For my family, summertime and barbecues go together like PB & J. My dad jumps at any chance he gets to BBQ and I’ve always enjoyed spending time with him around the grill! In an effort to mix things up, we decided to put on a fun BBQ Battle! Yep, that’s right, a little friendly competition! I would 10/10 recommend this fun activity for the whole family! If you’re looking to throw your own Ultimate BBQ Battle, look no further than Christmas Tree Shops for everything you could need…and more!! Keep reading for all the details on our Beachside BBQ Battle!

Thank you to Christmas Tree Shops for partnering with me on today’s blog post. As always, all opinions are my own! Learn about the greater impact my sponsored blog posts make with the Phillips Lane Promise.

The BBQ Battle

Leave it to my family to turn barbecuing into a competition, ha! I was able to find everything I needed for this BBQ Battle at Christmas Tree Shops. From cute vinyl tablecloths to 6ft tiki torches (under $3!!) to decorative serving trays/platters, Christmas Tree Shops had me covered!

While I’ve been a loyal Christmas Tree Shops customer for many years now, I’m still always amazed with their huge selection of seasonal decor/items and what a great value their pieces are! Most of the pieces you see in these photos were under $10. Yes, way!! 

For our barbecue “battle,” my dad and I settled on each perfecting a specific kabob. I chose to make a fruit kabob, while my dad opted for the more traditional veggie kabob. To recreate our kabobs all you’ll need is:

-12in Wooden Skewers 
-Pineapple
-Watermelon
-Peaches
-Star-Shaped Cookie Cutter (for the watermelon)
-Mushrooms
-Zucchini
-Red Peppers
-Yellow Peppers
-Orange Peppers

It was a close call in the presentation category, but I’m going to have to give myself the point here since I pulled out the star-shaped cookie cutter to make watermelon stars for my kabobs. Who do you think had the better presentation? 

For the taste category, my dad made a delicious marinade for his veggie kabobs so he definitely wins! I opted to grill my fruit kabobs without any seasoning, which turned out great, but of course couldn’t stand up to his BBQ rub. 

Pro Tip: Make sure you bring an extra tray or two as a landing spot for your kabobs once they’re done on the barbeque. We picked up several plastic trays at Christmas Tree Shops along with a bamboo cutting board (each under $10) and had plenty of room to plate up our kabobs prior to being judged! 

Picnic Essentials from Christmas Tree Shops

*Adds professional picnic-er to her resumé* Before we dive into the tablesape’s design, let’s touch upon a few picnic essentials! As someone who will find any excuse to create a beautiful tablescape, I love how Christmas Tree Shops offers a wide variety of options at such an affordable price! My entire tablescape was sourced from Christmas Tree Shops. The best part? Although affordable, these pieces are great quality so I’ll be able to keep using them for years to come!! 

In addition to my tablescape (which we’ll discuss in more detail later), I also picked up lots of picnic essentials from Christmas Tree Shops to make sure I had everything I needed for a fun afternoon!

To ensure you have a relaxing afternoon/evening, you’ll most likely want to have a few tiki torches around and some citronella candles. I purchased my 6ft tiki torches (+ tiki torch fluid) and my citronella candles from Christmas Tree Shops and honestly, I’m going to go back and stock up on some more! For under $3/tiki torch, how can you go wrong?!

Not only are the tiki torches a fun way to decorate your picnic space, but they help keep the bugs away! Christmas Tree Shops also had mini tiki torches (under $2 each) that are 3ft high. We brought those glamping with us, which I 100% recommend doing!!

Some other picnic essentials that I picked up from Christmas Tree Shops…

• Paper Straws 
• Outdoor Tablecloths  
• BBQ Spatula
• Ice Bucket for Drinks
• Infused Water Pitcher
• Plastic Dinnerware & Trays

Click HERE for $10 off your purchase of $50 or more
when you sign up for Christmas Tree Shops’ email list! 

5 Tips for Crafting the Perfect Tablescape

I LOVE a good tablescape and this one might be my best so far! Emma and I went to Christmas Tree Shops up in Danbury, CT two weeks ago and picked up all the goodies you see here! From tablecloths to tiki torches to pillows and plastic dinnerware, Christmas Tree Shops has. it. all. !! Below I’m sharing 5 tips for crafting the perfect tablescape:

Tip #1 // Choose a color scheme + 1 accent color.
Unless you’re going for a really over the top look, then you’ll probably want to just limit yourself to 1 accent color. For this tablescape, Emma and I decided to stick with white + blue tones for the majority of our pieces and then added in some coral accents with our paper straws ($1/pack) and tablecloth repurposed as a bench cover (under $4 each). 

Tip #2 // Let your pattern pop.
You’ll notice that we opted for this beautiful blue, patterned tablecloth. I really think it pulls the entire tablescape together and I plan to keep using it all summer long! In order to not overwhelm the tablescape though, we stuck to plain, plastic dinnerware from Christmas Tree Shops. Personally, I think the tablescape would have been a bit busy if we had instead layered patterned plates and bowls on top of the tablecloth. If you’re looking for some fun, patterned plastic plates & bowls for summer entertaining, Christmas Tree Shops has SO many options at a great value!! 

Tip #3 // Layer your dinnerware.
Do you ever put together what you think will be a gorgeous tablescape, take a step back, and feel underwhelmed? Yep, that’s happened to me plenty of times! I feel like the most likely culprit of this is not layering your dinnerware. Instead of just putting out a dinner plate at each table setting, put out the following: charger, dinner plate, appetizer plate, and salad/soup bowl. This instantly elevates your look while also making the table feel more complete. Note: we decided to not use any chargers here just out of personal preference. 

Tip #4 // Add some height!
As you can see here we lifted the tablecape a bit by placing these gold pineapple candles on top of some candle holders. Alternatively, you can also add some height to your tablescape with fresh floral arrangements! If you’re looking for candle holders and lanterns, look no further than Christmas Tree Shops. They had a HUGE selection while I was there and most were under $10 each! 

Tip #5 // Play around with textures.
This might be my favorite tip of all because I LOVE playing with texture! This cute, turtle-shaped woven tray adds a natural element along with plenty of texture! While it certainly doesn’t overpower the rest of the tablescape, this tray certainly adds some warmth and interest. Another way we brought in texture to this tablescape is with our candles! Again, all of these pieces came in right around $5-$10. How amazing?! 

What is your favorite element to our BBQ Battle tablescape?? Let me know in the comments below! 

&

Don’t forget to click HERE
to find a Christmas Tree Shops near you!

keywords: BBQ Battle + 5 Tablescape Tips with Christmas Tree Shops // Tablescape Tips // Barbecue Battle // Summer Picnic // Picnic Tips // Beachfront Picnic // How To Host A Picnic