DIY Floral Frame

Yes, you DIY-ers out there, I'm pretty sure you can recreate this beautiful piece from J. L. Designs. Just take an old frame or mirror and remove the back. Replace it with craft foam and start pushing the flowers into the foam. Wheather you use real or faux flowers, this is sure to be a showpiece. I can see this hanging behind the bar, sitting on a easel at the entrance, or even used as a backdrop for a "photo booth." You know what else would be cool? To place a monogram in the center! Now, go get crafty!

You Are My Cuppy Cake!

By now I think you know how much I love a good food presentation. Here are some easy cupcake ideas to put into action at your next gathering. "Coffee and doughnuts" takes on new meaning with these cupcakes from Cupcake Bake Shop. It starts with a coffee cupcake, topped with whipped cream, topped with a doughnut. What a way to start your day!

How "sweet" it is to serve a cupcake in a teacup!

Maybe a martini glass is more your style!

How about this idea from Winsor Event Studio. Serve a "top-your-own-cupcake" bar. Have several choices of frosting to top your naked mini cupcakes.

It's a burger! No, it's a cupcake! It's a cupcake-burger! Perfect for a kids party, April fools, or any "backwards" theme.

Would you like fries with that? Of course! Serve up these poundcake "fries" with red colored icing. This happy meal is from Jars of Cute.

Not The Lottery, But...

Are you itching for a unique idea for your next Shower, Graduation, or Birthday party? These Scratch-Off cards are just the thing to engage your guests, and enable you to hand out prizes, without playing silly or embarassing games(not that there's anything wrong with those)! They are from Party Scratchers and come in packs of 20 or 25 cards, and the top card is always the "winner" for your convenience. Simply shuffle them and hand them out and let your guests scratch off the gray area to reveal the winning picture, or one of several other funny variations.....So Cool!

Cute As A Button Baby Shower Ideas

I found this table setting at Lollipop Events & Designs and couldn't help but think of it as the perfect backdrop for a "Cute As a Button" baby shower theme. There are so many adorable button details to get you started!

Invitations would set the stage perfectly when wrapped up with ribbon and tied around a button, like these from Country Living.

Flowers are always a beautiful touch and these from Stem would be perfect with their button center.

This show-stopping centerpiece makes me want to sqeal in delight! Big balls of yarn with a hanging ribbon and buttons sewn or glued on, sitting atop a clear vase. Genious!

Smaller vases with smaller balls of yarn, are filled partially with more buttons. Another idea would be to fill a vase of flowers with the buttons(put a smaller vase of water to hold the flowers, inside a larger one, and then fill the space between the 2 vases with buttons).

Another button strategically placed on the napkin ring and a cute little straw flag that could read "cute as a button."

What to serve? Buttoned up cupcakes of course. Choose either of the ideas here or a combination of the two. I love the toppers made with felt and buttons!

A cute take-home favor for your guests: Button cookies in button-embelished favor bags.

Some activities to do at the shower could be to fill a jar full of buttons and have everyone guess how many buttons are inside, for a prize.

Play Baby BINGO with buttons as the playing pieces to cover each square.

Patriotic Pops!

One last idea for the holiday weekend. Give these patriotic popsicles a try! A cold and refreshing treat for the kids is easy to create. Find the "how to" here at Family Fun.

Have a Happy Memorial day and remember all our Service Men and Women!

Red, White, And Blue Eats

To continue with our Stars & Stripes theme for Memorial Day (or 4th of July), here are some serving suggestions for your weekend cookout. Star fruit is the ultimate garnish for these All-American holidays! P.S. These would also be perfect for a beachy/tropical/coastal theme!

Wheather you serve kool-aid for the kids or more spirited concoctions for adults, dress up the glass with colored sugar, and stir sticks with fruit cut into star shapes.

White corn chips, Blue corn chips, and Red salsa!

Make the same old potato salad extra special by using red potatoes, white potatoes, and blue potatoes.

Two perfect dessert choices! Whatever cake you serve, dress it up to look like the American flag with strawberries, and blueberries.

If cupcakes are on the menu, make sure you stick a little flag pick(found at party stores) in each one.

