How to Add Glow in Outdoor Gathering with Outdoor Tiki Torches

This is the backyard barbeque time again and you want to throw a party in style! What are the perfect ingredients that would spice up your celebration? Let’s talk first about tiki torches. No evening garden party is complete without those lovely pieces of lighting arrangement. You would find your guests go gaga over the charming tiki torches that space out on either side to line the pathway.

Your beautiful garden and tiki torches make an awesome barbeque day. Other than illuminating the walkway, tiki torches can be placed near the patios for light or decorated around your swimming pool for a poolside party. Whatever it might be, you want to create a fun-filled ambience and make sure that your guests had a gala time.

If you are planning to line your pathway with tiki torches for your backyard barbeque party, then go for the ones that can be easily inserted into the ground. And, if you have a stone pathway, you can decorate it with magnificent tiki troches which would create a tropical feel and give an aesthetic ambience to the party. Though you can keep it on the tabletop; for patios, you can place it a little far as the odor of the mosquito repellants would be overwhelming for the guests.

As you are aware, in a garden party, the guests are carefree and like to freely move around. Therefore, there is always a chance of your guests stumble over the torches or run into it. So arrange it in a manner which they will not wobble if slightly bumped.

Cobalt Blue Glass Outdoor Garden Tiki Torch

You can avail a variety of torches that satisfies your needs and tastes. You can even make a bamboo tiki torch if you have enough time and patience. Or otherwise, if you cannot spare time and wish to get hold of a durable item, go and get it from a reliable retail store that sells sturdy tiki torches. Most of these mosaic-designed torches have either conical or tulip shapes which give an elegant look.  The snuffer caps and powder coated garden poles assures the durability. It features easy-fill containers with standard lamp oil and fiberglass wick.

Shiny Black Tulip Outdoor Tiki Torch

Though the torches adorn your backyard with their sober ambience, let’s be little bit careful about installing a tiki torch as none of us want any fire hazards in our festivity. Only a bit of attention is enough to avoid such mayhem. Keep your tiki torches a safe distance from combustible materials, tree branches, and buildings. Don’t leave your tiki unattended. Once the party is over, extinguish the flame right away.

Terracotta Mosaic Conical Outdoor Garden Tiki Torch

So finally, I do not need to explain how it is important for you to engage each guest individually and make them feel special. You know how to arrange a perfect tiki torch party with tiki menus, well, don’t just forget to serve those umbrella drinks and fresh fruit skewers! and tiki-themed music to entertain your guests to the hilt.

Copper Sink Buying Tips

Copper sinks are popular right now, and for good reason: they’re beautiful, durable and low maintenance. But like other products on the market, you can find inexpensive sinks and you can find sinks that cost more than all your kitchen appliances together.

Most buyers aren’t looking to spend a small fortune on a copper sink, so how do you get a high quality sink at a reasonable price? Here are some tips to consider as you look around.

Antique Copper Sink

GAUGE OR THICKNESS

The first tip for buying a copper sink: look for thick copper. You’ll find copper sinks between 14 and 20 gauge – and be careful: 20 gauge isn’t  the thickest, it’s the thinnest. For sinks you’ll want a 14-16 gauge copper. Of course the thicker the copper the high the price, so decide early how much you’re willing to spend and what gauge you want for your new sink.

Why a heavy gauge copper for your sink? The two biggest reasons:

1. You don’t want to hear a tinny sound when you run water in your copper sink.
2. Thin copper can actually dent, which would damage the beautiful looks of your sink.

100% COPPER

Another tip: make sure the sink is made of 100% copper, with no lead. Aha! Yes, some sinks are manufactured from copper mixed with lead. There can be two reasons for this. First, the copper isn’t purified so it still contains other natural byproducts like lead. Second, the copper is from recycled materials which also haven’t been cleaned up completely and contain lead. How can you assure your new sink is 100% copper? This is one of those basic know-who-you’re-buying-from answers: know who you’re buying from!

Also, check the manufacturing country of the sinks. India, Mexico and the US are the primary producers of copper sink and many manufacturers in these countries have excellent reputations.

WELDED SEAMS

Tip three: if there are seams on the unit make sure they’re welded, not soldered, for the greatest strength. And be sure they’re copper welds because other welding metals could change color over time, which could ruin the look of your sink.

Hammrd Copper Sink

The difference between welding and soldering? Welding actually melts the two metals together, and soldering just joins them by forming a seam. Makes sense that a welded seam is the stronger seam.

