Dreaming of a Wine Christmas

Christmas is just a few weeks away! Even though I’m really looking forward to eating myself senseless for Thanksgiving, I couldn’t wait to share this cute and SUPER easy idea with you!

I wandered into Dollar Tree (which is usually trouble in and of itself) and came across some really cute and shiny window clings. My next thought was literally “these would be so cute on a wine glass!”

And if you knew how insanely hectic the last few months have been, you wouldn’t question why every thought currently defaults to wine…

Snowflake Wine Glasses

Supplies:

• wine glasses
• snowflake window clings
• hot glue gun, E6000 or other adhesive
• scissors

Instructions:

1. Wash and dry the glasses. You want to make sure that you start with a clean work surface. The clings come in varying sizes, so it’s easy to match them up to the size of your glass.
2. Remove the window cling from its backing and adhere to the wine glass. It has a sticky backing and that’s great for helping to position it.
3. Use the hot glue gun (or other adhesive) to attach the main branches to the glass. This step is important because the clings are made to adhere to a flat surface and the glass is round. Unless you’ve found some weirdly amazing square glasses that have been hidden from me…

4.  For the points that are still sticking out from the glass, use your scissors to trim a sliver out so that              the branch of the snowflake will lay flat against the glass. Glue into place.

It’s seriously that simple! Just a few steps and you have beautiful holiday glassware to use at all of your parties!

Just add a bottle of your favorite wine and some great company and you’re all set! Remember that when cleaning, make sure to hand wash them so that all of your (not too) hard work doesn’t disentigrate in the dishwasher.

 Make It Awesome!

All American Summer

This is a sponsored post for Mirassou Winery

There are so many opportunities and reasons to celebrate the military and the freedoms that we are able to enjoy are due entirely to their service and the sacrifices they make. With Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Independence Day, and Patriot Day on the calendar, we celebrate and honor them throughout the summer. I recently teamed up with Mirassou Winery to throw a small gathering to welcome summer, to honor our military service members and to acknowledge that it’s a lot more than just a day off work. For the decor of the table, I framed printables that I found at HMH Designs…they were kind enough to offer them for personal use here.

Being from the South, cookouts are a big part of our summers and Memphis is the BBQ capital of the world! For our Memorial Day party, we chose the theme “Welcome to an All-American Summer” to celebrate the day with our family and friends. When hosting a cookout, the meat is the star! Our table consisted of side dishes and desserts to go with the main items. On the table: hot dogs, cole slaw, pita chips and hummus, s’mores, pasta, fruit trifle, strawberry cupcakes, and cheesecake; there was chicken, steak, bratwurst, and corn off the grills.

In addition to the cookout, we hosted a small wine tasting featuring wines from Mirassou Winery. Everyone knows there’s nothing better than enjoying a glass of wine in the evening to end a blistering summer day! To do the tasting, we had a selection of four wines and tasting mats with pairing instructions, which make the whole process super easy! On the mats were food suggestions and taste profiles of each of the wines. Head over to their Facebook page to download your own wine tasting kit!

To make the table runner, I printed out the flag with all of the states which I found at Southern Charm and the star I found by Pixabella. I simply printed out the quantity I needed and strung them together. In addition to the wine, we had bottle openers, wine glass charms, beads and the mats themselves as party favors for the guests. My favorite part of the package was the “Bright Tips for Home Entertaining” guide…I couldn’t wait to dive into the book! I love their recipe cards because Mirassou offers recipes that pair with their wines, as well as, recipes that use their wine as an ingredient…it’s a win-win! Find the recipes here.

Whether you’re hosting a gathering for friends this summer or in honor of our national heroes, fire up the grill and grab some bottles of Mirassou and have the best summer yet!

 

Styling and Display: Creating Awesomenessity!

Wine and gifts: Mirassou Winery

All-American Summer banner and food signs: Painting Paris Pink

Patriotic fabric garland: Lillypaul Designs

Red, white, and blue cupcake poms: Fizzy Party

 

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

It’s St. Patrick’s Day! The day that we wear green, try to kiss or get kissed, justify getting really drunk on a weekday, and go to war…

By war, I mean the seemingly never-ending assault from everyone! For me, this day has always been the day that I try to dodge the pinching fingers of folks who like to get into a little close-contact mischief. And all of that hard work deserves a little liquid refreshment at the end of the day…

A glass of wine usually suffices but keeping in tune with the holiday, I give you the Kiss of the Irish! 

Kiss of the Irish!

This wine mixer is super simple and only has two ingredients: Mirassou Moscato wine and DeKuyper‘s Sour Apple Pucker.  It can be made to your particular taste and even the manliest of men can get down with this one…

I found through drinking a bit of it trial and error that it’s a little easier on the palette if you chill the pucker well. 

