New Years Eve Party Ideas: Dress Up your Party Glasses

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Make Sprinkle or Edible Glitter Rimmed Glasses

This is such an easy and fun way to make an impression. Just dip your glass into a little syrup, honey, icing or chocolate, depending on what you will drink with it. Then dip it into the sprinkles of your choice. Chocolate and colored sprinkles are great for kids, but take care that they are old enough not to try to bite it off. Bright colored sanding sugar or edible golden or silver glitter is a unique to way dress up Champagne flutes or cocktail glasses.

To make your own colored sugar you will need 1 cup plain white sugar and 2 drops of the food color you want. Take a jar which has a good fitting lid and pour in the sugar. Add the food coloring and close the lid. Now just shake the jar until all the sugar is colored. If needed, add some more food coloring and repeat the process. Spread the sugar onto a baking paper sheet or aluminum foil and let it dry for a few hours.

Beautify the Bowl of the Glass

To do that you will need glitter of choice, modge podge, paint brush and if you want stencil and tape or some painter’s tape. Clean the glasses thoroughly and make sure they are dry. You can now use the painter’s tape to wrap around the rim or stem or tape the stencil on the glass. Apply to the area you want to decorate a thin layer of modge podge and sprinkle the glitter so it will stick to the podge. Let it dry completely.

The best way to make sure that the glitter doesn’t come off is to apply one or two coats of decoupage coat. Let them dry and remove the tape and stencil if you used one.

Using the same method, you can also decorate the base of the glass.

Decorate the Wine Glass Stem

Print out some labels, use washi tape or create your own labels and wrap them around the stem. Use colors that match the rest of the décor and write season’s wishes.

For a simpler decoration, you can tie a nice ribbon around the stem or secure it with a drop of hot glue.

It is easy to turn an ordinary item into something great and impressive. Add some party mood and a good bottle of Champagne and you are all set to have the first, fancy drink of the New Year.

For more New Year’s ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

New Years Dinner: Toasted Ravioli Recipe

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Ingredients

• 2 eggs (slightly beaten)
• Parmesan cheese
• 2 dozen ravioli (You can choose beef, cheese, or other filled ravioli)
• Marinara sauce (to use for dipping)
• A cup of garnished Italian breadcrumbs
• 3 cups of vegetable oil
• 4 cups of water

Procedure

1. Thaw the ravioli if they are frozen.
2. Put 4 cups of water in a cooking pot and boil. Immerse the ravioli in the water and watch over them until they float. Remove them from the water and drain them. Leave to cool.
3. Put the oil in a fryer. Turn your oven to 375 degrees. Heat the oil until it reaches boiling point.
4. Dunk the ravioli in the egg then cover with breadcrumbs.
5. Fry in sets until they turn golden brown. Remove and drain.
6. Sprinkle the fried ravioli with cheese.
7. Heat the sauce and put it in a serving bowl.
8. Serve the ravioli with sauce.

The New Year is almost here and with it comes lots of resolutions. If one of your resolutions is to become a better cook, start now. Make this New Year’s Dinner recipe for your family and friends and they’ll be singing your praises for a long time to come. Plan your menu in advance and host an unforgettable event. You’ll have such a great time you’ll find it hard to top yourself next year.

What appetizers are you making this season?

Halloween Drink: How to Make Pumpkin Spice Punch Recipe

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Halloween Drink: Pumpkin Spice Punch

Pumpkin Spice Cocktail Ingredients

• A bottle of bourbon (750 ml)
• 12 ounces pumpkin puree
• 12 ounces lemon juice
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 tsp fresh grated or ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 bottles ginger beer

Halloween Drink Directions:

1. Take a large bowl and pour in the bourbon, juices, pumpkin puree, honey and spices. Stir well until all ingredients are combined.
2. Strain the mixture using a fine mesh strainer into a large pitcher. Refrigerate until it’s time to serve.
3. Before serving, stir in the ginger beer.
4. Serve in glasses with ice for extra freshness and use cinnamon sticks, sage leaves, extra cinnamon or ginger for decor.