Photos:

Blue Cocktail

Red Drinks

Chips & Salsa

Potato Salad

Flag Cake

Cupcakes

Stars & Stripes Forever

This weekend is the unofficial start to summer!! I decided to put together this outdoor party setting for any Memorial Day parties or even 4th of July. And, of course, it is done on a budget!

(see our slide show featured in the Richmond Times Dispatch here)

I spent about $7 at Michaels on paper, twine, a decorative star, and 2 bandanas to be used as placemats. The rest was found around the house.

I got 2 sheets of paper and was able to wrap 2 candle vases with one sheet, and the center vase with half of the other. The striped paper had a different print on the reverse side so I used various patterns from it to make drink tags, bottle wrapper(on the bar below), and napkin ring details.

For the tags on the snack pails, I punched shapes from a brown grocery bag to add to the casual outdoorsy feel. Notice the water bottles? They are from World Market and the top comes off and becomes a cup....so clever!

Here is the drink station with drink tags and bottle wrapper made from various patterns that were on the reverse side of the striped paper. Also added some stars to the wrapper.

This could easily be recreated for your outdoor cookout. Want more? Check out our Facebook page.

Hope you all have a very happy Memorial Day weekend!!

Spring Fling

Check out this beautiful Spring Picnic put together by Joyful Weddings & Events. I love all the colors and details here.....And the things she does with her Cricut!! See more of this picnic and all of her wonderful event styling at her site.

I am so loving those lunch boxes with coordinating bottle wrappers and napkin rings!

White & Green Centerpieces

As I was doing a little perusing recently, I discovered some gorgeous, yet simple centerpiece ideas from JL Designs. I want to do them ALL!

Ham & Cheese Mini Muffins

Here are some Mini Muffins I made a couple weeks ago for a brunch. They were so good, several people asked for the recipe. FYI, I made 2 batches in 2 different flavors. Choose your favorite and serve for brunch OR appetizers!

Ham and Cheddar Mini Muffins3 Tbsp. butter
1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups Bisquick
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg
1/2 cup finely chopped cooked ham
1/2 cup "Real Bacon"
Melt butter over medium-high heat; add onion, and saute until tender. Combine bisquick and cheese in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.
Stir together milk and egg, blending well; add to cheese mixture, stirring until moist. Stir in onion, ham, and bacon. Spoon into lightly greased(PAM) mini muffin pans, filling 2/3 full. Bake at 425 for 18 minutes. Let stand 2-3 minutes before removing from pan. Makes 2 1/2 dozen.
For Ham and Swiss muffins: Use shredded Swiss cheese instead of cheddar; use 1 cup finely chopped cooked ham; and add 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard with milk and egg. Proceed as directed above.
Below is nothing special, just showing off the new scalloped circle punch I got. I made cupcake toppers for a family BBQ we went to.

Take It Outside!

So much rain this Spring has left me yearning for sunshine, warm breezes, and outdoor entertaining! Thanks to Martha, there is plenty to inspire you to take it outdoors. Who else would have ever thought to tie the flower to the OUTSIDE of the vase?! Placed on a shallow dish with water keeps the flower fresh.

Tropical Zen or Hawaiian Luau comes to mind when I look at these leaf-wrapped votives.

Great way to light up the night. Hang jars, glass votives, punched tin cans, or tiny lanterns from the umbrella spokes.

The perfect light appetizer of cheese & crackers served on terra cotta saucers....I want to go to there!

All photos from MarthaStewart.com

Do Me A "Favor"...

...and check out the latest download from Tangarang.

Don't they make the cutest stuff?!! Just print, cut, paste, and fill with "favor"-able treats!

Creative Touches For Mom

How about some beautiful DIY projects for Mother's Day? Starting with this lovely homemade card above. Peruse the scrapbook isle and get some fun embelishments and papers to create your own.

While you're there, get some ribbon and more paper and get to work on one of these fabulous floral centerpieces. Wrapped cans, floating candles, fruit, or re-used bottles can all be used.