1. Pour the pucker into your glass, in the volume that suits you. I used a regular drinking glass, instead of a wine glass, so I poured enough to fill it 1/3 of the way.

Pucker first…about 1/3 of the glass

2. Top off with the Moscato. I used the Mirassou brand…the floral notes in this wine really balanced the sour apple well. I’ve never been one to like a strong taste of alcohol, so I prefer fruity wines, and this one is perfect 🙂

top off with the wine to your taste

So for two steps and minimal cost, you can have the Kiss of the Irish too! Locally in Memphis, the wine (and pucker) can be found at Buster’s Wines and Liquor at 191 S. Highland. 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day…Pucker Up!

Kiss of the Irish

 

Don’t Eat Your Heart Out, Valentine!

Valentine’s Day is almost 2 weeks away!

I guess everyone is preparing to get their Valentines together to give out to their friends, significant others, secret admirees…I’m so excited! I’ve been planning the hubby’s day for a while now. I can’t go into detail just yet because he actually reads my blog (one of the many reasons I heart him) so I’ll have to stick with sharing some other ideas…

This post is dedicated to non-foodie ideas for the younger peeps. I love sweets and such, but with the health problems that plague our nation and the dismay I’ve begun to feel towards the cookie cutter Valentines-in-a-box, I thought this might be worthwhile to share.

Am I the only person that felt a little gipped when I got the same Batman card from 4 different classmates?

Anyway…I perused the ‘net to see what was out there and found some of the neatest ideas! None of these are mine, but it wouldn’t hurt to round them up for folks that don’t have a lot of time to search for some sugar-free coolness, right? Also, I’m sure the teachers wouldn’t miss the sugar rush…

1. I “Wheelie” Like You. This is cute, but I’m advocating it sans Blow Pops. These little cars can be found anywhere. And if you give out just the cars, you can just attach a tag to the package. Bonus!

2. A simple heart felt bookmark. Did you see what I did there? Ha! As a self-proclaimed nerd and book lover, this is just awesome.

3. “You’re Out of This World Valentine!” Fabulous! Also, they will likely disassemble this Valentine and proceed to validate the theory of high bounce balls. Maaaybe, reserve this one for 4th grade and up…

4. “Love is a Battlefield!” I was also a tomboy growing up and loved these things. Mom wanted me to play with dolls. To this day, I can name more GI Joes than Barbies… You can buy them here.

5. “You Light Up My Life!” Really nice for a special Valentine who also has a February birthday. Just a thought… *ahem* Dollar Tree or a local grocery store can hook you up.

6. “You’re Just Write for Me!” One to do your kid’s teacher proud. Unless the pencil break game is still popular in school. Do they still do that? I sucked at that game. Hey parents, remember these?

7. “You Rule!” Please see guidelines for #6. These would be pretty nice and pull double duty for the group learning their alphabet, you think?

8. “You’re A-Maze-ing!” These are pretty cool and can keep kids occupied for a while. Adults too. If you like this simple idea, they’re currently available at Oriental Trading or Michael’s, depending on how many you need. This is clearance week at Michael’s, so they don’t have a store coupon, but you can use one competitor’s coupon per transaction. Hope that helps!

9. “You Make My Heart Glow!” Who doesn’t love glow sticks! I’ve seen these at our local Dollar Tree, but if you can find them in bulk, you’re totally winning.

10. “I Am Bubbling with Excitement that You’re My Friend!” Bubbles will always be awesome. Unless of course you’re playing with them on a floor made of anything tiled and you proceed to try and walk out of said room. Check out your local dollar store for this find.

11. “I Can’t Smile Without You!” I don’t think I know of a better gift to earn brownie points with your dentist. They might even be willing to dip into their stash to help you out with this one. If not, yep, dollar store.

12. “Blow Me a Kiss Valentine!” Ahh, noisemakers. Always a judgment call.

13. Animal puns. I really like the “You’re Sweet and I’m Not Lion!” Michael’s has a variety of plastic animals available for $1. I think the Dollar Tree does as well. You can also order some here.

14. “Not Loving You Would Be a Mistake!” and “Dropping Down to Wish You a Happy Valentine’s Day!” Please see comments #2 and #4 to understand why I genuinely am fascinated by these. Seriously. If someone gave me the paratrooper, my boss would come in to find me throwing him off the top part of my desk…

These are just some of the ideas I came across. Head over to my Pinterest board and follow me there, to see more of the ideas, find the printables that go with them and to meet the amazing people that inspired these ideas; I’ll be adding to the board as I find more. I’ve got the hubby’s gift worked out, but that certainly won’t stop me from looking for more great ideas. Who knows, I may have to help the nephew and niece be the cool kids in school, so I must continue to research!

Make It Awesome!