LOL, yes it is! It’s summer time and I love those fruity girly summer time cocktails, don’t you? We are having company tonight, 3 other couples, to celebrate one of the couple’s recent engagement. The menu is easy and lets us all sit by the grill and visit while dinner is being cooked.

I whipped up these “cocktail napkins” for us to use while having appetizers and our fruity cocktail drinks Aren’t they fun?

Oh back to the menu, you asked? Well one of my goals was to use some of those herbs I planted in the spring, remember? I have a bumper crop now so I need to use some. We are having:

Appetizers/Drinks:

• Cut vegetables (red pepper, cucumber, carrots) with freshly made dill dip
• Colby Jack cheese and grapes
• Sangria with fresh fruit

Dinner:

• Balsamic glazed grilled salmon
• Fresh fruit kabobs
• Caprese Salad
• Fresh garden salad with lemon basil salad dressing
• Thinly sliced ham wrapped on asparagus spears, grilled

Dessert:

• Chocolate brownies (gluten free)
• Frozen strawberry banana all natural yogurt (I tested it last night and it is SO DELICIOUS!)
• Decaf Green Mountain coffee (the very best I’ve ever found, bar none!)

Wish you all could come join us! It would be so much fun to have everyone visit.

What do Mother’s love to do most?  Brag about their children.  I am doing that today.

Some of you may recall the post I did on folding an Easter Bunny napkin.  Today I am posting a napkin Debbie made.

Can’t you just see this napkin setting in the middle of a pretty red, green, gold or any color plate?  It would “wow” my guests for sure.

I am “hoping” Martha, you know,  Martha Stewart whose instructions I gave you for Easter Bunny fold sees this so Deb can get her napkin in a national magazine!

Well I am her Mother so I can dream big for her.

I thought they were cute beyond words and loved the fold she put on them and wanted to make sure you had a chance to see how talented she is

What little boy wouldn’t be in heaven with this birthday party theme? Save the Date for Cupcakes, every party planner (or Mom’s) creative inspiration where she is sharing a new party idea just about every day. Yeehaw, it’s a barn party by Atelie da Ju!

And look at this laundry room for inspiration from Room Remix. Why mine NEVER looks like that, usually because there are at least 5 loads of laundry in baskets, clean cloths completely hanging across the cross bar, extra stuff thrown here and there. I keep thinking when all my children leave home and my husband retires, I’ll paint my laundry room a soft blue. It may make doing laundry a bit more enjoyable…if that is even possible.

Can black and white be my favorite colors when technically they really aren’t colors? Well I love how bold, dramatic, dressy or classic they always look together.

The napkins have an offset design that gives you 2/3 scroll work design on one side and on the opposite side it is 2/3 black with 1/2 scroll work fabric.

Using fabric placemats and napkins means they are washable, reusable and helping to save the earth one step at a time

These new placemat and napkin sets were just added to our store. You can find them at Creative Chics Home Store if you’re interested in having a set for yourself or for a friend.

Hello dear friends and welcome to Tablescape Thursday hosted by Between Naps on the Porch. Yes it is that time of the week again where I play with my dishes This is the first time I’ve used this new Home Goods purchase and oh I am so in love with these fun and festive dishes with their retro twist.

The blue and green placemats were Wal-Mart finds at $1.50 each I couldn’t pass those up and they matched my new dishes perfectly!

I have a set of big salad/soup bowls with that same colorful design but tonight we had burritos so need for a soup bowl

Simple glass drinking glasses. My napkin rings are from Pier 1. White, it goes with everything.

Oh and did you catch that centerpiece? Yes, it is the terrarium my Mother made for me. See the little teal blue froggy inside? He is a perfect match for this fun table setting. And no, we aren’t having frog legs for dinner so he’s safe.

So glad you could stop by for this Thursday’s tablescape. Come again!

I just had to share this adorable Easter idea for making cupcakes very cute and special for your family or others.  Skip to My Lou is a feed I subscribe to that always has creative, easy to do projects with step by step instructions and lots of pictures.

These cupcakes will be on my “to do” list and thought you might enjoy also.

Seriously these are so cute and the template for the face is free in PDF on her website….let me know if you tried them too.

