Achievement Unlocked: Guest “Book”

Third Time Wife, Wedding Planning

With so many options out there for creative guest books, it’s easy to fall into option overload and not be able to decide. This is where having a theme or over-riding idea can really help narrow the options to the ones that really drive that home.

In our case, I was looking for something easy to sign and collect that suited our vineyard theme. It’s not exactly a big leap to corks, now is it?

Recycled Corks, image via Amazon.com

Depending on the size of your wedding, your drinking habits (and those of your friends and family), and how much time you’ve got it’s not unreasonable to collect all the corks yourself. Of course, as the wine industry goes to synthetic corks and screw-top bottles for various reasons, that might get a little tougher, so lucky for us that plenty of places sell both used and unused corks.

Now, having crafted with corks before, it might be easier for folks to sign fresh corks as opposed to used ones that might be brittle or uneven in shape. We’ve got quite a collection already going but there’s also a homebrew shop just down the road that sells fresh corks by the bag-full for not very much cash. That’s good no matter how you slice it.

Corks on their own will roll around if not corralled, so the next decision was how to hold them–both before and after signing.

image via Replacements.com

For before a bowl or vase with a large opening works best, allowing for people to easily reach in and grab one without too much fuss. Several years ago I was gifted a lovely Block Tulip Garden crystal vase that I think will fit the bill nicely.

image via Winestuff.com

Once signed, the corks will go into this wire cork cage shaped like a wine bottle. Mr. Road Trip actually gifted me (us) this for our first engaged Christmas so it’s been sitting patiently in its box for over a year, now, waiting for it’s day in the spotlight. Â Add a couple of fine-point permanent markers (possibly painted or beribboned to dress it up a bit) and a sign and you’ve got our guest book.

We could just leave the corks in their cage and set the whole kit and kaboodle on the mantle or some place and let it collect dust. Or we could use the signed corks to build a frame around one of our wedding photos in a shadowbox. In other words, I’ll have my wine-themed, semi-unique guest book and my displayable photo mat all at one go!

How did you solve your guest bookÂ dilemma?

AlcoHOLidays | Easter | Trio of the Southern Cross

Sips

The “shadowy” origins of many ChristianÂ holidaysÂ are major bones of contention among the devout and while I’m used to the usual arguments surfacing around Christmas I admit I’m a bit surprised at the furor rampant (at least among my Facebook friends) over Easter‘s influences.

Nutshell: the bunny, chicks, and eggs that don’t really seem like obvious symbols of the Christian resurrection celebration? That’s because they’re actually fertility symbols and yet another example of the Church appropriating a holiday from the people they were trying to sway into their fold. Over time the old pagan symbols may have been assigned new meanings (the egg as a symbol for the empty tomb, for instance) and the original meanings watered down into nothingness for most people. It happened, accept it and move on is my stance, but I’ve heard of several folks adopting the less-controversial Passover rites instead.

Whether your rite of spring leans towards sunrise services, Seders, or sugary confections a nice, refreshing beverage is definitely called for. Maybe you’re trying to balance the richness of kugel, clove-studded ham, or one too many chocolate bunnies, or you’ve looked ahead on the calendar to summer swimsuit season and want to keep your cocktails light and fruity. Any way you look at it, one of these three cocktails is sure to fit the bill.

Each of these three cocktails starts with a base of KAPPA Pisco and end with a topping-off of soda water or, in my case, Perrier. For folks who are not a big fan of plain water, adding bubbles is one way to make it more palatable, but Perrier isn’t just sparkling mineral water, it also comes in a variety of lightly flavored styles. I’ve tried their Pamplemousse Rose (pink grapefruit) before and recently received samples of their unflavored, lemon, and lime styles to try in place of club soda or sugary soda mixers in cocktails. Challenge accepted.

I find club soda to taste, essentially, like “stale” water–I’m not a fan. Admittedly Perrier has a similar trait but for whatever reason the overall flavor is more palatable. Also, if it isn’t silly to say–they’re probably the same, but–the bubbles in Perrier feel smaller, more delicate, than your average club soda. Again, I realize that’s more than likely ridiculous, but perception is perception.

On to the cocktails!

A trio of light, bright drinks perfect for spring!

KAPPA Fresca

1 Â½ oz KAPPA Pisco
3 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
Bottled soda water (or Perrier Lemon)

Pour KAPPA Pisco and orange juice into an ice filled mixing glass.Â Shake vigorously.Â Strain into an ice filled highball glass.Â Top with soda (optional) and garnish with an orange peel.

KAPPA Grapefruit Fizz

1 Â½ oz KAPPA Pisco
3 oz grapefruit juice
1 oz bottled soda water (or Perrier Lime)

Pour KAPPA Pisco and grapefruit juice into an ice filled highball glass.Â Top with soda water (or lemon lime soda) and garnish with a lime wedge.

Â KAPPA Kooler

1Â½ oz KAPPA Pisco
Â½ oz simple syrup
Club Soda (or Perrier)
Squeeze a wedge of lemon and lime

Combine all ingredients into a Collins glass with ice. Top with club soda and stir. Garnish with lemon and lime wedge.

