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Perfect Menu for a Denim & Diamonds Dinner Party

If you have been following my blog for the last week or so, you have viewed ways to make party favors, how to make a remarkable Denim and Diamonds wreath, ways to have fun, how to construct an unforgettable bacon bouquet appetizerhow to set a beautiful Denim and Diamonds tablescape and how to make a remarkable Denim and Diamonds Party Invitation.  Today, I will present  the menu my guests enjoyed.  Everyone expressed complete delight and I was happy to bring those feelings and great food to them.

This was an easier dinner party than most to prepare as I was able to make many of the items  ahead of time.  Here's the menu:


This soup was perfect for a summer event!  Not only did it taste delicious, it was such a cool refreshing soup that looked phenomenal.  Placed into the Fenton Silver Crested Milk Glass bowls and adorned with a peach slice and mint leaf, it was amazing!

 


Twice Baked Potatoes, before baking.


Everyone LOVED these! 


Have you ever had The Smokehouse Garlic Cheese Bread? If not, you are in for a real treat! The Smokehouse Restaurant has been in Burbank, CA, across from Warner Bros. Studios for decades.  It has been visited by numerous movie stars and people from all over who love to dine. They are famous for this bread.  You could go there and just eat this and sip on  a beverage.  I have never met anyone who didn't love this bread.  It is addicting!  Many people have the recipe.  This is how I make it.




You may click on any of the recipes to print them. 

We concluded the evening with The Best Vanilla Cupcakes topped with The Best Vanilla Frosting. I found the recipes on Pinterest.  Just enter those names in the search box on Pinterest and you will find the delicious recipes. I topped these cupcakes with small and medium silver non-perils and little specially ordered diamond sugar shapes. If you look really close, you can see them! wanted to place a sparkler on each cupcake for the grand finale, however,  they don't make sparklers like they used to!  So I placed them on a platter, and lit one huge sparkler in the middle and served them.  That way, I was able to end my "sparkle" themed event in a grand way.




All in all, it was a completely enchanting event and everyone had a wonderful time. I suspect these class attendees will be having parties of their own in the future and adapting some of what they learned at this event to their own fun themes. The more parties the better,  don't you think?  

Until next time, "Whatever you do, make it delightful!"



How to Create A Beautiful Denim & DiamondsTablescape


A feast for one's eyes this tablescape is.  This is what I love to do the very most, set beautiful tablescapes.  People get excited about all sorts of things, but this is it for me.  

Because I have been collecting vintage and various tableware for over 30 years, I have a collection that is just waiting to be used at all times.  I don't say that to be braggadocios.  It is just a passion of mine.  You may ask, "Your passion is tableware?"  I say, it is so much more than that!  It is wonderfully memorable times around a table with friends or family. It always includes traditional or inventive food selections.  The unmatched atmosphere includes lots of laughter, story telling, and always, party favors. It is simply delightful. My walls echo with good times shared with great people.

I invite you to come see and learn more by taking this little tour with me.

Blue is such a soothing color.  A few weeks before this event, I placed daisies in the various vases so I could gaze upon the table and anticipate what I would need to make this event special for my guests.  They looked great, very cheerful as daisies do.  But when the time to actually dine approached, I kicked it up a notch and purchased white, blue and green hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, and Lisianthus, and a variety of greenery.

My big challenge was keeping the blue ones alive.  I must not have prepared them well. :-(  I had to buy a second set of the blue because they conked out on me.  The lesson I learned:  Don't buy flowers from a market on Friday morning.  Wait until the late afternoon after their new shipment arrives!


Upon the table, I placed a denim tablecloth.  You can find them for a reasonable price online. My sister, Jane, and I both have sets of the Spode Delamere Blue floral dishes.  Believe it or not, I couldn't find mine!  Have you ever done that?  I also had a set of the blue, Ralph Lauren looking dishes, that I used once and gave to her.  I had to borrow all of these from her.  She's a good sister.  She loaned them to me without any fuss. Come to think of it, this combination of dishes was her grand idea!  



