamorphosis Monday!

Metamorphosis Monday: Metamorphosis Monday is a party that’s all about Before and Afters. Please link up your Before and After projects, like DIY projects, room makeovers, craft projects, and even recipes. Please do not link up Table Settings; save those for our Tablescape Thursday party on Thursday. If you are participating in Met Monday, link your post to the party using the “permalink” to your MM post and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on the name of your post, then copy and paste the address (that shows in the address bar at the top of your blog) into the “URL” box for InLinkz when prompted.