Today we continue Stagetecture’s feature ‘Olioboard Inspiration‘. Last week you enjoyed Michelle Clark’s– ‘Creative Space Saving Kitchen Ideas ‘ and this week I bring you Annette Dunlap  a member of the Facebook Olioboard Fan Room. I asked her to inspire us with a Mother’s Day theme and she did a gorgeous garden-inspired brunch! Look at her Mother’s Day brunch, tablescape and decoration ideas to celebrate Mom in the beautiful outdoors.

If you’re interested in being featured see details here: How to be featured on Stagetecture’s Olioboard Inspiration‘ series.

A Mother’s Day Brunch Menu

How will you celebrate your Mom on May 12^th?  A restaurant can get expensive and if you don’t have reservations getting a table can be tricky.  An outdoor Mother’s Day Brunch is a simple and informal way to make your mom feel special.

• The menu for this brunch features ham strata, which is prepared the night before, refrigerated and then baked in the morning (for those who are vegetarians just substitute the ham with mushrooms and spinach or another vegetable of your choice).  It’s simple but oh so delicious and with the prep work done the night before it eliminates a lot of time spent in the kitchen on Mother’s Day.  
• Monkey Bread adds a delicious sweet element to the meal and is incredibly easy to make when you use Rhodes frozen dinner rolls.
• Finish it off with a refreshing watermelon fruit salad “cake” and hot coffee or tea and you have the perfect Mother’s Day brunch menu that’s certain to make your Mom smile!

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Tablescape Design & Decorations

Since the brunch will be held outdoors, nature will provide the perfect backdrop for your party.  Try to find a special place in your yard where the flowers are blooming or there’s a pretty shade tree and begin setting your table using natural elements such as the ones I’ve shown in my design board.  I started with burlap table runners and then added classic blue mason jars which go beautifully with the fragrant lilacs as a centerpiece.

You can use any fresh flowers such as roses, peonies or even a mix of wildflowers but keep the vessel that contains them simple and let the flowers be the focal point…Moms love fresh flowers!

A trick I’ve learned from hosting many holiday dinners is using colorful paper plates (don’t forget to recycle!) and placing them on inexpensive gold chargers.  This really cuts down on time spent washing dishes but still adds a touch of elegance and it’s perfect for an outdoor party.  To add a special touch to the silverware, wrap them in a small piece of burlap or simply tie a piece of jute around them in a simple bow.

Add garden lights, some colorful tissue paper balls hanging from a tree branch and the burlap “Family” flag banner is a sentimental touch that will be a special gift for Mom to hang in her home.  Don’t forget to mix and match chairs, cups, silverware, etc. as this keeps the tablescape interesting and not too formal.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Mother’s Day!!

Annette Dunlap is a decorating consultant in northeast Ohio.  She is employed part-time as a design assistant at Posh Places as well as working with her own clients and also recently opened a small thrift/antique shop with her sister called The Thrifty Beach Bums.  She is an avid Olioboard member .  You can visit Annette’s website , contact her on Twitter @akddesigns or follow her on Pinterest.

Creative Brunch Table Setting Ideas for Mother’s Day

Image via: Home Tips & Ideas

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Add Fruits & Flowers

Spring is a season of fruits and flowers. So, adding them on the brunch table is a nice way to bring colors, freshness, and taste. For bringing a lovely appearance, a colorful look, and fresh natural smell, use your favorite type and color of flowers on the table. Give it a lovely fruity touch by adding some fresh oranges and lemons among the flowers. Some of the fruits can also be thrown around the pot of the flowers. In this way, the brunch table will get a simple yet colorful and decorated look.

Image via: Divine Taste

Keep the Menu Healthy

You can include anything in the menu – from quiches and casseroles to sweet rolls and muffins. However, be sure that the foods are healthy and are suitable for a summer breakfast. For example, including parfait will just be perfect for a summer brunch. You can make the item healthy by adding slices of strawberries or bananas and yogurt besides the regular ingredients. However, the brunch can be started with a lovely champagne cocktail because moms worth it!

