Half-time REFRESHMENTS
Homemade lemonade will help to keep the athletes on top form. Serve it with vintage-style accessories. These woven mats are easy to make with ribbon offcuts. Simply lie lengths of ribbon on a flat surface to the size you want. Working horizontally and from top to bottom, weave ribbons under and over the vertical lengths. Turn and sew the edges with a fine cotton and back with felt, which can either be sewn or glued in place.
PITCH PERFECT
Traditionally, croquet is played on a freshly mown lawn with two to six players. Position a couple of chairs beside the pitch, so spectators can get close to the action. From left to right: similar new traditional GM Eclipse wooden cricket set, £24.95, Cricket Direct. Similar vintage croquet set, from a selection, Etsy. Floor cushions covered in Coromandel in Ivory/green/aqua linen mix, £126/m, Nina Campbell at Osborne & Little. All items on top of floor cushions, as before. Vintage reclining chairs, from a selection, Ebay. Chair cushions made from Bagatelle linen in Emeraude (left) and Manganese (right), both £142/m, Manuel Canovas at Colefax and Fowler. Scatter cushions (on chairs) made from Rosslyn cotton and Amrapali Peony linen, as before. Samsö parasol, from £35; Huvön parasol base, £22: both Ikea. Berber basket (next to green recliner), £35, The Danes. Hat (next to pink recliner), from a selection, Wear Garson Clothing. All other items on floor next to pink recliner and vintage quoits set, as before
TIN CAN ALLEY
This simple game will appeal to all ages. To make your own, collect ten tin cans. Remove the labels and sand down any sharp edges. Paint in bright colours and stack into a pyramid shape. Use bean bags or tennis balls to knock them down.
Tin can alley tins painted in Capri Pink, Firle and English Yellow chalk paint, £23.95/L each, Annie Sloan
“If you can meet with triumph and disaster. And treat those two impostors just the same”
HOT SEAT
A wooden garden chair – spruced up with a slick of bold paint – makes an impromptu perch for a tray of refreshments served in stoppered bottles. Bondholmen folding chair, £45, Ikea; painted in Capri Pink chalk paint, £23.95/L, Annie Sloan. Similar Korken bottles, £2.50 each, Ikea. Similar wicker display tray, £19, The Danes
LOOPING THE LOOP
Like boules, quoits is an easy game to assemble once you have the kit. To make your own rings, use cut lengths of thick rope that are the circumference of a small football. A heavy yachting rope is an ideal weight and will make the quoits easier to throw. Sew the ends of the rope tightly together to form a circle, then blanket stitch tightly around each quoit in a colourful twine to completely cover. Tie the ends securely together, then bind the joined area in a jolly contrasting ribbon, sewing the ends in a fine cotton to prevent it unravelling. Quoits (below right) made from thick chunky twine, £10.95/ 90m, and Heritage twine in Pink and Saffron, £4.25/110m, all Nutscene; and tied with ribbon, from a selection, Hobbycraft. Similar vintage croquet set (below left), from a selection, Etsy