Diva Entertains Blog

Diva DIY – More Paper Flowers!

char — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:15:52 +0000

It’s been awhile since I last posted about DIY Paper Flowers. I personally never tire of looking for new and unique ways to make paper flowers, so I always have plenty of fun tutorials to share.

First up today, from A Little Hut, a lovely mini flower tutorial that would make a perfect gift topper or favor topper.

From The Broke Ass Bride, comes a great tutorial (courtesy of A Good Affair) for paper rosettes. SO many uses for these… from table decorations to wall decor..and more!

From Santa Barbara Wedding Blog, a super simple, but elegant how to make paper roses tutorial:

And finally, a very unique paper flower from Folding Trees. These are Japanese kusudama, and I can’t wait to try making some of them! Please note that the link above takes you to Part 1 of the tutorial. At the end of Part 1 is the link to Part 2!

Sesame Noodle Recipe – Serve Warm or Cold

Debra — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:29:12 +0000

I’m a fan of sesame noodles and I have many different recipes for them. I’ll start off with this recipe – it’s versatile, as well as delicious, served warm or cold!

It’s versatile because you can serve prepare it exactly as the instructions below direct and serve it as a side, or you can add grilled shrimp, bite-size chicken pieces or other ingredients to make it the main dish. It’s also delicious sprinkled with fresh, chopped cilantro.

This recipe calls for Chinese sesame paste which I could not find in my grocery store. They did have Tahini which is a middle eastern sesame paste and it would have worked beautifully too. However, not wanting to purchase an entire jar when I needed only 2 Tbsp., I substituted Hummus which is made from Tahini (and which we eat a lot of in our house) and it worked perfectly.

Also – I can’t get fresh Chinese egg noodles so I always sub fresh fettuccine and it works great every time!

Takeout- Style Sesame Noodle Recipe (adapted from NYTimes.com, 2007 and recommended by friends at Eat.At/swap)

Serves 4

1 lb. Chinese egg noodles or fresh fettuccine
2 Tbsp. sesame oil, plus a splash
3 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. Chinese rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. Chinese sesame paste (or Tahini or Hummus)
1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. smooth peanut butter
1 tbsp. finely grated ginger
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. chili-garlic paste, or to taste (found in the Asian cooking section of your grocery store)
half a cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into small dice
1/4 cup chopped, roasted peanuts

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until barely tender, according to package directions. If serving cold drain, rinse with cold water and toss with splash of sesame oil and the proceed to #2 below*. If serving warm, drain and toss with a splash of sesame oil.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 Tbsp. of sesame oil, the soy cause, rice vinegar, sesame paste, peanut butter, sugar, ginger, garlic and chili-garlic paste.
Pour the sauce over the noodles and toss. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with cucumber and peanuts.

* Alternatively you can make it as if serving it warm and instead of serving it immediately let it cool to room temperature and the refrigerate until ready to use.

Turn to Diva Entertains for fun Birthday Favors!

FAB Friday FREE Printable – Teacher Appreciation, Diva Style

char — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:07:55 +0000

I told you yesterday that I would have a fun, fab printable for you today. And here it is!

It’s a little different from some of the printables we’ve been offering so far… today’s free printable is a Treat Bag Topper. For your teacher… or teacher’s aide.. or anyone else you need to say “Thank You” to this year.

The file is in PDF format – the toppers are 7 inches x 5 inches, and come one per sheet. Print, cut, and then fold over, and you have an instant topper for your treat bag. Fill a regular size sandwich bag with treats of your choice, and then staple this zebra topper to it. Teacher Appreciation Gift – DONE!!

You can download the Treat Bag Topper HERE.

Happy Fab Friday!

Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

char — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:31:09 +0000

The end of the school year is ALMOST here (hooray!), and it’s time to be gathering your ideas for teacher appreciation gifts! We already have a free printable HERE that you can download and use… and I have some other fun ideas for you today too!

(Psst… and you might just want to come back tomorrow for ANOTHER free printable for your teacher… just saying).

First up, from Giggles Galore comes a FUN idea for a DIY gift – a decorated potted plant AND gift card. I love the chalkboard look on this pot! Step-by-step instructions, as well as prices are given!

I found a really cute free teacher appreciate printable from Eighteen25 – it’s perfect for any kind of cookie gift you want to give. Free and so easy!

You know I can’t pass up a chance to share cookie ideas from Sweet Sugar Belle… look at this fun post with a couple of great cookie gift ideas. She is *so* amazing!

One more from Eighteen25 – free downloadable teacher tags for CANDY jars. Such a great idea for a gift that your favorite teacher can use and re-use. She found the mini jars at Hobby Lobby; most craft stores sell them!

This next downloadable is not free, but it’s very inexpensive, and I think you’ll agree that it’s TOTALLY worth the price (less than $2!). Just look at the adorable downloadable tags you can get from {think cute} designs! Attach to a bag of little goldfish crackers, and you have an quick, easy, and FUN gift!

Are you planning your teacher appreciation gifts yet? If so, what are YOU working on? We’d love to hear!

Beach Party Fun!

char — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:37:37 +0000

With summer quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about the summer-time parties! I found some GREAT beach party and summer fun party inspiration for you to check out!

First up, one of the CUTEST parties every, a Beach Baby Birthday party, featured on Kara’s Party Ideas:

And from Paisley Petal Events, another sweet beach party theme… with BARBIE! Read through her post to be ‘in the know’ as to how to recreate it!

