What you’ll need for this easy DIY:
– Poles (if you don’t have trees or something else to tie your screen and lights to. We used 2 poles for the screen and 2 for the lights and hired these from a local party hire company. They came with garden stakes and zip ties and cost $15 each for the night, so $60 in total). – rope/string – wooden pegs- zip ties (if anyone has an eco alternative to zip ties I am dying to know!! Let me know in the comments below) – fairy lights – flat bed sheet/piece of white material for the screen – rugs & cushions – projector, we used this portable LED one. You can buy it from Amazon/ebay for between $70-$100. You’ll also need a USB with the movie on it, or to connect your laptop.
How to set up a backyard movie night in 4 easy steps:
1. Set up the screen:
We did this by laying the sheet on the grass in the spot we wanted to hang it, so we knew where to put the poles. Use a mallet to peg the garden stakes in the ground and then attach the bamboo to them with zip ties. Then tie a piece of room between the two posts at the top to peg your sheet to. Once the sheet is secured (use heaps of pegs – as even the slightest breeze will turn your screen into a sail!) tie another piece of rope between the posts at the bottom and peg the sheet to that.
2. Add lighting:
Fairy lights are perfect because they give off enough light whilst being dark enough you can still see the screen. We just strung ours between poles and house – zig zagging back and forth over the backyard.
3. Make it cosy:
Lay down rugs, picnic blankets, sheets (or whatever you have!) and add cushions, blankets, throws – anything you have that’s going to make your movie night extra comfortable.
4. Set up the projector:
You’ll have to wait till it’s dark to be able to see the projection on the sheet so can’t do this till the sun goes down. We watched Love Actually (it’s really not Christmas till I’ve watched Love Actually!) It wasn’t on Netflix so we paid to rent it through Youtube for a few dollars.
Order some pizza, pour yourself a wine, and enjoy a night under the stars!
Lulu xx
If you set this up we’d love to see it! #spellDIY
Check out more DIYs here
backyard movie night
Backyard Movie Night DIY
Christmas Edition
Keep scrolling to go behind the scenes with our Events and Brand Experience Manager {+ DIY queen!} Lulu as she shares 4 simple steps to recreate this dreamy backyard movie night
…
I recently took a trip down memory lane and was reminiscing over all the set ups we have created in the past… does anyone remember our bohemian dinner party, backyard camping, or a personal favourite of mine, the festival basecamp?
It’s been ages since we did something like this, and I love doing them because we never just set up a scene and take a photo – we always make sure we put the cameras away and enjoy the space too! In fact, I’ll be leaving these lights and the screen set up in my backyard over summer, so I know there will be many more magic evenings to come…
