Photo property of The Entertaining House and Jessica Gordon Ryan

I love bottles. Unique bottles that is. Bottles that have a different bent to them. I like bottles that have a nice hefty weight to them... those with thicker glass or those that have unusual shapes or an unusual color. In the first photo I thought to cover a couple of Orangina bottles in twine. I was thrilled when they actually came out better than I had envisioned! I use them a lot with all sorts of different flowers. I love the hydrangea in these but perhaps my favorites are simple, wild, white daisies. They look so lovely with the twine.

In the photo below it a couple of assorted bottles stand on my mantel next to a couple of jars filled with river rocks from a recent trip to Matunuck, Rhode Island. I've managed to capture a little bit of my summer perfectly here. Above, a perfect pint-sized, flask-shaped bottle is striking in its unusual green. It's an older bottle I'm guessing, and I found it buried in the ground in a nearby park. It was covered with dirt when I found it, and it smelled a combination of dirt and decades old booze. Knowing my daughter would have an absolute conniption if she saw me pick it up, I sent her to the car first then quickly snuck the bottle into the trunk. I didn't take it out until she was safely out of sight! I saw her natural beauty long before I cleaned her up.

The next time you are tempted to toss your bottle into the trash, you may want to think twice!

XOXO,

Jessica

How does one chair a decorating committee for a wine tasting event on a very small budget? One must be creative and resourceful and look to nature. How can one make an event look elegant and grand on a shoe-string budget? By focusing where the dollars are spent and looking to nature. Recycling is key. Relying on what we have in our homes and friends homes is key. Working with three creative and talented women is key.

We started planning our event around some dried hydrangea. I simply love these dried flowers. They can go with just about anything. We cut flower after flower after flower and set them out to dry. Our hydrangea were a varied lot. Some were greenish, others blueish and others pink and purple. We had a surplus of acorns and pine cones. Add a little gold spray paint and the three make a perfect set.

Gold painted hydrangeas gently placed in a hurricane vase.
A simple cranberry colored ribbon completes the look.

Unpainted hydrangea a gently placed in a hurricane with some acorns, some painted gold and inexpensive,
gold painted apple ornaments. A simple, sheer white ribbon completes the look.

They compliment each other without being too matchy-matchy

Hydrangea, pine cones and a sheer ribbon strategically placed inside the hurricane


An ordinary glass pitcher becomes extraordinary with gold acorns and pine cones of varying sizes. A simple cranberry colored ribbon completes the look.

Glass wine decanters filled with hydrangea leaves and simple gold balls individually cut from a gold chain --
Just waiting for more ribbon to complete the look!

More challenging was to figure out how to decorate the Bistro tables. The small table-tops make this tricky since their purpose is totally utilitarian. I was told nothing except candles. Candles were wanted and needed. I tried playing around with the flameless variety but they just looked so very tacky. Looking around I saw some small glass votives that had been used on the school property before. I decided to work with those. Inspired by the cranberry and off-white linens that we chose, and limited in budget I looked around my kitchen for some inspiration... something that would go well with the hydrangea and the pine cones and the acorns.
And there it was. Inspiration. On the counter right in front of me. Sugar and cranberries. Sweet. Simple and sophisticated. We were getting someplace... but we still had further to go...

Sugared cranberries are a fun way to add holiday flare to your home or event

A canning jar gets a whole new look. Cranberries strategically placed on top of white sugar
to simulate the look of freshly fallen snow. Some jewel toned garland adds a nice finishing touch.

Cheap plastic berries get a new look with a thin layer of gold paint and a pretty ribbon

Among the acorns we found these still attached to the stems. We added some gold paint and tied a ribbon around it.

A hot glue gun secured everything into place to dress up the jar.

My strawberry jam jar gets a whole new look!

I love the 3 small white ornaments tied to the orange ribbon but we all agreed it was a little too
Christmassy for an Autumn Evening of Wine and Food!

Our works in progress... more to come!

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