Of the three, the KAPPA Grapefruit Fizz was my favorite while, surprisingly, Todd preferred the KAPPA Kooler, even though the flavor was mostly the KAPPA itself and he hadn’t liked the pisco neat when we did the tasting. Just goes to show that it only takes a little bit to take a drink from eh to excellent. The KAPPA Fresca, while neither of our favorites, is still a nice twist on the screwdriver or mimosa classics.

Cheers!

——————–

I received samples of both KAPPA Pisco and Perrier. All opinions expressed are my own.

Searching for Inspiration: the Guest Book

Third Time Wife, Wedding Planning

The guest book is one of those bits of wedding decor that actually has an honest-to-goodness purpose–it even gets int’s own table, putting it right up there with the cake in level of importance.

Darice Guest Book set, image via Amazon.com

And, yet, after the wedding the guest book generally gets shoved into a box or onto a shelf, seldom to be looked at again.

Hardly seems fair, right?

Which is why I always thought, even when I wasn’t considering another marriage as a possibility, that having guests sign a photo mat that could then be hung in the home with a picture from the day made much more sense in the grand scheme of things.

Darice Signature Mat, image via Amazon.com

And those crafty wedding vendors have even come up with a silver version with an engraving pens, just so you don’t have to worry about the mat clashing with whatever decor you have in your home.

Engraved Photo Mat by Cathy’s ConceptsÂ (image via Amazon)

Then again. I’m not sure the signatures would be easily seen once hung on the wall, they might look more like scratches.

At any rate, I figured a signature mat was the way we’d go and considered the matter closed.

Until I found wedding blogs and saw all of the creative ways brides and grooms were collecting these mementos of their guests!

Thumbprint Wedding Tree, image via Thumbprint Guest Books

The thumbprint posters are absolutely adorable and I could have easily drawn one suited to us (a bunch of grapes, perhaps?) but I have a hunch that many of our friends would balk at the idea of leaving their thumbprint anywhere not legally mandated. We have some suspicious friends.

Envelope-filled guest album via Style Me Pretty
Photography: Charlotte Jenks Lewis Photography

Going back to the more traditional guest book, this book of envelopes is very nice–like storybooks with little extras, those envelopes just beg to be opened and the nice and funny notes inside read.

Wedding Guestbook pages from The Guestbook Store

As a scrapbooker, of course I liked this idea of the the fill-in-the-blanks guest book with places for pictures, etc. Of course, these sorts of pages expect guests to spend a certain amount of time filling them out, and I’d rather folks have time to mingle than have their heads down over a page. Those that would even bother, that is.

From Flickr user vjoyking, a “where is my birthday” guest book calendar

And this guest book calendar is inspired! Having each guest sign on their birthday is not only unique but useful, too! You’ll never have an excuse for forgetting Aunt Martha’s birthday again. Of course, a perpetual calendar would also work well for this, it doesn’t have to be tied to a single year.

Guest Bench by Knocked Off
Photo by Scott V.

Revisiting the more out-of-the box solutions, this guest bench is a lovely keepsake for a home, which brings up the idea that pretty much anything a person can sign is fair game for a guest “book” stand-in.

So what would we, wine lovers having a vineyard-themed wedding, choose to use as our signature item of choice?

All in good time… (meaning next update, of course!)

37 Home Decor | It’s A Frame Up!

64 Arts

Displaying Art in Your Home Space

You know, I used to think it was terribly vain to display my own art at home. For the longest time the only painting of mine to be on the wall was the one I had to frame for the student show back in 2004 or thereabouts.

Color study still life by Jennifer Walker

Some day I’ll frame the feather panel that was originally part of this piece.

Some time last year, though, I changed my attitude. I don’t know if it was anything major that shifted or just that I was running out of places to store finished work except the walls, but I started with a cork board above my computer and then started hanging different projects I created for Gauche Alchemy, etc. Now my gallery wall is a nice piece of inspiration in my home office and I look forward to filling up the rest of the wall space in there!

Obviously I did not use a level to hang some of these. Gotta fix that ASAP!

There’s really no rhyme or reason with my gallery wall, I just pick the best place by size when i have something new to hang up. Overall I try to keep a certain balance going, but since this wall is a work in progress, it’s going to be a bit off now and then.

I love my medal bar signs–I even leave the Halloween ones up all year.

We did something similar in the dining room above the bar, only this was a more deliberate grouping of tin signs and other objects. The large center canvas is newer than the rest of the groupings, and I’m still not sure that’s where it’s going to stay (which is why it’s still overlapping one of my tin signs).

Regardless of whether it’s framed photographs, paintings, prints, or shadowboxes filled with collected items, I think art on the walls makes a space feel more lived in, more alive, and more soothing all at the same time. Most of my items are wrapped canvases, but for everything else I like to find a frame that’s large enough to hold my art plus at least 6 inches, then cut the mat myself.

image via Amazon.com

I have the Logan Do It Yourself Mat Cutting Kit (that I picked up atÂ MichaelsÂ years ago with that ever-important 40% off coupon) that makes cutting straight and beveled mats pretty simple (though you’ll want a self-healing mat to protect your work surface, too).

