A Simple Celebration to #GrabSummerFun #CBias

Happy 4th of July!

Summer is a great time to have friends over, have fun and play outside. The only problem is as a host I usually spend the whole day (if not more) planning the party, making food, gathering decorations and being cooped up inside. Summer is too short to slave away in the kitchen, so I found a great way to throw a party without all the work.

When planning my party I went from throwing my daughter a birthday party, which we postponed due to my Mom coming for a visit later this month, to gearing up to celebrate the best birthday party of all... Independence Day! This is one of my favorite holidays because I love the red, white and blue, Summer fruit and of course, fireworks.

When I was preparing for my shopping trip I went over to Walmart.com and visited the Nestle Solutions Center. Not only could I look at what my store carried, but find recipes, ideas and coupons. I am always excited to find a bargain.

Our local Walmart carried a variety of inexpensive party decorations as well as the food I needed for our Summer fun. Nothing makes me happier than one-stop-shopping. My children were excited to help me pick out all the decorations and look through the holiday section at the store.

We grabbed boxes of Drumsticks for a cool treat to follow the pizza. I got both the Classic Vanilla with chopped peanuts and the newer Cookie Dipped Drumsticks I highly recommend buying multiple boxes. We had a hard time waiting for the party and I ended up having to make another trip into Walmart for more.

I grabbed Tombstone pizza, the supreme version for the adults because it has such great flavor and cheese pizza for the kids. Check out my entire shopping trip in my Google+ album.

Since the theme for this party was simple and fun, I was happy to have the food taken care of. For this party I was able to put more effort into the decorations and presentation.

Nothing pleases a crowd quite like simple food, pizza, veggies, fresh fruit, drinks and Nestle ice cream.

My veggie platter again was created using my star cookie cutters. I think the fun shapes are not only festive, but a great way to get kids excited about kohlrabi and cucumbers.

I re-purposed the kids' red wagon for a drink chiller. I also put bowls of freshly picked cherries in there.

I jazzed up a simple pitcher of water with a red, white and blue theme. I added frozen blueberries and raspberries, then used a small star cookie cutter to create star shapes in my cucumber slices. The water was slightly sweet and very refreshing.

I made flower arrangements from the roses, gerber daisies and lavender already growing in our yard.

I really enjoyed throwing a pizza party because I was able to sit with everyone and enjoy the company.

Then to top it all off we enjoyed a cold ice cream treat. I was pleased with how well the snow cone holders worked for the cones. Next year I want to locate (or paint) a big batch red.

I haven't had Drumsticks much since I was a child, but I think they have earned a more permanent place in my freezer now.

So this is how we #GrabSummerFun - what about your family? Do you have any plans to throw a Summer party?

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Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Nestle #CBias #SocialFabric All opinions are my own