Image via: Heart Handmade

Decorate the Table

A nice meal looks good on a nicely decorated table. Besides preparing special foods, use decorated plates, cups, teapots, and glasses to serve them. Try to give the table setting a special touch by adding a decorated menu, a card on a plate with ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ written on it, colorful napkins tied with lovely ribbons, and a card holder with a card having your mom’s name on it. Arrange spoons, forks, and knives properly around the plates. You can use linens with delicate springtime hues on the table for adding a visual and textural contrast.

Add Colors to the Table

A colorful table setting can lift the mood in a jiffy. Apart from using fruits and flowers, a nice way to bring colors on the table is to add drinks or fresh fruit juices of various colors. It is also not a bad idea to have plates full of bright colored vegetable leaves or slices of various fruits. It will not only add charming colors but also show a kind of warm love. You can also use a number of colorful candles for creating a festive mood.

Image via: Indulgy

Your mother will surely be impressed with a home-cooked meal served on a table that includes her favorite flowers, foods, colors, and china. She will also be delighted to have a chance to meet and spend time with the whole family together.

For more Mother’s Day ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Staying fit and healthy is one of the best ways to secure a strong family unit. With rising levels of obesity in children and adults, eating right and doing physical exercise is one your best lines of defense. However, doing exercise and making healthy choices is probably the last thing on the list your children want to do as a family activity. The key is to work as a team so that the whole family can work together to enjoy the benefits. For adults and children, getting at least minimal daily exercise and eating right is the best way to stay healthy and fit. Here are 5 ways to get your family to eat right and exercise.

Image via: She Knows

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Make it a bicycle ride adventure.

The healthy benefits to riding a bicycles are numerous, from fighting obesity to lowering your cholesterol. Riding bicycles is also fun for the whole family. There are also many trails you can find to limit the danger of road traffic. You also want to remember to wear helmets and other protective gear, like kneepads and reflective lighting.

One way to eat right is to make it a family affair.

Look up recipes online or purchase a book to find a healthful meal that the whole family can make together. Sometimes teamwork can get your family to collaborate, make necessary comprises, and work more efficiently together to make more healthy choices.

Make healthy living food choices

Families also might find it helpful to make a ban on food and drinks with too much sugar. Things like soft drinks and breakfast cereals are known to have the highest caloric and sugar levels. There are plenty alternatives to the same name brands that have much lower levels of sugar and higher levels of much needed protein. You can even find candy bars, like chocolite bars, that are great substitutes to the candy your children are used to.

 Image via: Pinterest

Another great way to get your family to eat healthy and exercise is to plan according. Meet with your children weekly to discuss goals. Ask them questions and teach the negative and positive benefits when you make healthy choices and exercise regularly. If worse comes to worse, show them what doctors and scientists say. If they are young children, you can make your own diagrams and simplify things so that they can understand better.

Also, parents must be a role-model for their children. For instance, when you take your children out to eat at a restaurant, keep tabs on how much free bread they put on the table. Make it a point to do some jumping jacks or little exercises around the house. Soon enough, your children will lead by example. Being a role-model also means that you have to make your own healthy choices and limit the unhealthy ones. Shop at healthier markets, buy snacks with lower sugar and caloric levels, promote a certain lifestyle of physical fitness in the home. If you show that you are willing to make the initiative to eat right and exercise, chances are your family will too.

For more healthy living ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

If you are planning on holding a dinner party or entertaining around your diner table, the idea of a new look could be on your mind. Even if this is a last minute idea to pull your favoirte friends together or if you need to entertain your spouse’s boss, an unexpected dinner party could be stressful. Instead of stressing, look at these ideas to create a table setting dining party everyone will be talking about.

Image via: Pinterest

In hosting the unexpected dining party, it is very important to provide a great table setting. This will command attention to your guests and set the ambiance of the party. The entire setting highlights the table centerpiece which will pump up the celebration.