Need more Halloween Punch Ideas?

Try our Spooky Halloween Green Punch Recipe. Perfect for your Halloween party.

To give it an extra Halloween look, serve the punch inside a Jack O’ Lantern. Just cut a circle in the top of a large pumpkin and hollow it out. Place a bowl that snugly fits inside the pumpkin and fills it with the punch. You can add creepy ingredients to the bowl to maximize the Halloween look or fruit pieces. Another great way is to use dry ice. For that, you will need two bowls, that a safe for dry ice, one larger as the other. The larger one should fit nicely into the pumpkin. After fitting the bowl into the pumpkin, use a tong to fill the bottom with one layer of dry ice. Cover with the slightly smaller bowl and fill it with the prepared punch. Now pour carefully some hot water into the bottom bowl so it comes in contact with the dry ice, making it to “smoke”. Keep in mind that this smoky effect will faint with time, so you will need to replenish the dry ice from time to time to keep the smoke going.

For more Halloween and drink recipes on Stagetecture, click here

Perfect Fall Wedding Favor Ideas

Fruitful Favors

Send them home with a taste of local flavor with a jar of seasonal fruit jam or honey from a nearby farm. You can also opt for a small box of fall fruits such as apples, pears, or figs. Buy in bulk directly from a local farm or visit the farmer’s market and make your own.

Wedding Guest Gift Ideas: Fall Beverages

One great fall wedding favor idea is to give your guests little take home versions of seasonal beverage favorites. Have autumn tea for brewing, roasted coffee beans, or small pouches of apple cider. Don’t forget to personalize the pouches with stickers showing your wedding date and names.

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Wedding Gift Ideas: Scented Candles

Another great option for a thank you gift is a fall scented candle. With a variety of warm scented options available-think cinnamon, pumpkin, apple and more. This way, your loved ones will leave with a gift that they can use throughout the season. Better yet, give them personalized matches to team up with each candle.

S’mores Kits and Cookie Kits  

No matter what, you can never go wrong with s’mores and cookie making kits as a wedding favor. Not only do they look adorable, they are delicious and make great DIY gifts. And of course, they are perfect for budget-savvy brides.

Fall Wedding Favor Ideas: Season Inspired Soaps

Just like candles, soap favors make great wedding favors as they are wide open for personalization from the shapes and scents you use to add-ons like flowers or dried herbs. Not to forget the packaging you wrap them in.

Wedding favors are always tricky to get right. You don’t want to spend a lot of money on top of all other expenses but you also don’t want to send your guests home with something they will end up not using. Thankfully, these fall wedding favors are what your guests will actually want.

For more wedding ideas on Stagetecture, look through our wedding archives!

Labor Day weekend is finally here and no party can be complete without delicious and nutritious appetizers, right? Even if your family and friends bring the fattening fried and greasy foods, you can serve healthy dips alongside them! I’m excited to pair with Chobani who’s mostly known for their delicious individual Greek yogurts. They’ve now made 4 delicious Greek yogurt based Chobani Meze Dips. Take a look at how these yummy dips pair up beautifully with your favorite veggies and crackers for your Labor Day party.

Delicious and Nutritious Appetizers with Chobani Meze Dips

Party dip is always at the center of the party!

This Labor Day are you tailgating, going on a picnic or hosting the gang around the bbq grill? Wherever you decide to party these Chobani Meze dips will accompany your vegetables, chips, and pita crackers. The dips are made with Greek yogurt, vegetables, herbs, and spices to make your party a hit with all picky-eaters.

I decided to use my favorite snacking vegetables for my party:

• Baby carrots
• Celery
• Radishes
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Green Peppers
• Broccoli

Try all 4 Chobani Meze Dip Flavors at your local store:

• Roasted Red Pepper
• Three Pepper Salsa
• Chili Lime
• Smoked Onion and Parmesan

Only 3 flavors were in stock at my local Walmart, but they are also sold at Target and Meijer stores. I see everyone else must be trying the Chobani Meze Dips as well

Delicious and nutritious appetizers pair better with yummy dips

For those of you that are huge hummus fans (raising my hand), you will be happy to note these Meze dips have 80% less fat and 65% fewer calories! They’re also made with only natural, non-GMO ingredients, and no preservatives or artificial flavors. We often forget that just because we are eating delicious and nutritious vegetables, the dip that you use for them is just as important. No different than the healthy salad and fattening salad dressing premise.

