Styling an Iced Tea Station

Hi Guys!  Summer is finally here in Massachusetts.  I mean really here!  My car thermometer read 100 degrees yesterday.  Crazy!!  With the hot days of summer coming I thought it would be timely to share my decorated Iced Tea Station.  Hopefully, you will be having plenty of summer occasions where these ideas might be helpful :).

As old and ratty as this garden bench is, it is the starting point for my Iced Tea Station.  I don't think I've ever used it for gardening but, it works out very well for serving beverages, appetizers and desserts at parties and social gatherings.  Most of the time I use it as a decorative piece on my deck. (I know, it really isn't that pretty, is it?) One of these days I am going to repaint and re-stain the poor old thing.  I'm sure such care would do a world of good for it but, for today, my old garden bench is going to have to do, as is.

By the time everything gets placed on the garden bench, it will look pretty good.  Just wait the and

see!

First things first, I had to start with flowers-- my favorite part of any event.  I found these beautiful sherbet colored carnations at the local farm stand and I couldn't resist. The milk caddie was a gift I scored in a Yankee Swap several years ago.  I love it!  So versatile.  I made four mini floral arrangements in some cut-glass tumblers and placed them in four slots of the caddie to create a farm stand kind of look.  (Using items you already own can really keep the cost of entertaining down a bit so, make sure to look around and see what you have!)

The caddie worked great for holding such necessary things as iced tea spoons and straws.  It was a terrific way to get function and beauty out of one entertaining item, especially since the surface area of the table top is quite small.

The tarnished silver tray in the background is something I have had for years also.  It is in great need of a polishing but, I like they way it looks and I haven't gotten around to polishing it yet.  Hmmm...do you see a pattern here?

Of course, the next thing was to find room on the table top for vital items to be included in an Iced

Tea Station

the tea, glasses, ice, sugar, lemons...

I even added some blueberries and mint leaves for anyone who felt adventurous!

It's always a good idea to let people know that the iced tea is unsweetened.  I made the mistake of not letting guests know that the iced coffee at one of my previous parties was black and unsweetened.  I won't do that again.  I ended up throwing away most, if not all, of the coffee.  My guests were used to pre-made iced coffee, as I found out the hard way.  (I'm not a coffee drinker.)  Lesson learned!

See, all of this is pretty easy to put together in a relatively short amount of time, especially if you have a stash of entertaining items ready ahead of time.  You know the staples; a pitcher, some matching glasses (matchy, matchy isn't necessary), an ice bucket and perhaps, some serving dishes.

Don't you just love this color combination?  I seem to be obsessed with peach this year.

 I find making as many elements of your party as possible look visually pleasing only adds to the experience for you and your guests.  I suppose that really goes without say, doesn't it ;) ?

So in the end, my old garden bench did very well when it came to serving as an Iced Tea Station.  I even used the bottom of the stand to place extra glasses.  I added more color with one of my flower boxes filled with herbs, also to add to the overall appeal.  This space underneath could have many uses.  A bucket with ice and bottled drinks would be nice, as well.


I'm thinking you are all going to go out and purchase a garden bench for yourselves, probably one that is a bit prettier than this one.  I actually recently purchased a new, prettier one that my dear old hubby needs to put together for me.  Hopefully, I'll be styling it soon.  These garden benches are definitely handy and cool but, really, any mid-height table will do for styling an iced tea station :).


HAVE FUN PLANNING YOUR NEXT SUMMER PARTY!!

Joining in these link parties:

Wow Us Wednesdays ~ Share Your Style ~ Feathered Nest Friday ~ Silver Pennies Sundays
Snicerdoodle Create Bake Make ~ Dishing It and Digging It ~ Inspiration Monday