Okay, you’re ready to shop – take this information with you and start looking for your new, beautiful, low maintenance copper sink!

Outdoor Fire Pit: Grilling for the Big Game

If you’re having a Super Bowl party at your place this year you’ll be serving up food to some hungry guests. How about making this a great party and using your grill for the food? If you really want to wow them, pull out your fire pit and use it for the food. In fact, you could sit around the pit and watch the game! That way the cook doesn’t miss anything.

Here are some food ideas for your Bowl party.

INSTANT REPLAY

Chili Cheese Dogs. Let your guests cook their own dogs over the fire pit, then slap them in buns and add chili, cheese, onions and whatever else you want. (Then, of course, just wait for that instant replay…!)

THE BLITZ

How about a big plate of hot wings with celery and dip! Add lots of extras – like seasoned grilled onions, grilled potato wedges with dips, grilled kabobs. Keep the pre-cooked wings hot on the pit - everything else can be cooked on the fire pit and served right from there!

TOUCH DOWN

Set out a variety of apps: chips, dips, nuts – anything you can eat with your hands. If you’ve got a big group set out two bowls of each. Just for fun you can serve one batch of apps in the first half and get out different apps for the second half.

Solid Copper Outdoor Fire Pit

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

What’s your local favorite? This is the time to serve it up! Barbeques, sausages, wild game, seafood – whatever your part of the country has an abundance of and serves proudly. Not sure? Ask your local grocer what they recommend.

PIGSKIN MANIA

What could be better than pulled pork sandwiches and hot baked beans? Both these dishes can be prepared ahead of time so you can enjoy the pre-game shows. You and your guests can grill your buns over the fire before making the sandwiches. Don’t forget the pickles, onions, dips – grilled potato wedges would be a great addition too.

COACH’S CHOICE

Steak, of course, and plenty of it. Be sure to throw some potatoes and onions on the grill before the steaks so they’re ready at the same time. If you’re not handy at grilling, ask the best griller in the crowd to oversee the steak grilling so everyone gets theirs cooked exactly how they like it.

FAN MANIA

How about letting your guests do their own grilling, make their own kabobs? Prepare a bowl full of foods cut and prepared for grilling: seasoned steak, marinated onions, seasoned bread cubes, etc. With grilling sticks for each guest you can all relax right around the outdoor fire pit for the game.

One last idea: have all the makings for S’More ready. Those guests will love this sweet addition to the party. So let everyone know where the Big Game party’s at this year and plan to have a great time watching your favorite team play at the Bowl.

Freestanding Fire Pits: Now for Entertainment and Grilling

Yes – you’ve got to see them: fire pits with grilling grates! Oh, just imagine the flavors and the fun you’ll have grilling over a real open flame.

Fire pits – the beautiful freestanding pits available today – are a natural place to grill outdoors. We’ve all held roasting sticks over open flames with marshmallows or hot dogs skewered on the ends. But now we’re talking fire pits with grilling racks for the best of both worlds: use the sticks for the kids’ hot dogs while the steaks for the adults sizzle away on the rack.

Whether you choose an open basin style fire pit or a modern version of a chiminea (Mexican-style outdoor oven), you can grill with enthusiasm and gusto. Cooking over an open flame is at once similar to and very different from cooking over coals. They’re both very hot and require close attention. But unlike glowing coals, flames can “lick” the flavors right out of your food and quickly leave a gray, ashen heap. Don’t despair – now’s the time to become the neighborhood guru in fire pit cooking, and here are some beginning tips to get you started.

First tip: use dry wood. Wet wood smokes a lot. Another wood tip: use hardwoods, like oak or maple. Hardwoods burn longer and more consistently than soft woods like pine. (And you don’t want pine pitch seasoning your steaks.)

Solid Copper Outdoor Fire Pit

This next tip may sound like a no-brainer, but if you forget it you’ll have a tough start to dinner: build your fire with chunks of wood small enough to allow the grate to set properly in place above it. In other words, don’t use big chunks or ones with irregular shapes that will get in the way of the grilling rack.

For convenience you may want to keep the smaller grilling wood separate from the larger “bonfire” wood. That way you won’t have to pick through the stack every time you want to grill. And it will save your back from constantly restacking the pile.

If you’re going to grill food that cooks quickly like hot dogs you can set it right on the rack and turn it often to keep from burning. It’ll cook fast so watch carefully. And don’t walk away – wood fires aren’t as consistent as charcoal. You will probably move the food around a lot to keep it in an ideal cooking environment.