One thing I did have was the Fenton Silver Crested Milk Glass sherbets and saucers.  I LOVE this pattern and have many items of it.  I'm hoping some day my son will find "Miss Right" and I will be able to use them in some sort of glorious wedding/shower celebration. Let me tell you, this young lady is going to be CELEBRATED! ;-)

Tah-dah!  The dish patterns were set.  I sprinkled little faux diamonds all around the table which enhanced my theme and brought a measure of whimsy to the mostly formal table. I was aiming for formal with casual because of the nature of the event.  


Large yam cans and small tuna cans were dressed in denim and diamonds.  Diamond patterned candle holders embraced denim colored candles.  Rhinestone studded candle holders were the foundation to hold the cobalt blue sherbet glasses to present the ice cream that would later be served.  They were actually removed for the dinner so the Delamere dishes could host a scrumptious watermelon salad.  Guess what!  I bought the blue flutes (seen in the post: How to Make an Unforgettable  Bacon Bouquet) and water glasses at the Dollar Tree and dressed them up with sequins and rhinestones. They paired well with the Lenox Charleston Crystal wine glasses. Note: The self-adhesive sequins will come right off if you get them anywhere near water. The rhinestone buttons must be attached with a hot glue gun. This can all be removed after your event.

Each guests name was printed in a Diamond font in blue and inserted in a sequined frame. 


Added to everything was silver-toned flatware and napkin rings that chimed in.  And to polish off the look, blue bandanas took on the roll of napkins.  They come in so many colors and can be used with so many designs.  I love using them.



A white lace table square was placed atop the denim table cloth to break up all the blue and host an vintage blue-dotted coffee percolator full of flowers. One of the horse shoe party favors we made leaned up against the coffee pot to show off.  


Here's a view of the coffee pot, horse shoe and cactus when I had the daisies in the container.  I removed the diamond design cake stand when I used the hydrangea arrangement so guests could see each other.  It is important for your guests to be able to see each other.  ;-)


I loved, loved, loved the way this tablescape turned out.  I couldn't wait to delight my friends who attended my class on "How to Host a Delightful Denim and Diamonds Dinner". I'm working on constructing the book by that title.  Hopefully, it will be completed by the end of summer.  Check back.  In the meantime, you can view my other books on the right side bar.

If you want to see what we had for dinner, and what you, too, could serve your guests come visit me next time.  I will be showcasing the menu items.   I love having you stop by.  If you would  kindly leave a comment in the comment section below, it would be like you leaving me a little gift. :-D That way, I don't feel like I'm just talking to myself! :-) Many of you dear hearts read my blog and have commented to me verbally and via email or Facebook.  I so appreciate that!!  Thank you!

What is your most favorite tablescape you have laid?  I'd love to hear about it. 

Until next time, have a delightful day!

 



A Fun Denim & Diamonds Party Activity

If you wish to get everyone smiling and making memories that you can capture for your guests, why not try this? We had a lot of fun having our picture taken inside a frame we held and cocked at an angle.

A foam board was cut to be a frame and sparkling silver glitter letters were attached to the bottom of the frame that read "I SPARKLE!"  Each ladies picture was snapped and sent to them as a Party Keepsake.

A very short message was spoken to them at the end of the party about no matter how we look on the outside, it's the sparkle within that counts.  When the Lord gives us the sparkle of the Holy Spirit within, we need to let it shine so others see Jesus in us.  
 
 
Everyone actually enjoyed the thought of having a picture like this to keep.  It will remind them of the fun time they had and that they "SPARKLE!"  The mix of ages at this event was spectacular.  We all shared a great time.  The young and older were all very creative in their own ways.

One last favor they were given at the conclusion of the party was a geode that had been cracked in half, placed in an diminutive denim pouch.  The outside was nothing much to behold, but the insides of every geode within were different and beautiful, just like them.  I'm pretty sure they are all going to remember to let their sparkle shine. 

I am really interesting in hearing what you do for party activities that really get your crowd engaged.  Let me know in the comment section below.


I saved the best for last, no, not the picture of me! In my next post, I am going to show you one of the most beautiful tablescapes you will ever lay your eyes on!  Isn't that a confident statement?  I'm not kidding.  You need to come visit again.

Until next time~ Debbie