Welcome to my blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I believe that everyone can have a beautiful home without spending a fortune! One of my favorite things to do is find creative ways to re-purpose things I already have on hand, or have picked up at yard sales and thrift stores. Join me as I share with you some of my favorite ideas for crafting and decorating, as well as travel adventures, and fun things that I pick up on my treasure hunts! Much of my work is influenced by my love all things French, nature, and of course shabby chic! I have gotten so many creative ideas from you very talented bloggers out there, and I hope that I can be an inspiration to you as well!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Happy Hour at the Chateau!

A few weeks ago, I shared with you my recipe for raspberry cordial.  You can see that here if want.  After several weeks of fermenting, today was bottling day!

These are being put away for Christmas gifts.  Of course, I had to save some for us!


 I placed some in this pretty vintage decanter.  It's hard to capture it in a photo, but it has a lovely etched and gold leaf design.  The cordial isn't something that I would drink very often (it's strong!!), but it is nice to offer tiny little glasses to guests during the holidays.
 Here's a closer look at how I embellished the bottles for gift giving.  Tags decorated with rubber stamps and rub ons.  Jingle bells, faux greenery, and a little vintage ornament add a festive touch!  Of course, you could embellish the bottles as simply or as elaborately as you choose!
The bottled cordial makes a great gift that everyone is always happy to receive!  In fact, someone on our Christmas list always returns their empty bottle each year in hopes of getting a refil next Christmas!

                                              Cheers!
Ok, Ladies,
I've got a little favor to ask of you.  I just created my very first treasury on Etsy today.Yesterday my friend Cindy over at Cindy Adkins' Whimsical Musings created two, and include me in them both.  Anyway, in order to get on the front page of Etsy, we need to get lots of comments on our treasuries, so if you have time, could you please visit the links below and leave a comment on them?  I would really appreciate it!  Thanks so much!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cd19226cce06d915344c7fe/chic-on-a-budget
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cd1b00361376d9127f40951/european-chic
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cd2c3d351408eefa98622b2/weekend-in-paris

8 comments:

Cindy Adkins said...

This is a fabulous gift!!! I imagine the recipients just LOVE it!! And it looks so beautiful too!!!
XO

Anonymous said...

Beautiful gift, I lake it!!!

Kisses and hugs.

Karen said...

Very nice! What a pretty shade of red it is.

Tete said...

Such a pretty little gift and so festive in the bottling and the cute tags. I love little gifts like this the best from my friends.
Thank you so much for all your sweet words this morning- it meant so much.
Hugs- Tete

Erin said...

That is such a great idea. Plus it has beautiful color and sounds tasty!

NanaDiana said...

WowWWWW! You weren't nipping while bottling were you? Just asking, that's all. Donna, I will go round those blogs tomorrow and comment. I am done for the night and have to be at work before 6am. I will catch up with you tomorrow. Hugs-Diana

Debbie said...

Hi Donna~~~what pretty gifts your cordial makes! LOVE all the little embellishments you add to each bottle.
Debbie@houseatthelake

Unknown said...

Now way!! Raspberry cordial?!? That's awesome. I just rented Anne of Green Gables and her and Diana's incident with the Cordial is one of my favorite parts....though anything with Gilbert, of course, tops them all. :-)