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If you want to feature a great table setting in your party, here’s are some effective ideas:

Stick with a few color shades

Being consistent with your color shades provide an identity of the chosen theme. For instance, a shade of green and pink can be perfect for your bouquet centerpiece. Avoid using too many color shades as it is prone to look cluttered. You can match the shades with the theme of your dining room.

Make your glassware standout

The crystal clear glass wares are very effective in providing elegance in your table settings. This type of glassware can truly shine in any table landscape you prepare. You can line up your wine glasses, goblets and other glass wares for a stunning table setting.

Image via: House to Home

Spread a spectacular tablecloth

When it comes to tablecloth, you should not settle for anything less. Your tablecloth makes a difference in the entire table setting. It will catch the attention of your guests. For the tablecloth, you can set off from the color shades and have it in contrast with everything. You can have it patterned, two-toned or anything that will make it spectacular.

Take note of these ideas and you will be able to welcome unexpected dining parties with ease of mind. Just make sure that your party essentials are all ready and in good condition.

For more dining room ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

The dining room can be one of the busiest areas at home, especially if you enjoy entertaining.  It is where you prepare everything for a meal and cater family gatherings. The everyday meal is something that makes the dining room a vital part of family bonding. This is where memories are made and relationships are built.

Image via: Flickr

If you want to make your everyday meal exciting, work on your dining room setting. It is an effective way to change the ambiance of the room. A beautiful table setting will enhance the appetizing looks of your food and beverages served on the dining table.

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Here are simple tips to make your dining room setting shine:

Replace your placemats

Changing your mats will provide an instant makeover for your table setting. Any member of the family will definitely notice the variation. This will add beauty in the room especially if you can match it with the general theme. You can also explore textured place mats which are very popular nowadays.

Have a stunning centerpiece

For this idea, try having a fresh and natural table centerpiece. You can pick flowers and foliage in your garden for the floral arrangements. It would be best if you will maintain a fresh centerpiece by replacing them when needed. With fresh and natural centerpiece, your dining experience will be beyond compare.

Image via: Verdigris Vie

Your choice of goblet can do the trick

When you dine, drinks are very important. This is why it is very essential to choose a nice and attractive goblet to enhance the dining experience. It will seal the deal. Try to use transparent goblet if the drinks you are serving is colored. This will make sure that the color of your drinks will be seen and appreciated.

These simple tips are effective and so easy to implement. You can creatively change your room settings on a regular basis by adding colors and variations in your theme.

For more home decor ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Many people are getting interested in how to stay motivated to lose weight, especially during the holidays. Of course, proper motivation is the key to sustain and achieve the desired weight, but during the holidays temptations of food, busy schedules and stress and entertaining can lead to overeating. One must always have the zeal to perform training and routine exercise to lose weight.

Image via: Pinterest

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The enthusiasm and never give up attitude should always be there. It drives you closer to your goal. The initial step of performing your quest to attain a desirable weight may be smooth but it will get rough along the way. These hurdles may block simultaneously on your way. The best strategy to overcome these stumbling blocks is to stay motivated and focus on your target goal.

Here are some helpful tips on how to stay motivated to lose weight:

Stay focused

This can be very vague but there are several things you can do to stay focused on your goal. One strategy is to place a statement or illustration of your desired weight in front of your bed. This will remind you as you wake up and before going to sleep about your objective. This is something that you can gauge your efforts done every day. Another strategy is by evaluating your weight loss every other day. Once you will see the progress of your weight, you will definitely look forward for the next result.

Invite your best friend

This may sound simple but hard to do. It involves proper selection of friend that can be with you until the end. Invite more friends as possible. This will also serve as your bonding time. With having friends to be with you, there will be greater chances of achieving the desired weight. The whole procedure of losing weight can be more fun and easy when shared with your friends.

Image via: Yoga Chocolate Love

Take a weekly pictorial

This is a great way to stay motivated. It is a something that you can look and be inspired. The thing with getting pictures of yourself is that it will provide you with the most accurate illustration on how you fair with your task. The more significant the weight loss manifest in the picture, the more motivation you develop in the process.

It’s never too late to get healthy this holiday season. Start your regimen now and enjoy a healthy holiday!

