Summertime means lots of outdoor parties for us. We love a good cookout or back yard birthday party, but we aren't quite so fond of the how hot it can get here in the south. At our last party, we decided to set up a "Cool Zone" for guests who might be getting a little overheated. Here are our tips and ideas for staying cool at outdoor parties.

Hydration is key to staying cool and safe. We kept a large dispenser filled with cucumber ice water for guests to sip throughout the day.

Cooling face mists are very refreshing, especially if you chill them in your refrigerator overnight and keep them on ice. Grab our free printable to make labels and fill them with either plain water or 1/4 cup rose water and 2-3 drops essential oil (such as peppermint or lavender).

Sometimes, you just need a breeze to keep cool, and a hand fan is a great way to get one. And why not make sure it is cute while you are at it? We have a free download and a full tutorial for creating these fun ice cube paddle fans.

You might not recognize our cooling neck wraps at first glance, but they are one of our favorite ways to keep cool. These colorful fabric ties are filled with water-absorbing beads that slowly release moisture, keeping you cool and refreshed. Just soak them in water for a couple of hours, then wrap one around your neck and feel the difference. We created a full tutorial for how to make your own cooling neck wrap.

We arranged all of these cooling tools onto a cute rolling cart for easy access.

The kids had a favorite stay-cool trick... eating popsicles! We like the classic Fla-Vor-Ice Freezer Pops. We kept them chilled by sticking them in a flower pot filled with ice. A cooler would also work but wouldn't be quite as cute!

I don't know about you, but when I get hot, my feet swell up. We placed buckets of ice in front of our chairs for guests to cool off their swollen piggies! If you are concerned about sharing foot ice, you can easily leave a roll of plastic wrap next to it for guests to place on top before resting their feet on top of the cool ice.

Make sure you have a few comfy seats in the shade for your guests to relax. Either set up under a tree or use a pop up canopy to provide that extra shade.

All of the things we have mentioned before are great but there was one true stand-out in our Cool Zone — our Honeywell portable evaporative air cooler. This was a game changer when it comes to beating the heat outdoors. You can either fill this up with water before turning it on, or connect it directly to your hose so you don't have to worry about the water levels dropping too low. Empty, it is surprisingly light. Looking at it, you would think it would be super heavy but it's not! I could easily roll it into position and we can take it from the upstairs deck to the patio below without a problem.

You can use it as just a powerful fan, but the true magic happens when you turn the mist portion on as well. The added cool water makes a noticeable drop in the surrounding temperature. During the heat of the day, everyone stayed near the unit whenever possible! Please note that the higher the humidity outside, the less the evaporative part works. We used it in 50% and 90% humidity, and found that at the higher humidity levels, the cooling mostly just came from the powerful fan, but at about 65% and below, the cooling mist made a huge difference.

The Honeywell portable evaporative air cooler can be used indoors as well, but we have only tried it outside for dinner parties on our deck and this outdoor shindig. We can't wait to use it at a summer wedding that we are hosting next year. We might need a second one to handle all the cool tent traffic!

As a final touch, we added some letters cut from cardboard to spell out C-O-O-L! Guests were drawn to our little oasis and enjoyed all of the cooling amenities. Next time, we are going to have to make it twice as big to meet the capacity demands!

Mini Me certainly enjoyed her time in the Cool Zone and couldn't believe there was such a thing as an outdoor air conditioner!

Do you have any favorite tips for keeping your cool as the mercury rises?

NOTE: Honeywell provided the unit for review but all opinions are our own.