DIY Day: Stock the Bar shower!

Remember the cute and thrifty inspiration board that Modern Eve made me for a Stock the Bar couple’s shower? Well, it was this past weekend! Here’s how the shower turned out…

The decor: The wine bottles made the decor! I had friends save their wine bottles for us to use. I took five and chalkboard painted them. Across three, I wrote the couple’s wedding date. And on the other two are their married initials and “I do”. The other green wine bottles I used as vases for daffodils. I thought the yellow went well with the green! Bunching three bottles with daffodils in them together looked great too I thought! And the menu was written on my Write Plate. (You could easily make your own Write Plate! Hobby Lobby!)

To get the labels off of the wine bottles, I soaked them in hot water for a few minutes. Then I pushed the labels off with my thumb – no nails needed. And I used a scrub brush to get the residue off, though Goo Gone would work just as well. It took me 10-15 minutes to do 5. Like I said, super easy!

So how much did the decor cost? Wine bottles = free. Chalkboard paint = free, a friend’s left overs. Write plate = free, gift. Daffodils = on sale at Tom Thumb for $1.50 a bunch, so I got two! Total cost for decorations = $3.

The food: Fajitas! And cupcakes. We also served beer (fiesta pack, of course – big hit!) and sangria.

We found this set up to be much more economical than making a bunch of little things, and making enough for 25 people. And sangria is a fun addition. And it uses less wine than if wine were served alone.

Red Sangria:
A bold Red Wine (We used three bottles of Shiraz and two Malbec.)
1 ½ cups of orange juice per bottle of wine
1 fresh lime per bottle- sliced thin
½ fresh lemon per bottle – sliced thin and squeezed for juice
1 fresh orange or tangelo per bottle (sliced thin)
Strawberries (fresh or frozen)
Pineapple (fresh or frozen)
Mango (fresh or frozen)

White Sangria:
A White Wine (we used Sauvignon Blanc)
¾ to 1 cup of apple juice per bottle of wine
½ cup ginger ale or club soda per bottle of wine (or more to taste)
Fresh mint leaves, crushed slightly
½ – 1 fresh pear per bottle
½ green apple per bottle
1/2 gala apple per bottle
Peaches (fresh or frozen)
Strawberries or raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Festivities: No games… so not into shower games. Lotsa mingling. And of course, the fire pit got people excited for the outdoors too!

I’m linking up: A Soft Place to Land