Cottage Home Tour - Kelly's Island at Lake Erie

As we get ready to celebrate the 4th of July I wanted to show you the cutest little cottage located on Kelly's Island at Lake Erie. You can only access the island from Miller's Ferry or the Jet Express and when you get off the boat it is like a step back in time. It is so peaceful, quaint and family oriented with people primarily riding bikes or golf carts down tree lined streets.

The cottage is owned by some friends of ours and has been in their family for decades. It was purchased initially to be used as a fishing cabin. Renovations started two years ago and my neighbor Linda Murry designed the space to be kid and animal friendly with low maintenance. Several of my posts will showcase this summertime retreat so grab some ice tea or lemonade and enjoy.

    

The clear jar has Johnny's army men and you will see them scattered on the table in a few pictures.

  

   

Hope you enjoyed the cottage tour! Keep cool in this heat!

Cathy

Ideas for Back Yard Party- Vintage Design for Summer

Today is the last of the grad party posts. I just wanted to show you some pictures of how we arranged plants and created additional seating arrangements to give the backyard a comfy feel for guests to sit and linger. Of course I used vintage items that I have collected over the years from yard sales and thrift stores!



Outdoor living room



Use ferns or other plants by the tent posts- we used these ferns from last years wedding



We filled the white containers with popcorn for people to snack on



I bought these old iron hotel chairs at yard sale and painted them



Set the stack of picnic baskets by an outlet as a "table" for the speakers for  music



Space for corn hole



The families with little ones used the red wagon to tote the kiddies around the yard

 


Throw vintage blankets on the ground for people to sit on.



Rusty always thinks the party is about him! He had soooo many snacks from the guests! He loves popcorn!



Friends since they were toddlers-now all grown up



I used a vintage violin case to prop up childhood and school memories because Scott played violin for eight years

  I hope you gained some inspiration for any type of gathering you might have this summer! Enjoy and cherish your family memories.

Cathy

Ice Cream Bar For Grad Party

Today I would like to show you some more photos of the H.S. grad party we recently hosted for our son. One of his favorite foods is ice cream. We checked on renting a soft serve machine but it was going to cost a couple hundred dollars. I checked with a local dairy that makes wonderful ice cream and I could rent one of their freezers and buy 3 gallon tubs of ice cream for a fraction of the cost. I bought a variety of toppings and put them in Ball jars that I borrowed from my friend who had done the ice cream sundae bar at her daughter's graduation. I bought wooden tags from Pick Your Plum and spray painted them with chalk board paint. White leather was threaded through the tags and tied on the ball jars for a no fuss approach to labels.

 8 different ice cream bar toppings

Continued With the Chalk Board Theme To Show College Spirit

 Freshly Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies Just Waiting For The Ice Cream.

The Ice Cream Station In Action!

  It was obviously a very popular treat for all ages with the big guys going back for seconds!

Thanks for visiting What's Old Is New.