Let's Entertain

Giveaway Time

I'm so excited to tell you about our new giveaway from Beau Coup Favors!!!  Favors is an understatement.  They have everything you need for your next party from favors to decorations.  From weddings to birthdays.

 

Here are a few of my favorites:

Personalized Mint Tins

 

Cupcake Place Card Holders

 

Ice Cream Towels

 

All you have to do is visit Beau Coup Favors and leave a comment here telling me your favorite party favor and you could win a $25 gift certificate to their site to spend anyway you like!  Contest ends next Friday June 5th.  Good luck!!

Reaching New Heights

I am constantly amazed by all of the different ways to arrange flowers.  Especially when they are arranged in easy to find, inexpensive containers like these little fishbowls.  I just love the simplicity of these arrangements.  Bonus-I have both zinnias and hosta in my yard.  If you don't have them in your yard they are available at most any nursery or hardware store.

 

These fishbowls are filled 2/3 full of water.  A hosta leaf is then curled around the inside of the bowl.  Add any flowers you like.  They used three to five per bowl here.  Then stack at varying heights.  Now you have a bright summery floral display. 

(photo from myhomeideas.com)

Nifty Idea

Summer entertaining season is upon us!  As much as I like being outdoors this time of year, I hate BUGS!  Here is a way to at least keep them off of your food.   Pretty cute too.

Fill single serving lidded jars with your favorite sides.  Lids keep the bugs off and all of the serving is done before your guests arrive!  Would look great on your table too.

Like the filling you see?  Get the recipe here.

(photo from countryliving.com)

Let's Celebrate Summer

 

Fancy Flours Giveaway Winners

Congratulations Loralee and Amy!!  (I'll be sending you an email to get your addresses). 

Thanks so much to everyone who entered.  I enjoyed reading all of your creative cupcake ideas! 

 Big Thank You to Fancy Flours for sending us these great prizes!

True Random Number Generator Min: Max:   Result: 3 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

True Random Number Generator Min: Max:   Result: 13 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Mystery Pops

Things are not always as they seem.  These "Watermelon Pops" are so cute and perfect for outdoor entertaining.  Oh wait...

Strawberry-Orange Pops

 

Makes 12 pops

• 2  cups  orange juice
• 1/2  cup  low-fat vanilla yogurt
• 1  cup  frozen whole strawberries, thawed

Stir together orange juice and yogurt.

Process berries in a blender or food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Stir into juice mixture.

Hollow out lime halves, leaving rinds intact. Spoon pop mixture into lime rinds. Sprinkle with semisweet chocolate mini morsels, and freeze 8 hours. Cut frozen lime halves in half with a bread knife to make wedges.

How cool is that?!?!  I bet kids would love these.  They are perfect for a backyard bbq and definitely a conversation starter.

Don't forget to enter our Fancy Flours giveaway!  Today is the last day!

(photo and recipe from myrecipes.com)

Blogoversary!

It's been one year from today since I started blogging!  Wow how time flies when you're having fun.  It's so funny to look back at my first posts.  No pictures!!  I've learned so much in a year about blogging and still so much more to learn. 

I want to thank my readers so much for this opportunity to share all of my ideas, parties, recipes, ramblings, etc.!  Without you Let's Entertain would not be.  You all are an inspiration to me and keep my creative juices flowing.  I appreciate all of you.

And to all the fellow bloggers I've met-thank you!  I've made so many friends writing this blog and am so thankful for all of you and your fabulous blogs.  There are so many creative, talented people out there I would not have known if it weren't for having Let's Entertain.

A special thank you to all of my friends and family for all of your support and encouragement!

So here's to all of you for making this dream come true for me!  Keep reading and I will keep the ideas coming.  I also love to hear from you so drop me an email if you have any questions or suggestions or just feel like chatting :)

Thank you,

Joanna

(photo from here)

Patriotic Cocktail

Here is a cool cocktail to serve this weekend at your Memorial Day gatherings.  Also, great for the 4th of July.

The All-American

 

Makes one drink

Ingredients:

3 tbsp pomegranate liqueur, such as Pama

1 tbsp bourbon

Splash of lemon juice

Ice

Club Soda

Lemon slice

1. Pour the pomegranate liqueur, bourbon and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake well. Pour into a rocks glass over ice and top off with club soda. Serve with a lemon slice.

(photo and recipe from Rachel Ray)

Vibrant Veggie Salad

This colorful salad caught my eye when I was searching for a new side to serve with our BBQ this weekend.  I think we have a winner!  Yum.

Corn, Tomato & Avocado Salad

 

Makes 8 servings

For the dressing:

• 1 1/2 cups packed fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup good-quality extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

For the salad:

• 4 ears corn, kernels removed (about 3 cups)
• 1 1/2 pounds grape tomatoes, halved (about 3 cups)
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella, diced
• 2 medium avocados, diced

Directions

Combine the dressing ingredients in a blender, using 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper to taste; process until smooth. Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the dressing. Let sit at least 15 minutes before serving, or cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

(photo and recipe from foodnetwork.com)

Green Apple Shower

We celebrated two of my friends' upcoming nuptials this weekend Green Apple Style!  This was a fun theme to work with and I just love how everything turned out.  My inspiration came from the old ditty "Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me".  Also, the bride's favorite color is chartreuse and with it being May, the Granny Smith was the perfect choice. 

I reused my 30th birthday manzanita centerpieces with the addition of artificial green apples from Hobby Lobby.  I am so glad I made these centerpieces.  They are so versatile, you will probably be seeing them again!  We even used one of them as the money tree. 

For the other decor we filled cylinder vases with real Granny Smiths, water and floating candles.  They made a statement without having to spend a lot of money.

 

We served Green Apple Martinis and finger foods.  My talented friend Nicole made these adorable cupcake toppers.  She used an apple instead of the "O" in "I Do".  Too cute.  The paper goods are from Hostess Jo.

 

Most importantly everyone had a blast!  To see more pics of this shower check out my Facebook page.