As we look forward to the forthcoming Bank Holiday weekend, here are ten ways that could make your plans a little more creative…

1. Host a tea dance party

If the weather forecast is looking positive, then why not invite some friends over to your garden and host a 1940s style tea party. All you need is some pots of tea, some delicious cakes and some Charleston music on your sound system. Make sure everyone dresses up to the theme and get ready to dance the afternoon away.  

2. Transform your garden shed

We are mostly all guilty of using our garden sheds as a dumping ground for bikes, old tools and tins of paint. However, what we are missing out on is a useful outdoor space that can be used for our own pleasure. Use the weekend to empty out your shed and decide how you want to use the space. Whether it’s to create a peaceful outdoor studio, or simply to store your garden furniture, you will feel thoroughly cleansed after you are done.

3. Make a sand sculpture

A trip to your nearest coastal town is a great way to spend the Bank Holiday weekend with friends and family. Take your bucket and spade, and suggest a competition to see who can create the best sand sculpture masterpiece. Ask a stranger to judge their favourite, and its fish and chips all round for the winner!

4. Prepare a summer banquet

If you have plans to entertain friends over the weekend, then make sure you are prepared to create a summer feast. BBQs don’t just have to be about burgers and sausages, so get creative and impress your friends with a variety of recipes. Vegetable skewers can create a delicious and colourful treat when BBQ’d, so get some peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms and onions and away you go. Spice up green salads with brightly coloured fruit and veg such as kiwis, oranges or chopped chillies and mix up your own salad dressings, served in pretty glass bottles.

5. Paint a canvas

You don’t have to be a budding Monet to enjoy painting. Outdoor painting can be an extremely relaxing and stress-busting past time, so buy a blank canvas and some water colour paints, and head down to your nearest scenic spot. You never know, you might even surprise yourself and create a masterpiece!

6. Decorate your bedroom

The long weekend gives you a great opportunity to start one of those important DIY jobs that you have been putting off for the rest of the year. Decorating your bedroom is a great place to start, and whether you opt for a full transformation with a new bed and new wardrobes, or simply a new lick of paint and some new wall shelving, you are sure to be proud, as well as well-rested come Tuesday morning!

7. Organise a bake-off

If you have a competitive group of friends, who also love to bake, then why not suggest a bake-off! You all create some tasty treats at home and then meet in one place for them to be judged by a group of willing foodie judges. The best news is that you can then all sit down afterwards to enjoy the fabulous feast that you have created.

8. Enter a pet show

For some reason, the Bank Holiday weekend always seems to play host to a series of furry-friend pet shows across the UK. Whether you have a prize cockerel or a dancing Cockerpoo, make sure you research your nearest event and register your pet. If you don’t have pets of your own, then head down anyway and enjoy the animal antics whilst you enjoy a picnic in the sun.

9. De-clutter your wardrobe

If the weekend weather isn’t what you expected, then you might be spending some time indoors. This gives you a great chance to tidy out your wardrobe and start thinking about your autumn collection. Give unwanted items to friends, or your local charity shop, or why not try to selling them online for some extra spending money.

10. Create a photo collage

The vast majority of us now use our smartphones to take and share pictures, therefore it is very rare that we actually print out photos like we used to. Why not re-visit an old tradition and print out a selection of your favourite pictures from this summer and put them together to form a collage for the wall. Photo collages look great in home offices, play rooms and bedrooms.