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Showing posts with label summer entertaining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer entertaining. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

{July 4th Round-Up} Affordable July 4th Crafts and Ideas

You might notice a few cosmetic changes happening on my blog, since I'm a one mama show, that's got me pretty busy right now.   As I continue to rebuild the blog to make it prettier and more fab for ya (like the cute social media buttons over there ---->), I still want to provide you with some easy peezy projects for the upcoming July 4th holiday!  Here are a few ideas I've created from past July 4th celebrations I've hosted.



 Make an easy and affordable decorative centerpiece for your July 4th tablescape.  Decorate white pillar candles from the dollar store with star shaped blingy stickers and place in an inexpensive glass vase. Create an elegant floral piece by adding blue glass vase filler, red floral wire in a vase and submerge and orchid or another bloom to the vase.


Make Red, White and Blue ice cream cone cupcakes!  Bake cupcakes in ice cream cones and top with patriotic frosting!

For a festive place setting, use a paper rosette as a sleeve for sparkler sticks! Simply make a small paper rosette, attach a 2" circle to two sparkler sticks - you can also add a bit of embellishment....I just punched a smaller circle to a washi tape covered thumbtack and stuck it into the center of the circle.  Adhere the circle to the rosette with glue dots. 
July 4th crafts, july 4th ideas, sparklers

Make a patriotic fruit pizza with the kids with sugar cookie dough, vanilla frosting and berries!

fruit pizza, july 4th desserts, summer desserts

Make simple paper lanterns patriotic by attaching a blue fringe tassel to red and white paper globes!


Create a mini bunting using red, white and blue streamers.  I made this by cutting the streamers into 6" cuts and folding accordion style, then pinched and glued one edge together towards the center to create a semi-circle bunting shape and then attached by folding over the top of the bunting to a length of twine.


 End your July 4th celebration with a BANG.....or at least a little sparkle.  Set up a sparkler station on a bar cart and place in decorated pails and baskets.

You can find some of the July 4th printables in this post in my Etsy shop.  

Be sure to keep checking back for more updates to the blog and creative ideas for your parties and celebrations! 

Save this board to Pinterest for later!






Wednesday, June 27, 2012

{July 4th Ideas} Patriotic Fruit Pizza

I love fruit pizza and so do the kids! There are so many ways to make them and the possibilities are endless!  Here's a fun idea we whipped up for a Patriotic fruit pizza.



So, in my mind fruit pizza is super easy and kids love it!  All you need is-

  • Sugar Cookie Dough - I like Pillsbury, but I'm sure your own recipe is fine.  You can also try puff pastry or brownie mix as your pizza 'crust.'
  • Some type of cream to spread over the cookie once it's baked. - we use a vanilla frosting or Marshmallow fluff because the Mini Diva has dairy allergies, but you can mix a pack of cream cheese with sour cream or yogurt and use it as a spread or try my favorite fruit dip.
  • Fruit - sliced, diced or chopped- any fruit is fine, but since we're celebrating our great nation's holiday, I went with strawberries and blueberries!

Then follow these steps -










Dee-licious berries!!!!










If you want to try out some more fruit pizza ideas, check out my board on Pinterest - yes, I did create a Pinterest board full of fruit pizza :)



Linking this post to:


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Friday, July 15, 2011

{Summer Entertaining} Two Simple and Easy Summer Menu Ideas

When entertaining a small group of friends for the summer, I have two easy-breezy menu items that I always like to prepare.  For me, I keep it very simple and affordable and serve a large bowl of Caesar Salad with grilled shrimp and chicken. 


I always buy those bags of romaine lettuce, cut the heads up into nice portions, pour a little olive oil onto the salad and season lightly with salt & pepper.  Then, I toss in large croutons and serve the dressing, shrimp and chicken on a platter.  I also love this idea of skewering the chicken and adding grilled baguettes on the side!


Be sure to serve this dish with a nice bottle of Moscato and you're good to go!
 
My other go to staple for a summer gathering is sliced grilled flank steak and grilled veggies.  Fire up your grill and toss on a well seasoned flank, skirt or, hanger steak, grill for 10 minutes on each side then allow to rest for another 10 minutes and slice. Toss a handful of fresh veggies like, bell peppers, scallions, zucchini, squash and eggplant in a mixture of herbed olive oil and grill for 3-5 minutes.  Serve the sliced steak alongside the grilled veggies and you've got a perfect summer meal!


It's always important to have the right cocktail on hand for any grown-folk occasion and my cocktail du jour is the SANGRIA!  You might remember I boasted about this fabulous drink back in May, well it's now got its hooks in me.



Want to make your own fun summertime sangria?  Leave a comment below to win this Tastefully Simple Samba Sangria Slush Mix courtesy of Charisse Matthews.

One winner will be chosen at Random.org on Friday, July 22nd at 8 pm!  Please be sure to leave your email with your comment so we can reach you.





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