Back to School Family Dinner

Back to School Family Dinner -start a new tradition with a Back to School themed dinner after the first day of school. Lots of easy decor ideas here to help create some special family memories.

It’s become a bit of tradition around here, to have a special family dinner on the first day of school to celebrate -see last year’s here, and the year before that here.

Vintage Back To School Decor

This year I wanted to set the table with a bit of a vintage vibe.  I started out with the fun table runner.  Using an old dictionary I found at a second hand store for a dollar, I sewed the pages together to make the table runner.  I love how it turned out.  I think it might stick around and work it’s way into my fall decor.

The centre of the table is decorated with different vintage inspired pieces -a few old books, some old fashioned wooden rulers, and some crayons, and pencils, and chalk.

The vintage globes were the perfect finishing touch, that I borrowed from my friend’s collection.  I love them, and I think they might be on my garage sale list for next year. 😉

I found the sweet little chalkboards at Michaels.  Love how the metal edge looks with the gold cutlery.  The little milk bottles and paper straws were a sweet detail too.

Along with new school supplies, back to school always makes me think of “an apple for the teacher”.  So I added apples around the table, and piled some into a tin lunch box.

One other little detail, and a sweet one, was this adorable vintage inspired alphabet card banner.  I found the free printable at Rook No. 17, and printed some on card stock to make it.

Vintage Menu

We had old fashioned meatloaf and apple pie for dinner.  As we ate we also heard about everyone’s highs and lows of the day, and the details of the first day of school.

Family Tradtions

I wasn’t sure on the weekend that I’d have time to put a back to school dinner together for them this year, since we were super busy on the weekend celebrating Paige’s 10th birthday –see all the details of her pool party here, and then we were busy getting back packs sorted and laundry done for school.  My daughter Maddie’s face literally lit up when she saw the table after school.  It reminds me of how we’re making memories these days, and little family traditions are to be treasured.  As I always say, but am feeling more than ever, life is what we make it, so we may as well make it a party.

If you love this Back To School Dinner, click here to check out this one from last year:

Here’s another great idea –click here for Easy Back To School Marshmallow Treats:

Here’s a another great idea –click here for Note Book Sugar Cookies: