Fun BBQ ideas

***This WHOLE post is from Be Different...Act Normal.  I thought it was so cute you must read/get ideas for your summertime bbq's!  You should really check her website out....so many fun ideas!!***

Here is what she wrote...

Instead of a boring drink cooler, throw some ice in your (cleaned out) wheelbarrow:

You can even have a separate wheelbarrow for the kids so they know what drinks are for them and can reach them easily (but you will want it to be red of course!):

Everyone usually goes for the easy sharpie on the red cup method to mark drinks, which works, but if you are using drinks in bottles, keep a bucket of colorful rubberbands near the drinks and people can color code their bottles.  If you have kids attending, use these
fun food shaped rubber band bracelets and they can keep them as party favors after the barbecue:

I love these fun baskets in place of paper plates:

Right now they are 4 for $1 at Target in their dollar spot, but you can usually find them all over the place this time of year.  They are easier for little hands to carry and make for almost as easy of a clean up if you line them with parchment.

Barbecue in a Jar (or a picnic too!)

There are so many fun ideas for using regular old canning jars at a barbeque (or a picnic too!)  Ideas that are both cute and handy.  Here are some of my favorites!

All You used widemouth jars not only to hold the lemonade, but to hold the lemons (and flowers) as well:

But it is the lemonade idea that everyone knows, but that I love the most.  I love drinking strawberry lemonade from a widemouth jar at my favorite barbecue restaurant.

Have little hands that can't hold a big glass jar, go smaller, keep the lids on, and use a straw:

Even if you don't want to purchase the daisy cut metal lids, you can use a drill to make a hole for the straw.

Country Living used these cute jars to store their corn and chickpea salad, but 

Givers Log but the whole darn meal in a jar:

And I have to admit that it looks REALLY GOOD!

Desserts!  Desserts are really fun and cute in a jar!  There are a couple of bakeries that sell cupcakes in a jar, but really all you have to do is bake cupcakes the normal way and then cut them in half, and layer the halves in the jar with frosting:

Or you can just bake them in the jar and let people frost them themseleves.  

The same layering idea works for ice cream.  You can use little jars to make individual parfaits and then seal them up and put them back in the freezer (or keep them on ice!)

 Not Martha has great recipes for baking culte little pies and cobblers in jars too:

And the best part of all these ideas is that you can keep a nice lid on them (and keep bugs OUT of them) until it is time to eat! 

What is your favorite thing to eat or drink out of a jar?

Didn't she do a great job?  so many cute ideas!!  So seriously...go check her out here