It’s our favorite day of the week, Tablescape Thursday of course! Me and my Mom threw together a little St. Pat’s party for our family. Very small affair but we sure had fun getting ready for it, starting with the tablescape (you KNOW how much we love to play with our dishes!).

Not quite Kelly Green, but hey I love the apple green of this set of dishes. The bottom plates are my “everyday” plates. The salad plates are deep discounts from Pier 1 and the green goblets from Kohl’s.

Green tea candles from home goods. Smell yummy too!

Love the red and blue in the swirls of this whispy floral motif.

The metal napkin rings are Pier 1 purchases too.

The floral arrangement is something I put together with two glass vases I had on hand. The pussy willow branches are snips from the tree in my back yard. Watch our blog this next week for step-by-step on how I put this floral arrangement together.

Thanks to “Tom Kat Studios” we had these cute cupcake toppers for our carrot and walnut cupcakes with green sugar sprinkles. We printed the cupcake toppers on 1.5″ stickers and placed a toothpick between two stickers before inserting into the cupcake.

The white ruffled cake plates are two individual plates set on top of each other (Costco – set of 2 for $20).

A little ambiance for the dessert table.

Pick up, “Kiss Me I’m Irish” or “Lucky You” or “Happy St. Patrick’s Day”. Trust me, they are all delicious!!!

We so wish you all could join us for dinner, but thank you for stopping by to share our tablescape with us. Please join Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for more terrific tablescapes!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day dear friends!!!!

Yes, we’ll be celebrating St. Patty’s day with a little Irish fair for dinner. Here’s what I’ve lined up. (PS click on any of the photos to go straight to the recipe, all courtesy of Food Network…my favorite place to get new recipes.)

Slow Cooker Corn Beef and Cabbage

Corn Beef & Cabbage

Irish Beer Bread

Irish Soda Bread

The Irish Pirate Chocolate Mint Dessert Drink, mmmm yummy!

The Irish Pirate

Want to come over for dinner tonight?

It’s time for another Thursday Tablescape with Susan our hostess at Between Naps on the Porch. Hope you will join in the activities and I look forward to seeing your posts.

Having traveled to Paris twice now, I can tell you I am in love with the city of romance and would go back in a heartbeat. Bistro table settings looking upon the Eiffel tower can be found throughout the city.

The Paris plates I bought at Hobby Lobby 50% off.  I wanted two of each type so I could mix and match. Sometimes it’s just me and Robert and I only need two, but if I have company and need to set the table for 4 they all go together beautifully and all have the French bistro look to them.

The white plates were from Mary, my mother-in-law.  When she passed away a few years ago I was blessed to receive many of her dishes and these white plates  were a basic set of dishes she used for everyday but ones I find dress up and show off special plates nicely.

I made the napkins specifically to go with this table setting…aren’t they gorgeous!

I used my black beaded place mats to begin the setting.

Added Mary’s beautiful white plate, doesn’t it look gorgeous on the black!

I used my two Paris plates with the Eiffel tower on two settings and the fleur de lis on the two other settings to complete my table of four.

Nest came the white salad bowl and I am ready for the final touches.

I gathered up candles, greenery, ceramic birds, more candles, silver, glassware and the table was ready for my napkins and guests.

Bon appetit

If you would like a set of the Eiffel Tower napkins you can purchase them at   www.creativechics.etsy.com

As promised, I wanted to share with you my favor bags and birthday stickers I used for my granddaughter’s recent birthday party. The pink paper bags were picked up at a craft store in the food prep aisle I believe. They’ve been sitting in my pantry for some time so I can’t say I quite remember where I got them.

What you’ll need:

- hole punch

- bag of tootsie rolls

- cookies, or candies to put inside favor bag

Place candies or cookies into the bottom half of the bag. Fold down the top of the bag one time.

Hole punch through the folded down portion of the bag two holes about 2 inches apart.

Slide tootsie roll stick through the punched holes to hold the bag closed.

Place sticker or other embellishment on the bag. That’s it! That simple.

So here is a set of the Thank You stickers for you to use.  Just click on the image to download to your computer to print. These are 2″ stickers.

Please honor my copyright and not redistribute this download; but I will gladly let you link to my blog so others can download it for free also.