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Ya’ll. Babysitters are expensive, for real. My husband and I don’t have family in town, so if we want to leave the house for a date, you can just go ahead and tack on an extra $40 to that bill. I was craving some one on one time a few weeks back, so I planned this fun little Pour Paint Date Night on our porch, complete with homemade cheese fondue (recipe at the bottom of this post!).
Last summer, we did a total makeover of our side yard area, and my sweet husband built me this amazing deck. We love spending time on it, especially on these warm summer nights. We recently moved our outdoor dining table down there (long story), and it was a great spot to set up for painting.
Isn’t that little seating area so cute?! Seriously love sitting out there, and it did not cost much, at all! You can grab this seating set for less than $300 on Amazon right now (HERE). We also snagged the triangle sun shade and string lights from Amazon.
To protect our furniture, I laid down some cheap plastic paint drop cloths. I have been drooling over pour painting videos on Pinterest and YouTube for months. Something about it looked so satisfying to me and I knew I wanted to try it out.
One day I was hunting for deals for my Deals Group (JOIN US if you aren’t in there!) and came across a killer deal on this pour painting kit. I couldn’t say no! It seemed like the perfect date night. Creating is powerful and a unique way to connect. A big multi-pack of canvases and we were all set!
This kit was perfect for us as beginners! It came with tons of colors, metallic included! Paint brushes, gloves and the oil that you use to make the “cells.” We were able to get about 5 11×14 paintings done with this kit, and a couple of smaller ones. Definitely not bad for the price!
I got that all set up during our girls’ nap time. As I made dinner for them, I started prepping out our “dippers” for the fondue! I knew that I wanted to do a savory fondue this time, since our go-to is usually chocolate (Grab my recipe here).
And then while Mike was getting the oldest to bed, I went ahead and whipped up the cheese fondue (recipe below), and set it to stay warm in our fondue pot. As soon as both girls were down, we carried everything out!
For dippers, I went with broccoli, lil’ smokies, French baguette and Granny Smith apples. I saw the apple idea on Pinterest and to be honest, I wasn’t sure. But it actually was amazing with the tang of the cheese!
What’s a date night without a good bottle of Merlot?! We love Winc and their entire customization process. It’s nice to have some on hand for sweet evenings like this! I also love using these lowball wine glasses because I am notorious for breaking mine.
Because we live in the mountains, we get tons of mosquitoes. I lit our tabletop tiki torch, but quickly decided that it wasn’t enough. So we busted out the Thermacell, too. That thing works miracles, ya’ll!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that little box beside our food. That, my friends, is a box of the most delicious macarons you will ever taste! As a baker and Macaron snob, I am super choosy. My friend Marlee (Macs by Mar) creates the BEST macarons, hands down. Go give her a follow and order you some. You won’t be sorry!
After we snacked a bit, we got to the painting! It was every bit as fun and satisfying as I imagined that it would be. I mean, look:
We made a hot mess, but we sure did have fun playing!
This one was Michael’s. I absolutely love the way his color contrast came out!
This at home date was seriously so much fun, you guys. It was really nice to unplug and connect with each other, and to do something outside of our norm. If you are wanting to create a special evening- heck even a girls night- I would definitely recommend this! We already had a fondue pot, but even if you had to buy one, you could set this up super cheaply! Now, on to that Cheese fondue recipe!
Equipment
- Fondue Pot
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter salted
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups Shredded cheddar cheese mild or medium is best!
- 1 cup Shredded swiss cheese
- Assorted dippers!
Instructions
- In a fondue pot (or you can do this in a saucepan on the stove), melt the butter on low.
- Add in your cornstarch, stirring well.
- Add the salt.
- Add in your milk, and stir constantly over medium-low heat until it begins boiling. Continue boiling and stirring for about a minute. Whatever you do, don't stop stirring! If you do, it will stick to the bottom of the pan and you will have a mess.
- Turn the heat down to low and add your cheese, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir it well and fully melt after each addition.
- Serve warm with your dippers! I made ours in the fondue pot and set it to warm and it stayed perfect for a few hours!
Notes
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