Oh, what's that? D-A-D?! Of course, You know what to do!! ; )

Source: BHG.com

Summer Entertaining

Today I'm posting an article written by Jenna Lowe, Lifestyle expert for Karen Neuburger. But first I wanted to take a moment to give a big THANK YOU to all my followers and readers out there! I've been doing this blog thing for about 6 months now and it is amazing how connected you can feel to your "cyber friends." Thank You All for reading each day! To you fellow bloggers, you give me a world of inspiration!

Now to our regularly scheduled party post:

Stylish Summer Entertaining
TOUCH: Invitations "Picking the right invitation and themes for the party is very important as it sets a tone and keeps party guests on the same page of what to expect," Jenna explains. "One of my favorite summer themes is High Tea at High Noon. It's a great chance to bring girlfriends together to sample light hors d'oeuvres and enjoy one another's company."
"A great resource for invitations is http://www.beforeyourparty.com/, a design-your-own invitation website. Hosts and hostesses can personalize everything on the invite from the color scheme to the font, artwork, and layout($100-$300 for 50 invitations). Or, to save on cost, try sending ivitations from a gree online invitation website like http://www.evite.com/."
SIGHT: Setting the Table "The table setting should be the main focal point to any party and take center stage. Create something whimsical and fun, and don't make anything too formal. One way to do this is to mix and match tabletop pieces to create different looks. I'm obsessed with KN Luxury Home's Willow tabletop line ($8-$32, http://www.bonton.com/). The ruffled design is feminine and whimsical and all pieces in the cellection are microwave and dishwasher save. I also love KN's Rattan Charger($12) new Thicket 20-piece Flatware Set($86), which is adorned with a nature-like design, perfect for summer."

SMELL: Fresh and Clean "Scent is an essentioal element to parties-more than people think. Instead of opting for traditional flowers that don't last very long, why not set up beautiful diffusers? They add color and great scents to the party. Try KN 6-pack Trial Reed Diffuser Gift Set ($20 http://www.bonton.com/). The set features 18 reeds with 18 decorative and various scents including Pink Cashmere, Asian Pear, Warm Sugared Vanilla, Tranquil Oasis, Fresh Linen, and Lavender Vanilla."

SOUND: "Before the party, create a fun mix of songs to keep the energy up at the party. Pick songs that really center around your party's theme and don't be afraid to mix genres or eras of music," Jenna explains. Here are some of Jenna's favorite picks for the perfect summer playlist:

The Beach Boys "California Girls"

Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California"

Lynyrd Skynyrd "Sweet Home Alabama"

Yellowcard "Ocean Avenue"

Sheryl Crow "Soak Up the Sun"

The Beatles "A Hard Day's Night"

Sublime "Summertime"

The Wallflowers "One Headlight"

The Monkees "Daydream Believer"

TASTE: Flavorful Food "Finger sandwiches are an easy, affordable, and adorable solution for food at parties. Simple recipes include cucumber and ham and cheese sandwiches. Pair them with fruit and veggies platters and my favorite Shrimp Dip (find the recipe below)."

Jenna's Shrimp Dip Recipe

1 8-oz packages of cream cheese(regular, not light!)

1/4 cup of milk (1% is fine)

2 Tbs. Miracle Whip salad dressing (Not Mayo!)

1 cup of Parmesan cheese

2 tsp. of crushed garlic

2 4-oz cans deveined shrimp

1/4 tsp of paprika

Sprig of parsley

Put cream cheese, milk and Miracle Whip in a mixing bowl. Mix with electric beater on medium until soft, creamy and totally blended. Add the Parmesan cheese and crushed garlic, blend. Drain shrimp keeping a little juice for flavor. Fold Shrimp an djuice into mixture. Taste again and then garnish with paprika and parsley. Chill for 1 hour. Serve with your favorite dipping crackers.

TASTE: Delightful Drinks "What better way to enjoy a warm summer day than with lemonade? Serve it in a beautiful glass lemondade stand and jar ($18, http://www.surlatable.com/) and slice lemonds to give extra color. Refreshing and totally chic-your guests will certainly go back for more! KN Luxury Home Mocha Glassware Coolers, ($26 http://www.bonton.com/)."

TASTE: Delicious Dessert "I love serving macaroons for dessert. Try Paulette's Macaroons (http://www.paulettemacarons.com/). They ship all over the United States and come in a variety of flavors and colors ($36 for 24 macaroons)."