DIY Wine Bags & Giveaway!

Congratulations to Connie for winning this giveaway! Please check your email for shipping information. Thanks to those who participated. It’s an easy DIY, so you can still own these wine bags!

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I love making gifts for people. I enjoy spending time getting creative and thrifty! Since Christmas is coming up, I’ve been busy coming up with ideas for presents. Repurposing things for gifts is my hobby. That’s a hobby right?

For instance, I love using paper grocery bags for gift wrap. I like using string or baking twine for bows. It’s also time to bust out those cassette tape pom poms!

Since my wedding, I’ve had a bunch of burlap laying around. While I was drifting off to sleep, I came up with the idea of making wine bags with the burlap (I tend to come up with the best ideas while I’m about to fall asleep. I have a journal to jot down my thoughts since I’ll wake up and totally forget). These make fantastic gift bags, and it’s great if you’re hosting a wine tasting party!

Tis the season of giving, so here’s another giveaway! Just comment on this post for a chance to win.

Bags

Materials:

  • 60 inch width by 30 inch length sheet of burlap
    • As long as you have 10 inch width by 30 inch length for each bag, you’re good to go
  • Scissors
  • Iron
  • Sewing machine
    • For the no sew approach, you’ll need double sided tape
  • Ribbon

Burlap
You need burlap, minus the cat! For some reason kitties love burlap

Here’s the tutorial:

DIY Wine Bags

CRAFTER’S TIP:

  • Burlap can be hard to manage. What I typically do to ensure I’m cutting straight is take one strand of burlap and pull the entire string through. It will create a straight line to serve as a cutting guide (numbers 2 & 3 in the tutorial above).
  • For the new sew approach, use double sided tape to tape down the edges after ironing.

For the mystery tasting party, each wine was put in the burlap bags so that all labels and types were hidden. Guests were asked to taste each and rate aroma, body, taste, and finish. After adding up the scorecard, you find out which wine you like most. It’s so fun when you find out that sometimes the cheapest wine is actually your favorite!

I created a scorecard for the wine tasting party. Feel free to use this template! Download it here.

Pens
Scorecards and pens, with glasses ready to go

Cheese
Cheese is necessary on any and every occasion

Bottles
Wine bags are numbered and hidden

PartyEnjoying at this point!

Tasting

For a chance to win three wine bags, comment on this post!

Cheers!
Jay
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Only one entry per email. Email must be valid. Shipping address must be in the United States. This giveaway ends at 11:30pm PST on 12/10/13. Winner will drawn and announced on Wednesday, 12/11/13 at 12:00am PST via blog and email provided.

Weekend Picnic

My college roommate Sarah is in town! What better way to remember our college days than to go drink, obviously grown up style now…

I threw a picnic party with some close friends. We spent the afternoon at Concannon Vineyard, picnicking on the lawn. Lots of food, lots of drinks, and more importantly lots of great conversation and laughs.

The wine tasting room charges a $10 fee to taste the reserve selection. I was not going to taste since I already went the weekend before, however, after sweet talking an older employee, I somehow ended up with a glass and a full flight! Free for me (and does that mean I can still charm older men?)!

I ended up buying the Cabernet Sauvignon (highly recommended), so in the end I guess he won and I spent some $$$!

Here are a few fun pictures of the venue, the food, and the gang. I love these guys!

Picnic FoodIn our tummies:  ham and turkey sweet rolls, pigs in a blanket, chocolate chip brownies, cheeses, and caprese sticks.

We also had strawberries, cherries, watermelon, chips & salsa, guacamole, and Reese’s Pieces cookies (not pictured but definitely in our stomachs).

What are your favorite foods to bring on a picnic?

FriendsMe and my Sarhair

Picnic 2

Picnic Gang

What did you do this past weekend?  And do you have any recommendations for picnic spots in the Bay Area?

Love, Jay

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venue: www.concannonvineyard.com
photography: myself and www.estop22.com