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Friday Favorites: Outdoor Entertaining, Hard Water Remover & More!

Check out our Friday Favorites and see what we’re each shopping for this week! This edition features lots of ideas for outdoor entertaining, tailgate parties, cookouts, and barbecues just in time for summer!

This has been a pretty exciting week around Simply2Moms: AnnMarie celebrated her birthday at a concert, and her daughter is graduating from high school this weekend.

We’ve got a few last finds as AnnMarie finalized preparing for house guests and Emma’s graduation party.

Plus Anne is sharing the great things she found for AnnMarie’s birthday tailgate.

We work together to share simple and budget-friendly ideas for decoratingrecipesDIY projects, and tips for life with older teens (and beyond!).

It always seems like one of us or actually, more than likely both of us, are in the middle of a project.

Whether it’s a room makeover, testing a new recipe, or planning an event.

And the more we work the less time we have to browse around a store and shop in person.

To get all the things done each week we both do a lot of online shopping.

We shop for décor items, kitchen supplies and everything in between.

And since we already love to share budget-friendly ideas with you, we thought it would be fun to show you what we’re shopping for every Friday!

We may even share some personal favorites we love too.

An awesome outfit or makeup product we find along the way!

Now let’s see what we’re shopping for this week…

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AnnMarie’s Faves This Week

Pillow with Tassels

throw pillow on couch with tassels

Does anyone ever have too many throw pillows?

I’d say no…never too many!

This past fall, I found some cozy knit sweater pillows that were great during the colder months.

Last week, I finally put them away and pulled out my black & white pillows that are a bit lighter for the spring & summer.

Storing all these pillows has become a bit of an issue, so I’ve been on the hunt for pillow covers.

This cutie is from Amazon and looks great mixed with my other black and white pillows.

And the best part, since it’s just a cover, I was able to use an insert from one of my knit pillows.

Pumice Stone Sticks

side by side photos of before and after cleaning toilet bowl with pumice stone stick

I bet you didn’t think I’d be sharing before and after photos of my toilet, did ya?

LOL!!!

But you guys, I’m super excited about these pumice stone sticks I found on Amazon. Anne shared them for removing hard water stains from granite, but I never actually tried them.

Honestly, I’m a little lazy about getting those nasty water rings and stains out of our toilets.

It’s kinda annoying that just a regular brush and cleaner doesn’t work.

I’ve used a pumice stone made for pedicures before to get the stains off and it did a decent job.

But these pumice stone sticks are a game changer!

I don’t know how they’re different but they are.

Super easy to use and worked like a charm!!

Wood Crate

finished stained wood crate on counter

I’ve been busy crafting and planning for Emma’s graduation party.

By the time you read this, she’ll be a high school graduate!

Her party is Saturday and I think I’m finally ready.

We’re decorating in neutral colors with woods and metals.

Can’t wait to show you how it all comes together!

I found these unfinished pine wood crates in Michaels and thought they’d be great for displaying food or drinks at the party.

Not exactly sure how yet…

But I was able to use them even before the grad party at Emma’s dance recital last weekend.

I was nominated (LOL) to put together a table for the graduating senior dancers in the lobby.

Think I’m going to get a lot of use out of these wood crates!

Varathane Wood Stain

unfinished wood crates in garage ready to stain with can of varathane

I used this stain on both the crates…love the classic color tone…not too light but not too dark.

It’s called special walnut and I bought it at Home Depot.

There are so many different options to choose from to create the look you want.

Anne’s Faves This Week

So AnnMarie celebrated her birthday last week (hit reply or comment below to wish her a happy birthday!).

I’m not gonna say how old she is, but for the next two months, we’re the same age!

The stars aligned and two of our favorite country musicians were having a concert in our favorite local venue on the day of her birthday.

So, of course, we had to get tickets!

AnnMarie isn’t a big birthday celebrator, but we decided to make our tailgate a little special, just like her.

If you’re planning an outdoor picnic or tailgate party, be sure to check out all our tailgating essentials!

I channeled my inner AnnMarie and found some cute and simple ways to decorate for the tailgate and we brought the best thing to stay cool!

Stoneware Berry Bowl

Table at an tailgate party with ceramic berry bowls holding plastic utensils rolled in napkins

If you’ve been around Simply2Moms at all, then you know AnnMarie loves a simple modern farmhouse style.

These cute ceramic berry boxes were the perfect way to display plastic utensils wrapped in Kraft paper-looking napkins.

We layered more absorbent napkins inside which are both practical and added a little contrast, then tied them with braided jute ribbon.

Striped Burlap Table Runner

Burlap table runner with black stripe on a table with white table cloth at a tailgate

Funny story.

AnnMarie helped me carry some things in from her car on Tuesday and saw these striped burlap table runners sitting on my counter.

As soon as she saw them she commented they were so cute and asked where I got them!

So I guess that means I chose well… LOL

We made our new favorite summer cocktail but used honey whiskey instead of bourbon.

It’s so refreshing!

Stretchy 6-foot Table Covers

Table set up at a tailgate under a pop up canopy with portable fans

I layered the table runners over stretchy table covers made for 6-foot tables.

I first saw them in use at my son’s graduation party and loved how they looked!

They will actually stretch all the way down and cover the legs of the table, but we decided to not pull them all the way over since the ground was pretty dirty.

For an inside party, you can cover the ugly legs and then put a table cloth over top for a really nice look!

They come in a ton of colors too.

Burlap Happy Birthday Banner

Burlap happy birthday banner hanging from popup canopy at a tailgate party

We had to hang a happy birthday banner, and this burlap one is definitely AnnMarie’s style!

In fact, she made something similar for a graduation party decoration for her sons.

Even though it’s easy to make, I didn’t have time to make it from scratch and this one was really affordable.

Pop-up Food Cover Tents

Pop up mesh food covers over a plate of cupcakes at an outdoor party

I may not have made a banner, but I did make some birthday cupcakes!

This is the best keto recipe I’ve found for a yellow cake.

We may not have invited the flies, but they still decided to show up.

Fortunately, these pop-up mesh food covers kept them off our food!

Large Ryobi Air Cannon Fan

Large Ryobi portable battery-powered air cannon at a tailgate

The best thing we brought to our tailgate, hands down, was this portable air cannon fan from Ryobi.

It’s battery-powered with Ryobi’s rechargeable 18-volt battery, and it has an AC plug adaptor too.

It really puts out a lot of air, and keeping the air moving makes a huge difference during the summer!

The thermometer read 95 degrees while we were setting up, but we actually stayed comfortable thanks to this fan plus the shade from the pop-up tent.

We brought two fully-charged batteries and didn’t even need the second one after three hours of tailgating!

What have you been shopping for this week? Have you found anything amazing?

We’d love to hear about it….just leave a comment below!

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