Picnic Party inspiration with a printable Checklist

Today is National Picnic Day! I am super excited because I love picnics. We always have a picnic backpack ready with essentials for when the mood strikes. Here are some party inspiration plus a picnic checklist to keep in your picnic basket. Sometimes you want to have a picnic, but the weather doesn’t cooperate, so for that reason, I want to encourage you to prep ahead, there are many sunny days ahead, so download my picnic checklist and get ready to go outside. Keep the checklist in your picnic basket to restock items for the next time.

Pick your picnic

When we take a hike to find a picnic spot we pack light. We live in the desert, so we hike until we find a shady tree. Sometimes there is only one shady tree ?. But it’s worth it because the views in the desert can be quite spectacular! My favorite spot to hike to is Red Rock Canyon. When we picnic at the park, we load the car a bit more, it almost looks like we are going camping. To host a picnic party at home set up picnic blankets with all the essentials on each blanket to help your guest feel relaxed. Pillows and seat cushions look beautiful and make the whole experience more comfortable. Also, remember that wood crates work great as tables.

Festive Picnic

To celebrate the Spring, I set up this little picnic party for the family. I dressed it up with balloons and comfy pillows.

To make this dreamy balloon garland attach 12-inch balloons and 9-inch balloons to a balloon decorating strip. Use glue dots to adhere 5-inch balloons to any gaps, and curling ribbon to hang it from a tree. Be sure to use an electric balloon blower to make life easier on your self.

Eats

This folding wine table is a game-changer, the last time we went camping our shady tree was on a rocky spot, so we had to move around rocks a little to set our wine. A must-have picnic item for me is a bottle of wine. Don’t forget to pack a bottle opener and the shatter-proof cups! Ours came with the picnic backpack. Keep meals simple and easy to eat. Since you will be hanging out for a while pack water, cheese, nuts, fruit, salami, bread, crackers, or salads and don’t forget the sweets. For this party, I treated the family to a strawberry shortcake, but on hikes, we bring one bar of gourmet chocolate to share amongst each other.

Other essentials

Other items that I keep in my picnic gear that are not as pretty, but necessary are; sand sanitizer wipes, sunscreen, lavender essential oil, citronella essential oil, and mosquito repellent stickers. The one thing that can kill the mood super fast at a picnic is bugs! I know I am the intruder, but I like to think we can share the space. Once you pick a picnic spot, place a couple of drops of lavender or citronella essential oils around your picnic blanket. The oils help keep little critters away.

Games

To pass the time, pack card games, balls, books or magazines. My son likes to play card games, which I find fascinating because we live in Las Vegas. His grandmother taught him how to play war, and he taught me.

Pets

Pets like picnics too! For Spaghetti (our labradoodle) we pack collapsible bowls, food, treats, toy and poop bags.

Picnic Checklist

Summer favorites

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