Wednesday, June 6, 2012

{Wine Label} Pommard, Burgundy

{This label is printable up to 8"x10")




Pommard is a village in the Cote de Beaune sub-region of Burgundy famous for producing powerful, tannic and richly flavored red wines. They are made from Pinot Noir grapes, with which the commune's vineyards are almost exclusively planted. The Pommard appellation covers only red wines.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

{DIY} Recycled Wine Bottle Candles



Yeah, yeah, I know, I've completely been slacking off lately and have not posted nearly enough in the last month or so, I hope you will forgive me, as I have been busy catching up with some great BBC series, which are completely addictive and always require that I watch an unmentionable number of episodes in a row of such shows as "Cranford," "Lark Rise to Candleford," "Mildred Pierce"  or "Sherlock," to name a few...I'm taking a 30 minute break to share this little DIY with you today...  :)

I buy candles quite frequently, and usually stick to the kind that comes in a large glass jar (like the ones made by Yankee Candle). Unfortunately, they always seem to burn very unevenly and I always end up with a candle that's completely burned down on one side, making it impossible to get to the other side. It kind of looks like this:

 
Time to recycle that wax, as well as some of those empty wine bottles you have (hopefully) been saving...I gave you some tips for an easier way to cut wine bottles on this post a while back, and if you haven't already done so, now is the time to cut some of those empty bottles. You will need:

  • Cut wine glasses (decide on the height of the candle holders based on how much wax you have)
  • (soy) wicks (available at any craft store. Be sure to choose the right height for your candle holders)
  • Wooden skewers (to hold the wick up)
  • Masking tape (or other type of tape)
  • Pot of water (to melt the wax with)

Step 1:

Melt the wax by placing the jar in a pan of simmering water, and allow the wax to melt completely. Take out the old wick.



Step 2:

Take your recycled wine bottle candle holder, and place the wick in the center. It helps keep it centered to add a drop or two of melting wax on the bottom before placing the wick. Help it stay up with wooden skewers and a little masking tape.



Step 3:

Gently pour the melted wax into the containers, and let the wax set up until it is solid again (it took about 30 minutes).



Step 4:

I had already taken the labels off the bottles before cutting them (because I collect wine labels), but you could cut your bottle above the label for decoration. I didn't have the labels, so I added some hemp and a wax seal on one candle, and a simple ribbon and a wax seal on the other.  I secured everything with a hot glue gun. And voilà! Cheers! :)




Friday, March 16, 2012

{Wine Label} Bonny Doon Collection

A couple days ago, I posted about Bonny Doon's Le Pousseur Syrah wine label, and I had mentioned that I would be adding other Bonny Doon labels, so here are some of my favorite ones...enjoy!















Monday, March 12, 2012

{Wine Label} Bonny Doon 2008 Le Pousseur Syrah


Check out this colorful Bonny Doon wine label (and it's a printable one, too!), reminiscent of a medieval tarot card, quite a work of art, don't you think? Not only is this label one to save, but the wine itself apparently comes highly recommended, definitely on my "to-try" list! For an unbiased review of this wine, check out the Reverse Wine Snob blog (and while you are there, be sure to check out his many other wine-under-$20 reviews, before you go wine shopping...)

Bonny Doon has many, many other wonderful labels, about which I will be posting soon, but for now, I hope you will enjoy this one. Cheers!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

{Wine Label} Chateau La Grolet & Peybonhomme, France

As far as labels go, I am a total sucker for traditional French labels...you know, the ones with beautiful castles and all of the little ornaments that makes them so typically French, and give them that "noble" touch.  I love imagining what it would be like to actually call one of those chateaux "Home." I'm afraid I'll never know :)

Today, I have two such labels: Chateau La Grolet and Chateau Peybonhomme Les Tours, both from the Bordeaux region.  If you ever drive through that area, it wouldn't be a bad idea to squeeze in a tour of these two wineries... :)


Château la Grolet is a beautiful estate located in the commune of Saint-Ciers-De-Canesse, in the Bordeaux region, covers 54 hectares divided into 38 hectares of red vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec) is certified both organic and biodynamic ("method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic  development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system" Wikipedia) . 

Chateau La Grolet

Another estate, owned by the same La Grolet proprietors, is Chateau Peybonhomme Les Tours (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec):



Chateau Peybonhomme Les Tours (also a certified organic vineyard) is located in Bordeaux' s right bank of the Gironde river, near Blaye, and its building dates back to the 19th century and was restored by the current owners, the Hubert family.

Chateau Peybonhomme les Tours

Here are two printables for your private use and that can easily be personalized to make your own wine label, for example...Cheers! :)







Thursday, February 23, 2012

{DIY} Wine Elements Collage, ready-to-print

Here is a collage of wine related images I put together today, just save on your computer and print out! 


Tuesday, February 21, 2012

{DIY} Wine Cork Wall Art


A few days ago, I created this cork wall art piece to go over my wine rack, and I'm not going to lie, it was quite time-consuming, but quite easy as well. I am very happy with how it turned out. 

Step 1:

I bought an unfinished wooden tray at Michael's, (it cost about $2.50) and stained it with a dark walnut stain (which I already had, but you can get them at Home Depot or Lowe's for less than $5). 




Step 2:

To cut the cork pieces to the correct height, I used the height of the tray. It doesn't have to be perfect, but this will get you close enough to the proper measurement.



