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How to Make an Unforgettable Bacon Bouquet



This is one of the most remarkable appetizers I have ever made, Bacon Bouquets!  I did get the idea from several different posts on Pinterest.  I made it my own by the ingredients I used. Whenever I serve it people go wild with excitement.  I'm not kidding!



For this bouquet, use boxed, pre-cooked bacon strips.  Each rose required two strips of bacon. Two boxes were required, which made 12. After covering them with maple syrup and brown sugar, (sprinkle lightly with cinnamon too if you wish), roll them up into rose shapes and place them in small muffin tins with holes drilled for drainage. If they are loose, simply secure them with a toothpick to hold them in place.  Place upon a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

When they are finished baking and look the way you want them to, and are cool enough to touch but still warm, remove them and carefully place them within an artificial flower stem in which you have removed the artificial flower.  Place in a vase or upon a silver tray with a white doily.


After searching high and low, the best arrangement I found was a red rose arrangement from Hobby Lobby for $6.99. (With a 40% discount coupon you may buy them for $4.20).  It takes some time and effort to remove the rose petals from the stems, but you can re-use these once you have washed them in the sink. 

 Muffin tin with drilled holes.


 
Shown above are stems that have been clipped and artificial flower removed.  I found the bacon too heavy to be used upon the arrangement without clipping them. (They fall over.  And that is not what you want to have happen when you are  presenting such a fun and unique appetizer!) This way you are able to lay them down on a tray, or stand them up in a vase as I did in the picture above.


You will end up removing a few innards to bring it to this point with a stem poking through.  I actually glue gunned the stem  at it's bottom to be sure it stayed secure.


I GUARANTY your event will start out on a high note with this menu item alone.  The only thing that made this better was the strawberry sparkling punch served in tandem.  It was a fabulous combination.

Helpful Hint: You need to have these ready and waiting when your guest arrive, otherwise the impact of the appetizer isn't quite as impressive.  Additionally, have the strawberry sparkling punch poured and ready to present with your appetizers upon your guests arrival. You don't want to be arranging these when you should be serving them.  It's okay for them to  be room temperature.  

My next blog post will be a really fun themed activity we did at the Denim and Diamonds Party that brought lots of smiles and good feelings.  Check back with me friends.  

I'd be interested in hearing what favorite appetizers you serve at your events.  Please share with me by commenting in the "Comments" section below.  

Until next time, 
Debbie


How to Make a Remarkable Denim & Diamond Wreath


Constructing a Denim and Diamond Wreath is incredibly simple, low cost, and impressive. People will surely remark about it/them.  I love to delight my friend's eyes with beauty and creativity, and make them feel like I'm excited they have come. I believe I accomplished that with these wreaths.

First, I am going to show you how I started and then how I continued to adjust until I got the look I was seeking.  Stay with me.   


Start with a pool noodle from the Dollar Tree store, tape it together with duct tape.  It is just the right size.  Next, secure one end of the ribbon to the pool noodle with a strip of hot glue. Wrap the entire pool noodle tightly with denim ribbon. (About 2.5 yards) Fold the end about one inch and lock it in place with a strip of hot glue.  Of course, you will want the glued part to show up on the back of your wreath. Then, attach a sequined  bow with hot glue. (I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby in the Wedding Department)  The full price was $7.99. With a 40% coupon you can get them for $4.80. HL has an app for your phone so you can get 40% off one item any time you visit. (By the way, so do Michael's and Jo-Ann's) Take a 1.5 yard strip of bandana ribbon, trim the ends into a chevron pattern, and hang it around and tuck it in tightly to the top of sequined bow.  Glue down.  Affix three denim adhesive backed roses.  (You can purchase at Michael's).  


At this point,  it was just okay to me. I felt it needed some height above the sequined bow.  So, I made a tri-plumed bow, secured with wire, and glued it on top of the sequined bow. I also trimmed the edges of this ribbon in a chevron pattern.  It still needed something... 


