Wednesday, December 28, 2011

{Wine Label} Michael David Winery

The Michael David Winery is located about 80 miles northeast of San Francisco, in the town of Lodi. The Phillips family has been there since the 1960s, and brothers Michael and David (hence the name of the winery) Phillips are now running this great winery, which also boasts a bakery and a fruit stand.  I have for you some of their most interesting wine labels, which I am quite certain, you will have probably seen while strolling down the wine section of your grocery store, such as the famed "7 Deadly Zins."


















Friday, December 23, 2011

{Wine Label} Icicle Ridge Winery


2 Days until Christmas, here is one last Christmas themed wine label, given to us by the Icicle Ridge Winery near Leavenworth, in the beautiful state of Washington. They operate out of a magnificent 5000-square-foot log cabin, which would be a perfect setting for a Christmas holiday, don't you think?




I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones, and it be filled with fond memories, happiness, laughter and fantastic wine! Merry Christmas everybody!!! :)

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

{Wine Label} Livio Felluga Map Label


I love this wine label! It was created by Livio Felluga in 1956 to portray the hills and the geography surrounding the Abbey of Rosazzo, dating back to the 11th century, and located about 2 hours east of Venice, Italy.  The abbey is not only a fully functioning abbey still, but it also now boasts a thriving winery that produces wine that consistently receives top awards by wine guides.  A bottle of their Pinot Grigio will run you about $25 (+ shipping) from online wine shops such as Wine Chateau, International Wine Shop, Wine Buyer, among many others...

Sunday, December 18, 2011

{Wine Label} Château La Croix-Davids



Here are two traditionally beautiful wine labels from the La Croix-Davids estate, in the Bordeaux region of France. This Gallo-roman era ancient monastery has been owned by the same family since 1800. This wine is a very affordable (about $10), quality red wine. Unfortunately, I have only ever found it in Europe but I am always looking for a possible US retailer. One can always hope... :) In the meanwhile, I am sharing with you their labels, with which I plan on doing some type of craft in the future.


Saturday, December 17, 2011

{DIY} Christmas Crafts

Only one more week until Christmas, and I am quite certain everyone out there is done trimming their trees and decorating their homes, but should you wish to add a few more ornaments to your tree, a homemade a wreath to your door, or have the kids (or yourself!) make a little something for the wine lover in your life for Christmas, I have gathered here all the DIY projects I came up with this holiday season, for inspiration:














Happy crafting and most importantly, Merry Christmas to all! :)

Friday, December 16, 2011

{Wine Label} Château Laroque, Saint Emilion


Château Laroque is a beautiful estate located in the Saint Emilion region of France, near Bordeaux. It is also the largest vineyard in Saint Emilion. The castle dates back to the 12th century, from which you can still see the tower (on the right side of the 17th-century rebuilt castle):



The castle was purchased by the Beaumartin family in 1935, and it now boasts 61 hectares (that equals about 150 acres~ 87% Merlot, 11% Cabernet franc, 2% Cabernet sauvignon)), after years of disuse.  Now, who wouldn't want to have a "driveway" that looks like this:


If you are ever so lucky as to be traveling through the Bordeaux region, why not schedule (only by appointment) a tour of this beautiful estate and bring back a bottle or two of their fine wine? (And don't forget to save that gorgeous label!!!)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

{DIY} Super Duper Easy Wine Label Ornament!


Ok, this one is for those who just don't do crafts, either because they think they aren't "crafty" or because it's too much  work and labor. This ornament is pure child's play, I promise, and an easy project that can be done in no time!

You will need:
  • A favorite wine label
  • Cork
  • Small piece of cardboard
  • Knife (to cut the cork rounds)
  • Triple Thick Glaze gloss
  • Glitter
  • Elmer's Glue and hot glue gun
  • Ribbon

Because I have been missing Germany a lot lately, I chose a Riesling wine label, which was removed from the (empty) bottle using Labeloff. This one comes specifically from the Rhein-Pfalz region, which is were we lived for two wonderful years.