Set your party table with appetizer recipes to enjoy the dips

While I served vegetables and crackers for yummy munchies at my Labor Day party, don’t be afraid to experiment! I would substitute the Meze Dips for ranch dressing for chicken wings and drumettes to serve for tailgating. I can also see dipping breadsticks, potato chips, and other bite-sized appetizers into the dips.

Chobani wants you to try out the Meze Dips with a coupon:

What are your plans for Labor Day partying? How about using a coupon to get a discount off your purchase of Chobani Meze Dips? Use this party dip coupon and save at your local Walmart, Target or Meijer stores. Don’t forget to share with us what you pair your yummy dips with as the options are endless!

This Labor Day get excited about ending the summer with family and friends and enjoying delicious food with Chobani’s new Meze Dips. After all, the summer is coming to an end but you still want to keep your healthy lifestyle at the same time.

Have a great Labor Day holiday!

There are so many things you can do for an outdoor Easter party. It’s far more than just finding the Easter egg and the bunny. Of course, these symbolic and fun games should not be missing in the party.

How to Create Beautiful Outdoor Easter Party Ideas

Garden Party Ideas for your Easter Party:

If you’re looking for creative ideas look to my Outdoor Garden Party Ideas here.

Image via: ©Stagetecture

There’s nothing more refreshing than light fare such as vegetable spring rolls, spinach turkey and strawberry wraps beside cucumbers, fresh fruit and croissants. Your favorite assortment of gourmet shortbread cookies on the side will leave your guests delighted with your party.

Image via: ©Stagetecture

Image via: 100 Layer Cake

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Easter Centerpiece Ideas

A long table with a decent table cloth will definitely provide the elegance of the settings. You can simply join together a series of tables to form a long table. The tablecloth will do the finishing touches. You may use this long table for the food buffet while having several tables for your guests to eat. This will provide the comfort of the guests while the program is going on. Visit these ideas for Easter Centerpiece Ideas.

Image via: Flower Shop Network

Our Easter decorating ideas post has some great ideas for your Easter table.

Create a Easter theme

Don’t forget the reason for the celebration. Since it’s an Easter party, you have to make sure that Easter eggs, the famous bunny, some carrots and other Easter symbols are present. For instance, you can have a cupcake with a cracked egg design on top. Also, you may use a bunny image for your buntings or paper chains. This will certainly set the tone of the party.

Image via: Pinterest

Prepare goodie bags for Easter guests

Give something to your guests to remind them of their presence in your party. This will also show your appreciation for their presence. A simple yet attractive souvenir items can be in a form of a bunny bag, egg-shaped cookies or an Easter bunny cloth with candies inside.

While the party goes on, try your best to have a word on all your guests. They will certainly appreciate a moment of chat with you.

For more Easter ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Johnsonville® Sausage Wonton Holiday Casserole Appetizer

Ingredients:

1 package of Johnsonville® Italian Sausage

1 can 15 oz. tomato sauce

¼ cup diced onions

¼ cup diced green peppers

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon dried basil

25 wonton wrappers

¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese for topping

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a muffin pan lightly with cooking spray.

2. In a large sauce pan or deep dish skillet heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and remove casings from the sausage links. Let sausage cook until light pink separating with a spatula until sausage is in small pieces.

3. Once the meat is almost cooked throughout add onions and green peppers. Continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes stirring occasionally on medium heat.

4. Once mixture is cooked add tomato sauce, lower heat and allow to thicken for 8-10 minutes, stirring as needed.

5. While sausage mixture is simmering, separate won ton wrappers and place one inside each muffin cup. Shape won ton wrapper to form a small bowl with your fingers.