Perfecto!  I added a rhinestone button in the center of the three denim roses and sequined letters at the bottom with the word "Welcome".  Because I have two front doors, I made a second one.


Added to the other wreath was the word "Friends".  And they worked harmoniously  on the two front doors.  So you could do one, or two!

Ta-Dah!  

The pool noodle was $1.00 X 2
The sequined bow was $4.80 X2
 The spool of denim ribbon was about $6.00 
The denim ribbon was about $5.00 
The denim roses were about $5.00 for a pack of nine 
The rhinestone buttons were about $2.50 each X2
The sequinned letters were about $4.00 

All in, with plenty of ribbon left over the two cost about $31.60 or $15.80 each. Most everyone remarked about the wreaths in a complimentary way. :-) You could even make them as gifts for friends (hostess gift, party favor, housewarming gift, shower, new baby, any party, just because, etc.) with any ribbon and embellishments you choose.

Save additional ribbon for making the tin can crafts from  "How to Make Remarkable Party Favors and Hostess Gifts for a Denim and Diamonds Party". 

In my next blog post I will be welcoming you to the party with a very unique and impressive appetizer.  Be sure to come back my friends.  You won't want to miss it.  

I love to read your comments. They mean a lot to any blogger, so please feel free to give me your thoughts in the comment section below.  

Until next time, 

Debbie










Remarkable Party Favors for a Denim & Diamonds Party


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Greetings friends!

In case you were unaware, I teach a class four times a year on how to host a dining event of some type.  As one of my blog followers you will be able to obtain a peek into the process as I share with you some of the aspects of the events.  In January, I taught a class on "How to Host a Delightful Tea".  In April I shared with my attendees, "How To Host a Delightful Spring Luncheon", and the event I am about to share with you was a class entitled "How to Host a Delightful Denim and Diamonds Dinner". (Book in the works) It was one of my favorite all time events.  They are all really so much FUN!  Perhaps one day, you will be able to attend one of my events.  

Note: My next event will be an Autumn Brunch.  If you wish to sign up, please email me at MakeItDelightful@gmail.com I am limited to seven guests and three people have reserved so far.  The date will be October 29th. I might be open to hosting a second event if you can gather seven people together.  :-) It is a great gift to give someone, and yourself!

I want to present to you some fun party favors we made at the Denim and Diamonds Dinner event.  Every guest takes home what they have made.

We first painted Dollar Tree Store coffee cups with their initials upon them. 

I printed my guests initials out on clear full sheet of label paper and cut around each letter and affixed it to the cup very carefully.  When my guests arrived, all they had to do was paint around the initial to make it their own, and peel away the letter. Here are the instructions for making the design permanent: 
  • Affix a letter or design, such as a leaf, heart, or whatever you wish to a cup that has an adhesive back on it
  • Paint a design or make dots around your letter with oil-based Sharpies.  The pens are about $4.00 each. Be sure to get very close to the letter all around and inside any openings or your letter will not be pronounced. Keep painting until you get the look you desire.
  • Place your cup(s) on a cookie sheet, in a room temperature oven, heat to 350 degrees.
  • Bake for two hours, turn off the oven and remove when cool. The design should then be permanent.
I obtained the inspiration from several Pinterest posts.  If you want to take a look on Pinterest, simply enter "Painted Coffee Mugs" in the search box and find something you like.  Here is how the example I made for them looked:

 The dots were applied with oil-based blue and silver Sharpie pins.  
The blue got lighter after the baking of the cup.




We decorated horseshoes too! Such a unique favor or gift to make someone.  Simply wrap denim around the horse shoe as desired. Affix rhinestone buttons with a glue gun.  Attached coordinated fabric flowers with rhinestones on them and tie the top sides with blue jute.  All items are found in craft stores.  I thought this was my big idea.  However, I went to Pinterest to check and see if there was anything like this and to my surprise their were all kinds of unique designs.  If you have the time, it would be fun to take a look.  Just enter "Decorated Horse Shoes" in the search box.  People are incredibly creative.