Grab a piece of cardboard (I cut some off an Amazon box I had just received), and cut it slightly larger than the size of your label. Then glue it with Elmer's Glue onto the cardboard.


Now grab some Mod Podge and mix it with a generous amount of silver glitter (or pick your color), and apply it all along the edges of the cardboard. I did this so that the cardboard wouldn't show through after I attached the cork to create the frame. Wait for it to dry at least one hour. Then grab some "Triple Thick Gloss Glaze" (found it at Michael's) and apply one coat over the entire surface. It will give your label a really cool gloss effect. Let dry at least one hour. Cut your cork while waiting: Slice thin rounds of corks (you should get about 7 per cork) then cut each slice in half, as shown in the photo. When the glaze has dried, hot glue each piece of cork onto the frame.


Optional: flip your frame, and apply Mod Podge, then a generous amount of silver glitter. This will be the back of your ornament, and even though you won't really see it, it will finish off your ornament.


Finally, after everything has dried nicely, make a pretty bow and attach it to a cork round, then attach that to the ornament from the back, and Voila! Easy, wasn't it??? :)



Monday, December 12, 2011

Designer Wine Corks


Who ever thought a simple tray full of used wine corks could look so pretty and decorative? This photo, and all the ones that follow in this post, were taken by the wonderfully talented photographer (and minor detail, also published author), Leah Marie Brown. She got a hold of an amazing set of wine corks and sent me these great photographs to illustrate how beautiful some wine corks can be...(A big fat "Merci" to you Leah Marie!)

{Leah Marie Brown is a published author, her latest novel, "Silence in the Mist" can be purchased on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.  She is also the author of the blog "Titillating Tidbits about the Life and Times of Marie Antoinette", a site dedicated to Marie Antoinette and the 18th century in France. Last, but not least, Leah Marie has been creating absolutely gorgeous 18th-century inspired Christmas ornaments and decorative items, which you can purchase in her Etsy shop.}

Now on to these fabulous wine corks...



{From the Beringer Winery}




{Not sure which winery this is one from, but I believe it's been used by more than one winery...}

{No idea where this next one is from either, but it does seem to represent a setting in New Mexico, Arizona or maybe Texas...}


{From the Don & Sons Winery, producers of Smoking Loon...don't you just love the saying? :) }



{Middle cork, from the Lindeman's Winery}



{Last, but no least, a Toad Hollow Winery cork}


Thursday, December 8, 2011

{Wine Label} Pink!

No, I am definitely not referring to a certain singer...If you Googled "Pink" and were hoping to find the latest juicy info on your favorite singer, I apologize for the confusion, but you might actually want to stick around for a few minutes and feast your eyes on some fun, and yes, PINK, wine labels!  As a side note, I'd like to dedicate this post to my BFF, Leah Marie Brown, whose favorite color is, take a wild guess...PINK! :)

Quick warning, be sure to view the last 2 labels away from your children :)

Now, let's start with a "I-kid-you-not" wine label ~if you don't believe me, go here to see for yourself...get yourself one of their bottles while you are there ;)


The rest of the labels is just pure Pink fun, so enjoy!!!












Monday, December 5, 2011

{DIY} Wine Label and Cork Ornament


To make this ornament, I scanned a wine label (I chose the Cocoa di Vine wine label ~which can you see here~, because I love wine and I also love chocolate and I thought the brown color scheme would go great with the champagne colored glitter). I re-sized it so that I could fit 6 labels on a letter-sized cardstock. You don't want them to be too large or your ornament will end up being too large (learned that the hard way). After printing them out and cutting each label out, I simply rolled each label into a cone. Then, I attach all of the cones together using a hot glue gun.

For the cork vine grape, I cut 2 wine corks into small, thin rounds (enough to get 9 rounds) and glued them together with a hot glue gun. I added some small ivy leaves to the top, as well as a bow onto the back of the grape. To add a little sparkle, I mixed some Mod Podge with some champagne colored glitter and applied it to some of the cork rounds as well as the edges of the wine labels.  The final ornament measures about 6" by 5".

{If you like this ornament, you might also like my Wine Cork Ornaments as well as my Wine Cork Christmas Wreath)