When the weather is fine, it’s party time! But not just any old party. Here are ideas for cool and creative summer celebrations.

1. Set up your very own outdoor movie night

Buy or rent a projector, hang a sheet from a window to create a large “screen” against your house, and set up an outdoor movie! Show something classic, like Ghostbusters, or a newer flick that’ll be sure to please the crowd.

Add Umbrella Solar Lanterns for extra ambiance, and to make sure people can see the popcorn:

As for seating, have a few Blanket Totes on hand. Unfolded, they offer nearly 21 square feet of area, and a water-resistant bottom layer will keep moisture and grass away from you and guests:

2. Perfect the beach potluck

Everyone wants to spend the day at the beach, but getting sandy and sticky can be an issue, especially when there’s food involved. Keep food up and off the sand with the Picnic Time Travel Table, which folds into a compact tote for easy transport:

To be extra impressive, load up a few Slushy Makers with juice, soda, chocolate milk, or whatever you want. Kids will love making their own slushies before they build their very own sand castles. Just tell them to squeeze, squeeze, squeeze and they’ll have a cool and delicious treat in no time:

3. Throw a themed pool party!

Pool parties are even more fun so when there’s an animal theme to get behind! Tell guests to wear animal print and bring animal props if possible. Kick things off with Big Mouth Giant Floats – they inflate to over 5 feet wide and are made from durable heavy-gauge vinyl:

Then, when hot pool partiers need to cool off, give them homemade popsicles in the theme, with Tovolo Pop Molds:

4. Host a patriotic summer sundae social (bonus points if it’s on a Sunday).

Hot days were made for ice cream, and you can get creative with toppings to stay true to the red, white, and blue. Serve things like red strawberries, white whipped cream, and blue blueberries, and encourage guests to make truly American sundaes. To set the scene, dress up the back yard with Patriotic Fan Bunting:

Use the clean and clever Joseph Joseph Dimple Ice Cream Scoop, which creates little vacuum pockets that release ice cream on the spot, no muss, no fuss:

And for a healthy option, have some fruit-only options on hand. Use the Slice Right Watermelon Slicer to cut perfect wedges in one motion:

5. Roller skate takeover!

If you or a friend has a good relationship with a local rec center, school, or community center, see if you can get them to use their gym for an evening. Tell everyone to bring their roller skates or roller blades (extra if they have them!), and host a roller skate takeover. To make it extra special, turn off most of the lights at some point and use a Star Shower Patriot to give it a disco-like feel:

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Summer is for celebrating, so get to it!