Entertaining, Wine Gift Tags

I think during the holidays more than any other time we open our homes to entertain others. As the guest my grandmother always told me never to arrive empty handed and while handmade cakes, pies and cookies are wonderful most of us don't have the time for that. A bottle of wine is a lot of people's go to hostess gift. But what about those floppy fabric gift bags though, I mean do you really think you are disguising what it is? I came up with a solution I like better, the wine gift tag.

I took about 9 inches of an elasticized trim I had that was in fall colors. I sewed the ends together and added a handmade gift tag that coordinated with the trim. Add a personal message and you are ready to go! I'm not adding these to my etsy shop but if you would like a custom listing of them for the holidays email me, retrochique@ymail.com .

Sneak Preview I will be having a book giveaway next month to celebrate the holidays, Check back or follow my blog to make sure you don't miss it! Thanks, Jamie.

Holiday Napkin Rings

A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture on Facebook of some felt embroidered leaves I made. I loved them but was at a loss as to what to do with them. A friend of mine from high school that I talk to on Facebook, Ronnie Applewhite, suggested I somehow make them into napkin rings. Well I finally got the time to try it out, here is my result.

I also thought it looked good as a wine glass wrap. The how to? Super Simple. I make the leaves from three layers of embroidered felt, you could machine stitch them or even use silk floral leaves. I then attached them to a piece of bias that that I had inserted floral wire into. I twisted buttons onto each end of the floral wire so that they couldn't poke anyone or get stuck on anything. I sewed them onto the bias tape but they could be glued just as easily. So there you go Ronnie, Napkin Rings!

What do you think? Let me know via comments. Have a great week! Jamie.