For more wellness tips on Stagetecture, click here.

I don’t know about you, but the holidays are my weakness of the entire year when it comes to eating healthy. Whether its the festive nature of baking goodies and treats for gift giving, or whether its because people are always giving me “gifts of gratitude” the resistance to constantly snack is a hard one. In 2009 when I started Stagetecture it was a stressful time being an entrepreneur and eating healthy and exercise were at the bottom of the priority list. Three years later, I’m happy to say that I’m 70 lbs lighter, have a balanced lifestyle of exercise and eating healthy!

I was excited to pair up with Full Core Drink which is a healthy snack replacement alternative and appetite suppressant from my local Good Earth Market here in Jacksonville, Florida. I wanted to see if the drink was all I had heard about it and if it helped control my snacking.

I have always come from a family that had lifestyle challenges with weight. From diabetes in my father to obesity in most of family members, I was determined in 2011 to change my lifestyle. Here is a picture of me below when I had already started eating healthy, exercising regularly and monitored my daily intake of food and became healthier in 11 months.

Why I decided to try Full Core

One of the hardest parts about staying healthy, losing weight and keeping if off was to avoid snacking when I wasn’t really hungry. Especially working at a computer all day, running to get the kids to and from school, going to the gym, it can all take its toll on your body and healthy lifestyle. I learned that Full Core is an alternative to soda and the lemon-lime taste was a great “treat” 30 minutes before my meal. Full Core also provides 40% (10 grams) of your daily needs. This made the experience a better one, as I have tried A LOT of diet drinks that claimed to be healthy and didn’t actually make me feel better after drinking them.

Shopping for Full Core

Full Core is available at many health food stores and they have an online retail shop finder to locate your closest store. To see my entire shopping experience at The Good Earth Market here in Jacksonville, Florida, I encourage you to visit my Google+ story.

Link to Google+ Story —> Shopping for Full Core

Full Core Video

Full Core Commerical #3 from full core on Vimeo.

My Healthy Living Advice

While everyone is different, depending on your lifestyle, your health, your genetics and how you sleep and other important factors, I learned a balanced lifestyle was key. Full Core drink helped me keep my “stress” snacking under control and eating it before a healthy meal and after I came from the gym worked best for me.

This holiday or throughout the year, decide how you can live a healthier and balanced lifestyle. For me, the Full Core drink is a good way to keep yourself in balance and help fight the urge to snack all the time.

I invite you to learn more about Full Core and follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and on Pinterest to see the latest happenings and information to help you with your new healthy living lifestyle!

Note: I am a member of the Collective Bias Social Fabric® Community.  This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and Full Core.  #StopSnacking #CBias #SocialFabric.   All opinions and experiences are uniquely my own.

For more healthy living and wellness tips on Stagetecture, click here.

It can be a real challenge to get children to eat healthily at school. Some just flat out refuse to do so, while others will only eat a few healthy snacks as part of their overall diet. The risk becomes that children are eating highly sugared and salted foods on a regular basis in school, which can damage their appetites and lead to problems with obesity. These problems can become more serious as children age, and can create lifelong dieting issues. Improving your child’s diet in school without them knowing is consequently important, and shouldn’t be too difficult if you consider some of the following approaches:

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Introduce Healthy Eating Slowly

Rather than trying to pack a healthy lunch every day, start by adding in a few items that don’t necessarily look like health food. Apples, bananas, and energy bars can be included with crisps and sandwiches, or can be given along with money. Be careful, though, if you find that these snacks are reappearing in rucksacks every day.

Push for Better School Meals

Trying to organise a gradual change in school meals is an approach that has had success in many parts of the UK. Most schools now avoid deep fat frying, and reduce servings of salt and sugar, as well as providing more child appropriate servings at lunchtimes. Moreover, by introducing vegetable wraps and healthily prepared snacks at breaktimes, schools can make healthy options a natural part of meals without it seeming like a major change.

