When I think of summer the first things that come to my mind is spending time with family outdoors, cooling off with indoor activities and patriotic holiday cook outs/picnics.  Summer is one of my favorite times of year and luckily it’s around the corner. With a newborn, Jake and I are especially spending a lot of time at home.  I’m a huge planner and have had fun coming up with fun at home ideas/activities and holiday celebrations.

Dollar General has been my one-stop-shop to plan a fun summer at home. There are several locations near our house. I am so impressed with the variety they have from cute decor to groceries to the supplies we need to entertain us indoors/outdoors. Everything is very affordable and great quality. They’re taking precautions in store with social distancing especially in the check out line, hand sanitizing stations, and sneeze guards at checkout. They have everything we need for a summer at home from the groceries for our cookout to the patriotic decor/plates to summer indoor/outdoor activities. 

At Home Summer Ideas: 

Game Night:

Since we’re not venturing out much yet, at home game nights are perfect for our date night. Even with a newborn date nights are so important when we can get a little break during nap time. I picked up some playing cards, Apples to Apples and Dominos. A game night is not completely without lots of snacks and a glass of wine to wind down. Dollar General has their own exclusive wine brand, Brightlands and it’s really tasty. I also grabbed some popcorn and candy to make game night complete. 

Movie Night:

A good movie night is always a fun way to relax from the busy week. Dollar General had some many of my favorite movies and I went with “The Laugh Out Loud” 4 movie collection. I picked the movie set with Adam Sandler movies, “50 first dates”, “Click”, Big Daddy” and “Mr. Deeds.” It was only $8 and will keep us occupied for a while. Of course a movie night isn’t complete without popcorn. Dollar General had the cutest personal popcorn bags to make movie night more festive. 

Fun in the Sun:

Getting a little Vitamin D always lifts my mood. I start to get a little stir crazy indoors and this helps me feel like I got out for the day. I picked up a beach mat, sunglasses, flip flops, Studio Selection sunscreen and a beach bag so I can be stylish outdoors and protect our skin too. While we won’t be venturing to the beach anytime soon, we are having fun hanging out outdoors especially in the shade. The bright colored summer fun accessories make me happy. We don’t have a pool, but if we did I would grab some cute floats and beach towels. They have all kinds of fun pool toys and activities for little ones too. 

Coloring book:

I am artistic and love the relaxing aspect of an adult coloring book. This helps me express my creativity and while relaxing too. It’s a fun activity for me to do in-between feeding Scarlett. 

Holiday cookouts:

Nothing say summer like patriotic backyard cook outs or picnics. I grew up going to the lake with my family and cookouts are a huge part of the celebration. With 4th of July and Labor Day coming up soon, I have picked up some necessities. My summer cookout favorites are watermelon, burgers, hot dogs, potato salad and more. I found some cute patriotic plates and napkins to make our table festive. Of course I have to dress up our table with an arrangement. I found the cutest vase, hydrangea, and American flags to decorate with at Dollar General while still being on a budget.

Dollar General offers so many ways to save with coupons and on their app. I recommend signing up for the DG app and on Saturdays Dollar General does a weekly add to save $5 on a purchase of $25 or more. This helps me stretch my budget further. Check out some summer savings today. 

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