I used the wine stained parts of the corks to create the vine grape, and the word "VIN," which is "wine", in French ~ but I am sure you already knew that :)  Before gluing the pieces, I arranged them the way I wanted them to appear.  Make sure it is centered the way you want on the tray.  Once you are happy with the way it looks, glue each piece with all-purpose glue. I do not recommend using hot glue, since that will not allow to correct mistakes along the way. With all-purpose glue, you will be able to adjust as needed before it dries.



Step 3:


Fill in all the areas around the wine stained pieces with natural colored cork pieces. It will be like putting a puzzle together. Start with the round pieces, then fill in the "blanks" with smaller, made-to-fit pieces.


Here is a close-up:



If you'd like to darken the wine color on your design, you can use actual red wine and apply it with a small paint brush to the areas you wish to darken (another perfectly good excuse to crack open a bottle!). Be careful not to go over any part you do not want darken, because the wine will stain it right away. Happy crafting!

Friday, February 17, 2012

{Wine Label} Zios Albarino, Spain


I'm loving this label... I can see it as a poster hanging in my dining room as an accent piece, giving it a real pop of color...It is quite simple, yet its beautiful color palette caught my eye. It reminds me of fireworks or a flower field with a bright sunshine pouring its light onto it.

This label hails from northwestern Spain, near Galicia. Wine Enthusiast gave it a 90 point rating for its 2010 vintage, not too shabby, and an exceptional value at around $14. It has "Intense, yet clean fragrances of tropical white fruit make up the bouquet. On the palate, it is refreshing and crisp with grassy notes. A well-balanced wine with a rounded mouthfeel and lingering finish of slight, pleasant bitterness. This wine makes a perfect aperitif, but also is a great accompaniment to sushi and raw shellfish." (Wine Enthusiast).

I consider myself more of a red wine lover than a white wine one, and I loved it! Very refreshing, especially on a warm summer day, it can be enjoyed as a pre-dinner drink, or with a meal, or both :)

Thursday, February 16, 2012

{DIY} Upcycle that (empty) 1800 Tequila bottle!

From an empty bottle of 1800 Tequila.....                                                    .....To a pretty, practical bath salt container       

Ok, so this has nothing to do with wine, or cork, but it does have something to do with alcohol, so technically, this post does belong on this blog...right? ;)

Anyway, my husband just recently finished a bottle of 1800 Tequila (not all at once, it did take few weeks for that to happen, no worries!), and he pointed out the fact that it really was a nicely designed bottle and that it'd be a waste to throw it out. Of course, that had my wheels turning and, out of absolute necessity, I decided to recycle the bottle as a bath salt holder (and yes, taking long baths with a glass of wine and some great music in the background IS an absolute necessity in my world...) by making my own bath salt and decorating the bottle for its new purpose. The 1800 Tequila bottle makes a great container because you can easily pour the salts right into your bath.

Step 1:

Clean the bottle and take off the stickers on the front and back, which I did by soaking in very hot water for  while, then scraping off the paper, and finally removing the remnants of glue with "Goo Gone."

Step 2:


Make your own bath salt mixture, by mixing 1 cup coarse salt, 1/2 cup Epsom salt, and 1/4 baking soda (this will be your base, to which you can add whatever you'd like for scent).


The next steps can be altered according to your preferences. I added:

 1 tablespoon Lemon peel (for a nice citrus scent) :


2 tablespoons (melted) Organic Coconut oil (acts as a moisturizer):


Next, I added a few drops of lemon, vanilla and coconut extract. You can use essential oils instead of extracts, but those are more expensive and less easy to find. I didn't want to have to order them online and wait to get them so I used extracts I already had in my pantry. These will work well if you don't have essential oils on hand.
Mix everything really well, making sure there are no lumps (I used my hands and found it easier to mix)


There are plenty of bath salt recipes out on the web, here are some websites I thought had some nice recipes:


Step 3:


Now let's decorate the bottle. I printed out a card stock sheet of paper with the words "Sel de bain" (Bath salts in French), and using an exacto knife, I created a stencil (be very careful with that type of knife, they are wicked sharp!)...


...which I then attached to the bottle, using regular tape:


I wanted to give the writing lots of texture, so I mixed some champagne colored glitter (which I already had from past Christmas crafts) with some brown metallic paint (which I also already had). These products were purchased at Michael's for about $5.



Mix the pain and glitter:


I then applied the paint mixture in a thick layer with a small brush onto the bottle using the stencil as a guide:


To decorate the neck of the bottle, I wrapped some hemp cord all the way around enough times to cover the entire width of the neck of the bottle. I then glued a fleur de lys wax seal onto the hemp. I "borrowed" ~ok, I stole it :)  ~ this awesome idea from the multi-talented Leah Marie Brown off her Etsy shop HERE. (how adorable are her votive jars? And SO affordable!). Many thanks to Leah Marie for letting me use her idea!


Finally, I wanted to cover up the top part of the lid, which had "1800" on it, so I used the same paint mixture and poured it on top, and covered up the entire surface. It needed to be quite thick to cover up the writing, so don't be shy about the amount of paint you use.



After I let it dry overnight (because it was so thick), I applied a coat of triple-thick gloss glaze (available at Michael's). And the final result...



Now you have a great reason to go take a long, hot bath!