Use Juices and Yoghurts

If your child turns their nose up at fruits and vegetables, you could try buying fruit juices and packets that avoid concentrated sugars. A fruit and vegetable drink carton can help to provide one of your child’s five a day, without necessarily looking or tasting any different to a sugared juice drink. You can also try this with flavoured yoghurts – start mixing up the yoghurts your child receives in their bags, and see whether they notice a difference if you switch to low fat or healthy brands.

Make Healthy Food More Convenient

Simply limiting what’s available in the morning for your child to take to school can make a big difference. While this can be a problem if they spend money on food in school, leaving out a fruit bowl, and keeping the most sugary and salty snacks in difficult to reach places may help to encourage children to take what’s immediately in front of them.

Don’t Force the Point

Forcing a child to eat their fruit and vegetables is only going to cause resentment and defiance. Instead, introduce foods gradually, and make sure that there’s always healthy options for breakfast and dinner, as well as on weekends. The trick is to create these options, and only go direct with asking about their diet if they consistently don’t take up healthy foods.

Adjust Your Existing Recipes

If you’re preparing healthy food for your child to take to school, try experimenting with small ingredients changes. Focus on including salads and other greens in sandwiches and rolls, swap out mayo for salad cream, use less spreads – it all helps.

Make it Fun!

Another approach that can be completed with a school’s help, you can encourage younger children to learn about nutrition as part of their science lessons, and make identifying healthy foods and their benefits into a game. The more informed children become, the better the decisions they can make on their own.

Chris Green is a mildly exasperated Dad who gets wound up by most things school related, however, now his kids are further along the school line and at Lansdowne College – the next stage is moving out right?

For more kids ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Food intake is so important to your kid’s growth. Your kids should be able to consume the right amount of nutrients available in the food they eat. These nutrients will help your kids perform well in their daily activities.

However, it’s not all about eating everything but choosing what is healthy and nutritious. It doesn’t mean your kids eat a lot; he or she can gain a lot of nutrients.  As parents, you have to be sure that they eat a balance diet and healthy foods. But, more often than not, it is very challenging to influence your kids to eat what you prefer.

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To help you out in motivating your kids to eat healthier foods, here are some helpful tips:

Make it fun

Kids just want to have fun! Nowadays, you can have a pre-shaped chicken and pork nuggets. Then, combined it with vegetables like potatoes or carrots that are shaped using a molder. This will be more fun for them and will surely boost their appetite.

Add great color

Make the food attractive by adding colors to it. Kids are easily attracted with stunning colors just like the sweets and candies they love. It will look so delicious and enticing. You can also enhance your food preparations like arranging them in such a way that it will look good for the kids.

Have a tasty dip

Give your kids a tasty dip. You can have pureed fruits, cream cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, salad dressing, guacamole and other healthy dips that you can offer on the table. The dips will enhance the appetite of your kids and somewhat camouflaged the flavor without compromising the nutrients.

Make every effort to motivate your kids to eat healthier foods. This will ensure that your kids are more active and physically fit.

Image sources via:  1, 2

For more kids ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

]]> https://stagetecture.com/how-to-get-your-finicky-kids-to-eat-healthier-food/feed/ 0 35992 https://stagetecture.com/last-minute-olympic-snacks-entertaining-ideas-go-world/ https://stagetecture.com/last-minute-olympic-snacks-entertaining-ideas-go-world/#respond Fri, 27 Jul 2012 20:11:38 +0000 https://stagetecture.com/?p=30774  Entry #1419, July 26, 2012

For the next 2 weeks the world will be eating, sleeping, tweeting, and drinking in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England.  Whether you are a fan of sports or not, you can’t help to get into the spirit of the world gathering the best of the best to compete and have the world celebrate them!

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Today, as I gathered my snacks and drinks I thought – what a good idea it would be to have simple snack & cocktail ideas to cheer on the world with?! Here are a few I found, let me know if you have some great ones to add!

Having a big Olympics party? Bring on the finger foods!

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Having a sit down party – Use the drinks as a centerpiece

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Healthy finger foods displayed beautifully is a hit for any party

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For more entertaining ideas on Stagetecture, click here.