6. Place muffin pan of won ton wrappers in oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

7. Spoon sausage mixture into cooled won ton cups and place on a cookie sheet.

8. Sprinkle won tons with cheddar cheese and place in the oven until cheese starts to melt.

Serve warm to your hungry guests.

You can also spoon the sausage mixture into a casserole dish and sprinkle with melted cheddar cheese. Whether you make h’ordeuvres or a casserole this Johnsonville® Sausage Wonton Holiday Casserole Appetizer recipe is perfect for your holiday entertaining!

This recipe can be adapted to fit your liking. Try adding these to your recipe to add some pizzaz! Try adding bacon crumbles, bleu cheese, bread crumbs or even sour cream into the sausage mixture would be delish as well.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Johnsonville. The opinions and text are all mine.

Holiday Brunch: Maple-Glazed Meatballs Recipe

Image via: DKS Cooks

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Ingredients

For the Glaze

• ¼ cup of real maple syrup
• ¼ cup of apple butter
• 1 tsp of Dijon mustard

For the Meatballs

• ¼ tsp of pepper
• ½ cup of finely chopped apple (sweet-tart)
• ½ tsp of salt
• ½ kilogram of ground pork
• ¾ tsp of fennel seeds (crushed)
• 1 shallot (finely chopped)
• 1 egg
• 1 slice of whole wheat bread (Crushed into fine crumbs with food processor)
• 2 tsp of fresh sage leaves (chopped)

Directions

• Heat your oven to 400⁰ Use foil to line a cookie sheet and spray it with cooking spray.
• Mix the meatball ingredients in a large bowl using your hands or a wooden spoon.
• After the ingredients are well combined, make small (1-inch) meatballs.
• Place the meatballs on the cookie sheet. Set them 1-inch apart.
• Bake them for 10 minutes or until they are no longer pink in the center.
• Mix the glaze ingredients until they are well combined.
• Brush the meatballs with half of the glaze and bake them for 3-5 more minutes.
• Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and place it on a rack to cool.
• Trickle the remaining glaze over the meatballs before serving.

Image via: Betty Crocker

The festive season is the best time to embrace the weekend tradition of having brunch. People spend more time at home and aren’t in a rush to get outside. If you love waking up to a crisp cool morning and looking in the fridge for clever culinary inspirations, you’ll enjoy making this holiday brunch recipe. The ingredients are easily available in fall and you may discover you have them all in the house.

What holiday recipes will you be serving up this season?

Holiday Guests: Creative Thanksgiving Favor Ideas

Season inspired cookies

Trust us, you can never go wrong with leaf, pumpkin or turkey shaped cookies. Use a cookie cutter and then frost them with colored icing. If preparing for the Thanksgiving dinner is already too much for you, go ahead and purchase cookies from a local bakery and pack them in little pouches. Guests will be so happy to receive this pretty gift that they won’t care who made it.

Image via: Barbie Cookies

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Chocolate gold coins

Well, a bag of chocolate gold coins might sound very boring and usual. But, it gets very different and special when you attach a card saying, “If you want to feel rich, count all the blessings money can’t buy!”

DIY Thanksgiving favors

Spray paint mini pinecones in a metallic gold or silver color and fill a small glass jar with them. Place them at every setting for your guests to take home as a holiday decoration. Alternatively, fill small mason jars with a tea light candle and glue ribbon around the rim. Double them as a decor for the Thanksgiving table and have your guests take them home post dinner.

Image via: Brit + Co.

Mini cookbook

As the holiday season is almost upon us, why not create a mini cookbook with your favorite recipes? You can browse Stagetecture for tons of ideas and print them for your guests. Although there are a lot of cookbooks available that you can buy, we think there will not be any that will be filled with more love and comfort than the one that you will make by yourself.

Image via: Savvy Sugar

Thanksgiving favor is a way of showing your loved ones how much they mean to you. Use these ideas to create lovely presents that can double as party decor and thank you gifts at the same time.

For Thanksgiving host and hostess gifts on Stagetecture, click here.