If you’re going to cook food that takes longer like steaks there’s another way to set up your fire that’s just like cooking a large item on your charcoal or gas grill. This can be a bit trickier because wood burns faster and less consistently than charcoal.

Have a good pile of short sticks ready. Use these short chunks of wood for this fire because once the fire is burning well you’ll want to push it to the sides of the fire pits, leaving an open space in the middle for a drip pan. Set your pan in place, lower the grilling rack and start cooking.

Now for the tricky part: keep the wood burning hot around the edges. Just like cooking indirectly on a charcoal grill, you’ll need to add fuel – or wood – to the fire to keep it constant. Wood burns faster than charcoal so watch it closely.

And you’re off to a great start! Soon you’ll be savoring the real flavor of wood smoked foods, and you’ll be the envy of your neighborhood. Enjoy!

Fire Pit: How to Keep Your Fire Pit Handy for Winter Use

It may be the end of summer, but it’s not time to pack up the yard and head inside yet. Fall and winter are great times to extend the use of your fire pit and create more memories with friends and family.

If you live in a white winterland climate fall is a great time to enjoy the outdoors and your yard before the snow flies. And if you don’t get snow in your part of the world you’re in an even better position to enjoy your fire pit during winter months: no shoveling!

Solid Copper Fire Pit

The ideal winter fire pit is portable, like the new copper pits on the market. If you live in a climate that regularly gets below freezing you’ll understand: digging out from ice and snow gets old real fast. But a portable fire pit can wait in the garage or slip under the eaves for easy access and use.

When can you use a fire pit in the winter? Well, unlike summer, in the winter months it’s fun to light a fire in the middle of the day. Weekend, weekday . . . whatever suits your fancy. Here are some times you can get the flames dancing in the winter.

At the end of an afternoon of ice skating – even if it was at an indoor rink!

On a “balmy” winter evening, just to shake things up.

Over the holidays when everyone’s home . . . or not home.

Have a winter birthday? What a great way to celebrate! You can serve S’Mores instead of cake.

After you return from vacation, to re-introduce yourself to home before jumping into the usual work routine.

When friends come over, when family stops by, when a neighbor drops in.

At the end of an evening of entertaining, as your guests are thinking about leaving. It’s a great way to send them off.

As a new family tradition: pot of great stew with fresh bread, and out to the fire together.

After the Big Game, complete with hot dogs or steaks cooked outside.

Brass Fire Pit

Tip: make sure your wood pile is accessible in the winter months. It would really stink if you planned a great outdoor New Year’s party and realized your wood was at the back fence under two feet of snow and ice.

Another tip for winter fire pit use: have a stash of extra coats, hats, mits and scarves for unprepared guests - they’ll appreciate it. Want to go all-out? Get heated seat warmers and provide a place to set those insulated mugs.

Sound like fun? If you don’t already have your own portable fire pit this may be the time to invest in one. After all, the memories will be . . . priceless.

Summer Special Stock of Outdoor Torches to Decor Your Backyard

An online home and garden store, decorated with high quality items at bargain prices. BackyardBargain.com has figured out the best way to provide high quality products at bargain prices, by cutting out all the middlemen and passing the savings on to you. No one else touches their products, just us – They handle each one from first imagining it . . . to sending it off to your home. The people who make their products – Product Developers, Engineers, Quality Inspectors, even the Shipping Staff – are all on their team, dedicated to offering the highest quality products at bargain prices. They're right here in Jonesboro, Georgia, in the deep South of the United States, and They've been in business for over 20 years.

Backyardbargain.com stocks a wide selection of outdoor decor items but store has recently added many summer special items with attractive OFFERS. Outdoor tiki torches that you can use for your backyard and patio. Their twelve 6 ft tall tiki torches make some pleasant atmosphere in your backyard. It has an L shaped shepherd hook base for easy insertion into the ground. The stem is made out of square pipe and twisted for added elegance. There is a decorative finial that transitions the rod to the can. The can is copper plated under a process to prevent rusting. Each outdoor garden torch comes complete with fiberglass wick that will last a lifetime. There is also a snuffer/cap attached by a chain. When not in use, the torches can be covered to keep out rainwater Light up your outdoor party area by combining this 72 inch ground torch with matching table torch or patio torch. The torches take regular citronella oil or lamp oil. They are very popular for keeping mosquitoes at bay or just decorating the yard.

