Memorial Day Backyard Mini Makeover w/ Decor and Furniture #KmartOutdoor

I’m getting ready for Memorial Day because we plan on having guests over for a little get together. Not to mention, this upcoming weekend is Tyler’s birthday party at our house so we need the backyard looking sharp! We haven’t done much outdoor entertaining since we moved into our house in October and our backyard was looking a little sad. SO I did a mini makeover with items from Kmart to get ready for Memorial Day.
We set out to buy the following:

• A Table Umbrella
• BBQ Grill (preferably charcoal, I have a fear of propane)
• Yard Decor (bird bath, chairs etc)

There was a lot to choose from at Kmart, I was in that department for over an hour! I have a budget of $200-$250 and I want everything so deciding on what to get was pretty hard.

(Click the image above to see all of my shopping photos)

http://bit.ly/KmartCatalog

I spotted this catalog early into my shopping. I liked how it had different layouts of their items to help me choose what to get for my backyard and what went together. After looking for a while, I finally selected my purchases and went home to get to work. I was able to stack up some more Shop Your Way rewards points as well and score a $5 giftcard for spending over $50! I did learn though you can earn points without your Shop Your Way Rewards by giving them your telephone number but you can’t use any of them without that card and a pin number. I have no idea where mine is, I think it was lost in the move. I was a little bummed because I had quite a few points but the cashier was very nice, she wrote down the phone number I needed to call to get a new card. I can’t wait to receive it, I actually have over 10,000 points!!

This is what our backyard looked like before, not very appealing. As you can see, we haven’t spent much time out here. The table is dirty and the chairs are all over. My garden is just kind of wherever too, it needs a better spot and that patio needs a cleaning!

It’s really a nice table but obviously it hasn’t been used in a while, it just needs some cleaning and a more inviting feel.

 This table turned out great, I added the umbrella from Kmart which was only $45.99. It was a great price and it was very sturdy. They had other one’s there that looked like they may not withhold the Summer heat but this one is made out of quality canvas and wood.

I bought this vinyl tablecloth which fit perfectly on my table with the umbrella cut out even for only $3.49. This was a steal!! Also, I picked up some red cups and plates for Memorial Day for only $1.99 a 4 pack, $.50 each!

 

For the umbrella we bought these beautiful Jaclyn Smith lights, I like them so much I will be going back and getting another strand!! My favorite thing is they are all solar so I don’t have to worry about putting an extension cord by the table. I also love they were on sale for only $14.99!

Here they are in the dark…..

 

They gave off a great ambiance to enjoy at night. It makes me wish we had a pool to enjoy to have a more exciting backyard at night!

 Some of our chairs were by the wall with our firepit. Well needless to say, we won’t be using that until Winter.  I moved the chairs to the table and added this Gazing ball next to the fire pit. I like that I was able to bury it with rocks because I was worried it would tip over. It’s really cute and I think I will go and buy two more lawn type chairs to go next to it. It’s actually a nice piece of zen!

 

 I apologize in advance for the uh ghetto-ness you are about to see in the following photo.

We needed a new small patio table (which is fairly obvious from the above photo). It’s embarrassing (and tacky)! We definitely could not leave this out when entertaining so I was glad to find a nice glass patio table for only $23.99 at Kmart.

 It looks sharp and actually matched our big patio table very well.

Looking for an easy dessert recipe for Memorial Day or just a Summer get together? I made these and they turned out delicious, best of all it was easy and I reduced the fat in the cakes.

Ingredients:

• White Cake Box Mix
• Can of Pineapple Slices
• 1/2 cup of Butter
• 1 cup of Brown Sugar
• Maraschino Cherries
• You will need an oversized cupcake pan
• Pre-Heat oven to 375 degrees

Prepare Cake: Mix the cake mix with 1 and 1/4 cup of liquid. I used the juice from the pineapples and filled the rest with water along with 1 individual size natural applesauce (found in the snack aisle in a pack of 6-8).

Prepare Pineapple: Place a slice of pineapple in each space in the cupcake pan and then place a cherry in the middle of each of them. Take the butter and melt it on the stove in a pan or skillet. Or do like I did and melt it in the microwave. Once melted, slowly pour in the brown sugar until it’s dissolved and you have a nice syrup. Pour about 2 tablespoons over each pineapple allowing it to be well coated.

Bake for 30 minutes, enjoy!

And last and yes the least appealing thing of the makeover……

So you are wondering why there is no BBQ Grill in the photos? Well here it is, in all it’s not so glory. Another example of when saving money doesn’t mean quality.  I bought a $60 grill which is a great price and is probably good for someone who doesn’t do a lot of entertaining but I did not like it. This BBQ seemed extremely hard to put together, some hardware was missing or not properly functioning and halfway through I decided it wasn’t for me since we do a lot of entertaining and it didn’t seem like it could withold a lot of usage. I will be taking it back and facing my fears of using propane and investing in a much nicer grill. I mean, if so many people use propane it’s probably pretty easy. I actually found out that there is a Kenmore 4-burner gas grill w/ side burner on sale this week for $189.99. Since I know I want this grill to last, I am going to definitely check this one out and others that compare. There are also some other things on sale that I want so I will be heading back there before Memorial Day to pick some more stuff up!

• Garden Oasis 2-seat swing with cushion and canopy for $99.99, regularly $169.99 (I was wanting a hammock but this seems more practical and the kids won’t fight over it as much as a hammock)
• Garden Oasis Benton outdoor 5-pc dining set for $149.99, regularly $219.99
• 20% all patio decor
• 25% all patio cushions, umbrellas, and folding lawn furniture
• Save $20 on a deluxe full size charcoal grill
• Lock in today’s low prices for all of your upcoming events with Kmart layaway http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/dap_10151_10101_DAP_Kmart+Layaway?adcellevergreen7layaway&adCell=WH I never thought to do layaway while things are on sale to save money, great idea. Maybe I will put that swing on layaway!

You can keep up with Kmart via the following links:

• Kmart’s Website:  http://www.kmart.com/
• Kmart’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kmart
• Shop Your Way Rewards Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/ShopYourWay
• Kmart’s Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/kmart
• Kmart Weekly Deals:  http://kmrt.us/kmartweeklydeals
• Optional link:  Kmart Outdoor Living:  http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/dap_10151_10104_DAP_Real+Deals+Outdoor+Living

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™. #CBias #SocialFabric #KmartOutdoor All opinions are my own.