Creating my Outdoor Oasis with Pier 1 + Giveaway

June 6, 2014 By Ashley

Make sure you enter the giveaway at the end of the post!

I was challenged by Mom Central Consulting (#MC) and Pier 1 Imports to create an outdoor oasis and then share with my friends at a party. They provided a budget for me to go shopping at Pier 1 Imports and as a thank you for participating. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen some pics from my shopping trip. They had so many great pieces, that I wanted them all!

I decided the best use of my resources would be to buy one larger item and then pick up some smaller items to work into what I already had at home. No need to start from scratch, when I already had a few things I really like for my backyard oasis.

Enough talking, here are some photos! Here is the whole set-up.

I should also remind you, that I have a teeny, tiny backyard. So in pretty much every wide photo you are going to see several of my neighbor’s houses. Ah, that’s city living for you!

I had the umbrella already and I purchased the battery operated lantern lights from Pier 1. The lanterns can collapse down, so storing these is so easy! I’ve never tried lights on my umbrella before and I was pleased to see that there were velcro tabs on the umbrella. It was so easy to hang these lanterns up!

Let me show you some close-ups of the table. I just love the bright color and patterns in the Pier 1 collection! I picked up the melamine plates, napkins, and the fun umbrella straws all from Pier 1. When you are entertaining outside where it is bright and sunny, it’s the perfect opportunity to go with bright colors and bold patterns. The plastic ware came from my local party supply shop and I had the mason jars and the fun daisy lids already. It was so perfect how the mason jar lids fit right in with the floral pattern on everything else.

For the party, I was serving a catered lunch, so I thought this would be a great place to set-up up some desserts and fruit. The serving bowl and bamboo tray both came from Pier 1. The other service pieces were things I already had. I was so happy with the way my pieces fit in so nicely with the items I purchased at Pier 1. I got the most compliments on that serving bowl. It was the perfect size, and I love the scalloped top. It really gives the bowl some interest.

To set the mood a little bit, I finished off the table with some flowers in mason jar vases. They added so much! Fresh flowers are going to be a must-have item for any future parties I host.

At this point, everything was all set-up and ready for guests to arrive. That is when the wind started blowing. It was not a light breeze either, it was blowing hard! My umbrella, even though it was anchored by a 30 lb base blew over a few times and things just got crazy. The straws were blowing out of the glasses, the silverware, and napkins weren’t safe either. One of my paper lanterns got crushed by the umbrella too. We ended up having to take down our beautiful set-up and move everything inside.

I mentioned earlier that I bought one big item. My big purchase was a beverage cart. I’ve always wanted one and I loved this one. To add to the Oasis feel, I created some carrot and green pepper palm trees. I loved them and all the guests did too! It’s fine to add some special touches here and there. Several of the guests didn’t realize they were made from food until they got a closer look. They assumed they were just some plastic palm trees.

Here’s a closer look:

They were so easy to make. I just cut a palm shape out of the peppers with kitchen shears, and then poked the end of the carrot through the top. In the bucket, I served ice cold bottles of water.

Here’s most of the gang, enjoying lunch. We ended up with another 5 people that came a little later. It was a pretty full house, but that is how I like it!

I really loved how everything turned out, well except for the bad weather part. For my next shopping trip to Pier 1, I definitely want to look at their outdoor rugs. I really think that would finish everything off and tie it all together. They have a pretty big selection of Outdoor rugs available. You can see them here.

All of the pieces I mentioned are available right now at Pier 1. They have tons of different ways you can shop too. You can buy in-store, ship-to-store, ship-to-home, and even in-home delivery for larger pieces. I really like to shop in-store. I’m an instant gratification person, but don’t forget to check out the website. I definitely saw a few pieces online that I didn’t see in my local store.

I have some good news for you! I am giving away a $25 gift card to Pier 1 Imports. That’s right, you can go shopping and start putting together an outdoor oasis of your own! You can enter below in the Rafflecopter form. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Pier 1 Imports. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and to thank me for participating