At BackyardBargain.com- quality is just the beginning. They also know your time is valuable, so we made shopping as easy and enjoyable as possible. With a simple click of your mouse to Backyard Bargains, you can choose from an eclectic selection of home and garden items. No matter what your taste, you'll find just what you're looking for. Wood, metal, fabrics, glass – in a great splash of trendy colors, and so many styles you can't not find something you love!

Outdoor Tiki Torches Always a Fun and Enjoyable Addition to Any Home or Party

Today tiki torches are made of almost anything: glass, ceramic, copper, brass, steel, and of course, bamboo. Your preference will depend on your personal taste and your garden or patio decor. But how do you narrow down the choices?

The flames on the tiki torch dance in the warm, evening breeze while the thick, rich scent of island flowers fills the night air and gentle sounds of quiet waves lap the beach. Ahhhh . . . paradise!

And what would paradise be without tiki torches? They just go together so well. A backyard garden or deck wouldn’t be complete without at least one tiki torch! Maybe because they’ve been around so long….

Not so long ago tiki torches were still the primary source of light on many islands. They were constructed of bamboo and fueled with oil. Today, though, tiki torches are made of many different types of materials and even the fuels are varied. Want to know more? Just keep following along!

First decide what style you want. For example, if your tastes are more eclectic or art deco, you might appreciate ceramic tiki torches, usually very colorful. In fact, they can become your focal point instead of just a subtle side light. Since ceramic is breakable you’ll have to be more careful when cleaning and storing these tiki torches.

Another decision: do you want the traditional in-ground variety, table top, floor standing, deck rail attachments or . . . ? Yes, tiki torches have come a long way!

What about fuel sources? Some tiki torches are now battery-operated and have no flame. These torches can be used indoors and outdoors as well. This is an especially intelligent choice when you have a lot of children around, and they look so real it’s hard to tell the difference! And now another choice just in time for the energy crisis – you can get a solar tiki torch!

Oh, but you’re feeling a little exotic? Want to run around your own little patch of “jungle” and sing like Tarzan? Sounds like you’ll want the traditional favorite: the bamboo tiki torch. They’re the original tiki torch and the most authentic . . . you’ll be beating your chest in no time!

All outdoor tiki torches are easy to maintain and store. To clean a bamboo tiki torch you just need mild soap, water, and a rag. When storing your tiki torches, stand them upright if you don’t drain the fuel. You can lay the torches on their sides if you drain and store the fuel separately, but make sure to lay them on tarps or other plastic to prevent scratches to the torches.

Tiki torches are always a fun and entertaining addition to any home or party. They’re always ready for whatever mood you’re in. Kind of like a really good friend, someone you can just be yourself with . . . while you’re beating your chest and swinging from trees, of course!

Delightful Summer Evenings with Outdoor Tiki Torches

Many have has valued the use of tiki torches for decorative purposes. Outdoor torches are a great idea to make your gathering great.

Your outdoor gatherings will never be the same after you set up tiki torches and create some beautiful atmosphere. Outdoor tiki torches are an enchanting way to create paradise in your backyard, as long as you use them safely. With a little care, you can prevent accidents and enjoy your outdoor tiki torches worry-free.

The flames on the tiki torches dance in the warm, evening breeze. The scent of Hawaiian Plumes fills the night air, and gentle sounds of quiet waves lap the beach. Ahhhh . . . paradise! Something about tiki torches always seem to invoke this sensation. Why a backyard luau would not be complete without them!

Outdoor tiki torches not only add to the ambiance of your tiki-themed hot recipient, but they also aid in keep annoying bugs away from you and your guests. Outdoor tiki torches are easily made, organized and are wireless to keep decorating simple and your guest secure.

Backyardbargain.com stocks a wide selection of outdoor torches that you can use for your backyard and patio. Our twelve 6 ft tall tiki torches make some pleasant atmosphere in your backyard. It has an L shaped shepherd hook base for easy insertion into the ground. The stem is made out of square pipe and twisted for added elegance. There is a decorative finial that transitions the rod to the can. The can is copper plated under a process to prevent rusting. Each outdoor garden torch comes complete with fiberglass wick that will last a lifetime. There is also a snuffer/cap attached by a chain. When not in use, the torches can be covered to keep out rainwater Light up your outdoor party area by combining this 72 inch ground torch with matching table torch or patio torch. The torches take regular citronella oil or lamp oil. They are very popular for keeping mosquitoes at bay or just decorating the yard.