If I was queen of anything, I think I’d probably be the queen of the last-minute DIY. I wish I was one of those bloggers that plans her awesome ideas months in advance so I could just hit publish a week before an event, but my best inspiration always seems to pop up the day before a holiday! Case and point: my derby day DIY epiphany popped into my head earlier this weekend. The good news is that this DIY concept can be used in dozens of different ways for many holidays to come, using gold clay and wooden skewers to make some horseshoe drink stirrers.
The instructions are simple: roll out modeling clay to about 1/4″ thickness and use an exacto-knife to cut out your shape — in this case, a simple horseshoe. Next, use a small wooden toothpick or dowel to add details before popping the pieces in a 275 degree oven for 15 minutes. Once the pieces have cooked, hardened, and cooled, use a tiny drop of hot glue to affix to a wooden skewer. Let the glue set and you’re ready to pop them into a mint julep or cocktail of your choice!
I shared my brie and jam pinwheel bites last week from my friend Elizabeth‘s blogger holiday party, and realized I hadn’t yet shared the cocktail recipe we used for the event (brie and pastry dough are delicious, but they’re nothing without a tasty cocktail to wash them down with!). Elizabeth decorated stemless wine glasses with metallic gold dots that looked like sparkly little bubbles, so of course we had to fill them with something bubbly! We added to each glass about an ounce each of pomegranate juice and Grand Marnier signature collection liquor (it’s raspberry and peach flavored, holy yum.), and then filled the rest of the glasses with champagne — and of course, gave them a swirl with a tinsel-topped drink stirrer. I didn’t have a name picked out for this concoction just yet, and one of my fellow bloggers said, I think you should call it the Blogger Bellini! I’ll cheers to that.
Now that our wedding is over, I’m back in the bridesmaid saddle and helped host a shower for one of my best girlfriends this weekend. It’s so fun when your fellow bridesmaids love party planning, this was an all-star team of girls working to put on this shin-dig. The shower had a Palm Beach-inspired theme with bright pinks and greens, lots of friendly lawn flamingos, and pom-poms galore. My favorite detail? The flamingo cocktail stirrers!
I got such a rush of happiness this evening when I walked outside my office building and it was warm and still light outside! I popped on my sunglasses and might have actually skipped to the subway. Spring is in the air people, so I’m sharing a crafty little DIY to get you in the spirit. No drink is complete without a festive adornment so I whipped up some mini-pinwheel cocktail stirrers to have on hand for my weekend libations. Making them is super easy: first cut decorative paper into 2″ squares; next cut small incisions into the corner of the squares and roll the edges around a pencil. Finally, layer the four points towards the center and pin them (I use map-tacks) and tack the pinwheel onto a small stirrer. Voila! Now you just need to mix yourself a drink and cheers to spring!