My guests also learned how to decorate water bottles.  This takes an ordinary item and kicks it up to extraordinary.  I think my guests will re-use and/or re-apply the design to other water bottles.  You will surely be styling if you keep something like this in your car or wherever you are;-)


Your guests can decorate tin cans with bling strips and fabric flowers to be used as candle or plant holders.  See other samples above.

Additional fun party favors we made were pens wrapped in florist tape with a white rose and a leaf attached to the top.  Each guest made three.  They were then placed in the decorated cans  filled with coffee beans to resemble the look of dirt.  They also provide a pleasant coffee aroma.  If you don't like the smell of coffee, use pinto beans. 


One design of the rose pens within the coffee bean filled, decorated tin cans.



Everyone decorated candles too.  The tall, thin white candles can be purchased at the Dollar Tree and make excellent candles for decorating.  They now come in a variety of colors too, such as red, blue, green, and yellow. (Think autumn, Christmas, Valentines Day and St. Patrick's Day)


Fill decorated cans with flowers or candy or whatever you like.
Do you notice the diamond pattern on the cake stand?

This picture was taken before the flowers were inserted. Below, you can see the mantle in the background. It just so happens that my mirror has a lot of sparkle to it.  It was really pretty, as is Leisha one of my guests.  She was treated to the event as a birthday gift.  Isn't that a GREAT idea!?


Leisha is holding her welcome drink of "Strawberry Champagne Punch".



All in all, the favors were a big hit and they could also be used as hostess gifts if you are going to a themed party.  Everyone went home delighted, and that was my goal. 

My next blog post will show you how to make remarkable Denim and Diamond wreaths very inexpensively but impressive.  I hope you'll come back to see that post.

Until then, I hope you are having a delightful day!


Debbie





How to Make Remarkable Invitations for a Denim & Diamonds Dinner

Greetings to you, my treasured blog followers!

In the days to come I am going to share with you "How to Host a Denim and Diamonds Dinner".  I will travel through the process with you and I hope you will enjoy the journey as much as I enjoyed mapping out our trip.

After deciding who to  invite to your party, it builds anticipation (and supplies rare regrets) to construct and send "remarkable" invitations.  I perused the pages of Pinterest to obtain clever ideas for this endeavor, however, I wasn't impressed with any of the ones I could actually construct.  So, I put on my thinking cap and ventured over  to one of my favorite purchasing establishments, Hobby Lobby.  There I discovered (by mistake) what I am about to show you.

Tip:  Some of the best things in life have come to be as a result of a mistake!

I found the most ideal 5' X 7" dark blue paper with a look of threads through it. Then I saw what I thought were  burlap colored envelopes with a uniquely cut edge.  I was excited to get them home and start printing and constructing these enticements.  

I designed the words I desired onto a burlap colored paper that I had handy.  I love it for men's stationery.  I place four invites on each sheet and printed them out in a matching blue.  Here's what they look like:
 
I featured "Diamond Inlay" font for the large print, and "Diamond Dust" font for the script.

Here's what it looks like, ready to mail. 

My mistake was, I thought the brown  burlap folded paper was an envelope!  When I opened them, I found  that they were cards.  Oh my, take them back or make Limonata?!  I decided to make Limonata.  See what I did next.

I positioned the printed card atop the blue cards with a glue stick.  Then I started the tedious task of positioning the itsy bitsy teeny tiny strip of sequins around the border that brought just the exact look I wanted. A hole was cut to show off the twine and rectangular diamond rhinestone.  It was just the look I desired. Be still my heart! What do you think? 

Here's a close up.

Now, for the finishing touch, the envelope

Upon the envelope the name was printed in the "Diamond Inlay" font.  Applied to the top of the name was a coat of silver glitter nail polish, and those tiny sequins were added on the diamond points on the font. I was thrilled with  how they turned out! Can see the glittery look atop the denim colored print? They glowed!

I was able to view two people  opening their invitation and they were "delighted".  Yay!  Mission accomplished.   

Stay tuned for Denim and Diamond party favors you can make for your guests.