By Dena Fishbein
Tribune News Service
Summer is all about outdoor entertaining and what better way to do it than in COLOR! Even things as simple as lemonade and delicious desserts make for a great party. Just add flowers and colorful accessories to really make it pop! Here are a few quick and easy DIYs to add flair to your next summer soiree.
Serving tray
Serving trays are really useful for an outdoor party. I found a vintage tray and had a piece of glass cut to fit. You can put patterned fabric or paper inside to customize it. I used a little applique I stitched!
Gather:
Vintage serving tray
Glass cut to fit
Scrap fabric, paper or embroidery
Hand-painted sugar cookies
Hand-painted sugar cookies are so easy and delicious! Here is a recipe to make your own cookie “paints” you can apply onto the cookie with a brush for colorful works of art (that are yummy, too!):
1. Put 1 teaspoon corn syrup and \ teaspoon water into a small cup. Tint with food coloring and stir well.
2. Paint the unbaked cookies before baking using a small paintbrush.
3. Bake according to the cookie recipe.
Pink lemonade
Pink lemonade goes great with a colorful and summery dessert party. It’s so refreshing on a hot summer day and has a little tartness that goes perfectly with sweet treats. I love this simple pink lemonade recipe:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice, plus 4 lemons, thinly sliced crosswise, for garnish
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
2 cups cranberry juice
Directions:
1. Bring granulated sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a pan over high heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
2. Add lemon juice, superfine sugar, cranberry juice, and 1 1/2 quarts water to a serving container. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 1 day.
3. To serve, add ice cubes to fill and garnish with lemon slices or edible flowers.
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