But what about those items that don’t frame easily? The prints and ATCs (artist trading cards) and other things without sufficient border to slip behind a mat? There’s always the shadowbox option, just mount whatever you’ve got to the backing board and go. You can also drill or punch holes in the corners of canvas board and attach a hanger that way, like I did with my Shower Inspiration piece.

But for the 4×6 art card I received from my swap partner, Michelle, I wanted a way to show it off without permanently adhering it (since it has equally awesome sides). Here’s how I solved this riddle.

Now to decide where on my wall this one should go!

First I dug out a suitably sized frame from the tote of random frames I have in the garage. The glass and backing board are long gone–who know what I did with it–but that’s okay! I cut a piece of foam core exactly the side of the rear opening and made sure it fit snugly.

Doesn’t everyone have a tote full of random frames? No?

Then I found a piece of card stock that would work as a background for the 4×6 card without distracting from it and cut it just slightly smaller than the foam core.

The royal blue picks up on some of the splatters in the background of the art card but still stands out enough from the black edges.

Adhere the card stock to the foam core–I used double-sided tape, but a glue stick would work just as well, I’m sure–and then fit the covered foam core into the frame to stay. Mine was a pretty tight fit as is, but if you have a little wiggle room, it’s not a bad idea to secure the backing into place in whatever way seems best.

Another option–useful if the card is very bulky–would be to attach ribbon straps to the corners of the backing board before securing it, so you could slip the card into place.

Since I wanted to make sure I could remove the card or flip sides whenever I wanted, I used clear photo mounts at each corner to hold the card in place.Â All done!

Have you thought of adding any art to your space, lately?

Review | KAPPA Pisco

Sips

KAPPA Sour

If you are a cocktail enthusiast (which you must be if you’re hanging around here, right?) you’ve probably at least heard of that classic drink, the Pisco Sour. You may have even browsed the recipe, thinking it was something you’d like to try, only to pull up sort when you saw it requires a raw egg white.

Before you think me cavalier on the subject, I consider food-born illness pretty high on the list of things to avoid. Memories of my Safety & Sanitation class are still vividly imprinted on my brain, even though it’s been almost 15 years! Salmonella is the bacterial baddie that could be in a raw egg, but the chances of that happening with a properly processed and stored egg is about 1 in 20,000 or 30,000. Hence, I have no issue at all eating the occasional raw egg white.

Granted, it’s usually in something like Caesar dressing, mayonnaise, or the occasional scoop of raw cookie dough (quality control, I assure you), but shaking one into a cocktail isn’t really that alien of a concept to me.

But plenty of classic cocktails make use of an egg white, what else is it about the Pisco Sour that makes it one of those drinks so many of the cocktail curious set skip?

Namely, the Pisco.

What is it and, more importantly, what does it taste like?

Pisco is a grape-based brandy from Peru or Chile, possibly named for the port city of the former. I was fortunate enough to receive a bottle of KAPPA Pisco from the same house that makes the fabulous Grand Marnier, Marnier-Lapostolle.

Before I get into tasting notes, can we just take a moment to admire that gorgeous bottle?! I fully admit that I’ve been known to purchase spirits for the beauty of the bottle alone, and this one is just a feast for the eyes. Apparently it’s designed by Ora-ItoÂ (I might just have a new design crush) and at first I though the silvery sides were mirrored or some trick of a bottle within a bottle–then I realize it was just sections of clear glass letting the clear, crisp liquor shine through. It’s still a sexy as hell bottle.

When I opened said bottle I was reminded of tequila–that warm, enveloping sense of comfort that tequila evoke–but the taste is nothing like tequila. I found KAPPA Pisco both sweet and tart with a decided flavor of rosewater, like the perfumed French candies from the import stores. Todd found the flavors way too strong on its own, but I was pleasantly surprised by just how palatable it was neat.

Of course I had to try the classic sour with the KAPPA twist:

KAPPA Sour

2 oz KAPPA Pisco
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
1 egg white

Combine KAPPA Pisco and rest of the ingredients into a mixing glass filled with ice.Â Shake vigorously and strain into a small champagne flute.Â Top with tree drops, or half dashes, of Angostura bitters (to create the shape of the Southern Cross).

And how was it?

Amazing. The lemon juice amplifies the refreshing tartness of the KAPPA and the heady floral notes are toned down–though whether from the additional citrus or the egg white I’m not sure. As for the egg white, shaking it creates a head for the cocktail somewhere between a beer’s foam and aÂ meringue and the texture it adds to the cocktail is just wonderful. Overall, the KAPPA Sour might just become my new favorite summer cocktail!

——————–

I received a bottle of KAPPA Pisco for purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Scraps of Life

Better living through creativity!

Month: March 2013

Achievement Unlocked: Guest “Book”

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AlcoHOLidays | Easter | Trio of the Southern Cross

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Searching for Inspiration: the Guest Book

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37 Home Decor | It’s A Frame Up!

Displaying Art in Your Home Space

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Review | KAPPA Pisco

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