The past couple of days here in LA have felt like Fall, so I think we wrapped up the DIY Picnic just in time.  For the past two months, I’ve been posting a series of picnic projects — everything from a picnic blanket to fancy lace napkins — and this weekend my husband and I celebrated the grand finale with a lovely picnic in the park.  There was one bee incident which required us to relocate our picnic to another spot, but other than that, we had a wonderful time.  It was so nice finally getting to use all of these fun things I’ve been making.

Here’s a quick recap and links to all of the picnic posts and instructions:

• The Idea (including how to prep your picnic basket)
  
• The Picnic Basket (including instructions for the patchwork top)
• The Picnic Basket Liner – removable fabric liner
• Glass Etched Canning Jars and the Embroidery Pattern for the Lid (Free Download)
• The Lace Napkins (inexpensive, but fancy)
• The Napkin Roll w/ pockets for your flatware
• The Picnic Blanket: the finished version and the preview
  
• The Insulated Pouches: Coming tomorrow!

Now, onto the picnic itself…

For food, we stopped at the deli and picked up some éclairs, a fresh baguette, jam, cheese, cold cuts, and berries.  (Honestly, if you want to feel really great about something you’ve made, just put an éclair next to it.)

What I love about these photos is that everything here is handmade.  However, even if you’re not a DIY-er, you could pull together a really unique picnic set with some clever shopping.  For me, the best part was picking a theme and having fun deciding what my perfect picnic would be.

Shall we take a little tour?  Up above is the embroidered jar lid tied with my favorite black/white striped ribbon.

The picnic basket with the patchwork top made a great table.

My favorite part is that the inside of the picnic basket is a chalkboard.  It was perfect for a welcome message.  (I think I’m wondering if I put on enough sunscreen in this photo.)

Here are the cute napkins.

And, of course, the messy, gooey action shots:

My husband is the best sport ever.  Look at him sipping from this teacup.  And yes, there is something  a little strange about setting up the camera to take pictures of yourself while on a picnic — but I just considered it free entertainment for the other people at the park.  It’s possible that the picnic might be a bit too frilly for my husband’s taste.  However, I did offer him the éclair, so I think we’re almost even.

All in all, it was a really nice way to commemorate the end of summer.  I could feel the stress melting away by the time we packed everything up to head home.

So are you ready for Autumn now?  I went shopping this weekend and some of the stores had that cinnamon smell, so Fall is definitely in the air.  I’m off to plan what’s next…