From the Hostess blog, a PREPPY beach party theme…once again, make sure you read through her post to be ‘in the know’ on how to create this fab party! Sailboat cookie cutters and crab cookie cutters are easy to find and decorate! Need a good glazed sugar cookie recipe – Click Here (it’s awesome -the best I’ve ever made!)

Click through to check out several Beach Party food ideas.. from chickabug. She offers links to tutorials and recipes too! These are FABULOUS!

And from my favorite cookie maker/blogger, Sweet Sugar Belle, check out the adorable Seahorse Cookie tutorial:

Will you be heading to the beach to party this summer? Tell us all about it!

And don’t forget to enter our Book Giveaway!! Click HERE for details!

A Diva Entertains Giveaway! The Art & Soul of Baking…

char — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:00:36 +0000

We are SO excited to be offering our first giveaway here at Diva Entertains!!

We’ve made it super simple for you to have FOUR chances to win… and we have a FAB prize!

See?! I told you it was fab! You can click HERE to read more about this book… and then…

You will want to enter to win! How do you do that? SIMPLE!

1. Sign up for our once-a-week blog recap email list HERE and then leave us a comment ON THIS POST letting us know.

2. Write a facebook post about our giveaway, and then leave us a comment ON THIS POST letting us know.

3. Post on twitter about our giveaway, and then leave us a comment ON THIS POST letting us know.

4. And finally… post about it on YOUR blog, and then leave a comment ON THIS POST letting us know.

SO, to recap… you can enter our blog giveaway up to FOUR times. Do any or all of the above four things, and leave a comment EACH TIME on THIS POST.

We will choose a winner using random.org in two weeks.

And the winner gets the fabulous “Art & Soul of Baking”.

Aren’t you excited??

Graduation Printables

char — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:00:25 +0000

We talked about graduation parties just a couple of days ago, so I thought it would be appropriate to share Graduation Printables with you this week for Fab Friday FREE Printables.

I made three different graduation tag (or topper) designs, in two different color schemes. These are simple to print, cut, and use.

These free printable tags are 2 inches round, and come 12 to a sheet. The download is in a PDF format file. Just download, print, and then cut. (We recommend a circle punch, like THIS ONE, but scissors work too! Punches are lost cost and once you have one you’ll find zillions of reasons to use it)

You can punch a hole and add tags to your party favors with string or ribbon… or use the design as a cupcake topper. If you decide to print them on STICKER paper, these will make great seals for favor bags or boxes!

DOWNLOAD THE BLUE AND GOLD SET HERE

DOWNLOAD THE BLACK AND RED SET HERE

Happy Friday!

Wedding BLING!

char — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:00:07 +0000

It’s been a little while since we talked about Weddings and Bling… it is so time for another post!

Check out these super-fun super-bling wedding shoes, found on Style Me Pretty:

And this stunning wedding cake bling! From a gallery on onewed.com…

You just can’t get MORE FAB than crystal encrusted bottles at your wedding… can you? Check out the inspiration photo from Nancy Swiezy’s Events Weddings and Flowers (with a great little tip on how to make these affordably!)

And of course we have BLING in the Diva Entertains shop. Have you seen our crystal cake toppers?

Will YOU be adding bling to YOUR wedding? If so, how? We’d love to hear about it!

Graduation Party Fun

char — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:00:31 +0000

It’s that time of year! End of school year… Graduation… PARTIES! No matter whether you are planning a Kindergarten or College graduation celebration, I have a few great ideas for you today!

First, from Skip to My Lou, an absolutely adorable (AND YUMMY) Candy Graduation Cap Pop. The post has easy, step-by-step instructions for making these cake pops. The graduation caps would be perfect as cupcake toppers as well!

For a DIFFERENT, but just as FAB cake “pop” idea… check out these cake push pops from Frog Prince Paperie. You can see the original post (with simply stunning ideas for a grad party), AND you can also check out the tutorial post for making the Graduation Hats on these cake push pops.

The incredible Push Pops can be found HERE at CupKate’s Event Design:

For a slightly fancier addition to your graduation party, check out this napkin folding video from BHG.com. You really can fold a napkin into a Graduation Cap!

We have some great favor ideas for you in the Diva Entertains shop too. Check out the Graduation Cookie Pops…. our BRAND NEW Graduation Favor Boxes… and our popular Graduation Oreo Cookies:

Unique and Fun Wedding Ideas!

char — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:16:57 +0000

Summer weddings… it’s almost time! If you are still in the last stages of planning, I have a few fun ideas for you today.

First up, check out this FAB DIY Activity Book (and free printable!) from Lovely Indeed created especially to keep the little one’s attending the wedding busy

I saw this Art Nouveau wedding post from Ruffled, and just KNEW I needed to share it with you. It’s so fresh and fun and unique! Be sure to click over and check out all the fun inspiration for this wedding theme!

Nothing says “Summer” more than burgers on the grill, and I a “build your own burger bar” would be a fun idea for a small backyard barbeque wedding. Check it out on Homemade Simple.com:

And the last one for today… another post from Ruffled. This time, an eco-friendly, natural wedding decor and inspiration post. I just love the clean look of these photos, and I can imagine all kinds of different parties using this kind of theme.