Showing posts with label firepit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label firepit. Show all posts

Our First Camp Fire At The Blog Cabin With Duraflame Logs

This post is sponsored by Duraflame. 
It's been a busy summer and I've really been missing The Blog Cabin. This week, I decided to pack up the Design Studio and my youngest son and take them with me to the Northern Woods. During the day, I've been working away on some really exciting online design projects, and in the evening, Max and I have been crossing projects off the Cabin Makeover To-Do List. Last night, we decided to take a break and have my sister and my nephews up for a campfire.  





It was the first campfire since the Fire Pit Makeover my boys and I completed a few weeks ago. If you missed that post, we created a beautiful brand new fire pit in one day for less than $100. You can read about it HERE. I decided that Christening the new fire pit was a pretty exciting moment and should be celebrated. I ran into town and grabbed everything we needed for a perfect summer evening around the fire...

S'mores, Sparklers, Citronella Candles, Mason Jar Cocktails, and Sorry!







When my sister and the boys arrived, I quickly snapped a picture of them before they inevitably became covered in dirt, marshmallows and chocolate. I wanted to have a picture to commemorate this special day. This is the start of many years of campfires around the new fire pit and I wanted to remember the moment. 




(My son Max and Nephews Jax and Jet).




After the photo shoot, we headed to the back yard to get the fire started. But first, the boys had to extract the frogs that recently made our fire pit their digs. 










Once the frogs were set free, I started the fire using Duraflame Roasting Logs. This was my first experience with Duraflame logs and I couldn't believe how simple they were to use. Sometimes having a big fire with real wood can be a daunting task, but these logs seriously made it so easy. All I had to do was place them in the fire pit and light the packaging on fire with a lighter. Within a few minutes we had a roaring fire. The logs were lightweight and compact which made them very easy to travel with. 












When I first saw how light and compact they were, I was skeptical that they would produce a fire large and hot enough to cook over. However, after the fire was lit, I could see that using a stack of four logs gave out plenty of heat and enough intensity to roast marshmallows and s'mores over a warm, crackling, glowing fire. One thing I really appreciated about the Duraflame log fire was the lack of a bellowing smoke cloud that can make a traditional wood log fire less enjoyable.








My Mom suggested we try a new S'more recipe using Reese Peanut Butter Cups instead of Hershey Bars...
Five sticky thumbs up, Mom!














According to My Sister, Max and Jax, the first fire at The Blog Cabin Fire Pit was a huge success. According to Jet, a third S'more would have made it perfect...









Thanks for letting me share our first campfire adventure with you. Thank you to Duraflame for sponsoring our Fire Pit Makeover and for providing a supply of Duraflame supplies to last through our first summer at The Blog Cabin. 







To see more projects featured in The Blog Cabin Makeover Series, Please Click on the links below:






We currently have openings for new Online Design Projects (E-Design). If you're interested in getting started on a room makeover in your home, please click here to make your reservation.

*This post is sponsored by Duraflame. I received compensation and product to facilitate this post. All opinions are completely honest and 100% my own. 


Makeover Reveal - Two Winter Outdoor Living Spaces!


This post is sponsored by AE Outdoor
 I've been wanting a new outdoor furniture set that is large enough for my whole family for a while now and last week my wish came true. I partnered with AE Outdoor and received their Hampton 8 Piece Sectional set for an outdoor living space makeover. The moment it was delivered, I went to town turning our deck into an outdoor holiday hang-out. 

Who says outdoor living spaces are only for the summer? Here is where we will be sipping our eggnog this Christmas...




We may not have snow right now, but it definitely feels like Christmas out here! 

Take a look at our deck before the makeover...


(Before)


In anticipation of winter, we packed everything on our deck away that was not suitable for cold weather. It left the space feeling empty and lonely. Now that we have an all weather furniture set, we can take advantage of this space year round. It's already become a favorite family hangout. 

Before I selected the Hampton 8 Piece Set, AE Outdoor sent me free fabric swatches to preview. This allowed me to view and touch the fabrics and also get a head start on planning the design of my new outdoor space. Here is a look at the real life mood board I created using the fabric swatches…




It's hard to believe that these fabrics are intended for all-weather outdoor use. They are so soft and beautiful, this set really brings the same importance of the inside living room to our previously barren and negelected outdoor space. 






For the holidays, I added fresh cedar garland and white twinkle lights to the railing. 







I brought out some indoor decor elements to use while we are entertaining. Like a giant fur blanket, red velvet toss pillow and a wool rug.










I placed vanilla scented candles inside lanterns, then filled them with coffee beans and a few festive ornaments. When the candles are lit, they warm the beans and the smell is divine. 







To finish off the wintry look and lend a nod to the surroundings I added a few natural elements such as pine cones, birch logs and antlers.








The new furniture set provides plenty of seating for my whole family with some room to spare. There are many different arrangement options. For now, I have it configured as a large sectional sofa with the coffee table in the center and the two small cushioned stools on the side to use as extra seating or end tables.








What I love most about this set is how versatile it is. Each piece is completely independent of the others. It's very easy to change up the look and function by reconfiguring the arrangement. As a matter of fact, it's so simple to move these pieces around that we can easily move our family hangout down to the firepit.

Take a look…





One cold day after school last week, my daughter and I decided to have a fire. On a whim we grabbed a few sections of the furniture and moved them to the fire pit area and created a romantic, cozy, fireside retreat. 

Here is what the fire pit area looked like before...





And here it is after...






Our Holiday entertaining space just grew by two "rooms" thanks to these two outdoor living space options we have from just one furniture set. 







As much as I love the way the set looks on our deck, I'm also smitten with the look of the set in the woods. The beautiful green fabric looks gorgeous against the wooded backdrop. 








And the herringbone patterned wicker construction is the perfect compliment to the natural surroundings of our fire pit area.








I can see our holiday party happening in two phases, starting on the deck and moving down to the fire pit after dinner for hot cocoa and s'mores.








Thanks to AE Outdoor we lots of options for creating a cozy, outdoor living area for our family to enjoy year round. 






Check out AE Outdoor to see more of the beautiful furniture sets available.
For more tips on how to enjoy your outdoor living space, please visit the AE Outdoor Blog.

If you missed it, click here to view the rest of our 2015 Christmas home. 
Happy Holidays everyone!

Online Design Services are now available. Please click here for details!

*AE Outdoor provided me with an outdoor furniture set to facilitate this review post. As always, all opinions are my own.
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