Wedding Favors Part 2

After my previous entry on favors, I presented the idea to my mom and fiance. Both thought vanilla extract was an awesome, unique idea. So, I bought 4 lbs. of vanilla beans in bulk and 108 amber glass bottles (12 8-oz., 96 4-oz.).

The larger bottles will go to some of the key players-our officiant, our parents, John's grandma-just as a way to show them a little more gratitude for all their love and support.

Following this tutorial on Ruffled, John, my dad and I cut up over 500 vanilla beans (!) and placed them in handles of vodka to steep. They are currently housed in the dark in my old mini-fridge from college, since they're supposed to stay out of the light. I go over and give them a good shake every now and then (once a week or so).

Next came the fun part: designing a label for the bottles! I started with a soap label (found on GraphicsFairy's amazing blog of vintage art) and massively cut it down:

 - all the excess border

- the text "Savon Olgalia au Muguet" 

+ "John & Dana's Vanilla Extract"

+ Border I cut out from another random label

=

Ta-da!

But, of course that wasn't enough. What is the use of extract if you aren't much of a baker? What ever will you use it for? That's why I decided to make a recipe card for one of our favorites, Saveur's Honey Chocolate Chip cookies. A hole will be punched in the top left corner and the card will be tied around the bottles with twine.

Front of card

Back of card

Though, depending on how much printer ink I want to buy, I may just print the recipe side and tie that on. We'll see how ambitious I get.

I love the mismatched vintage vibe of the paper goods. My goal is for things to be quirkily mismatched and yet cohesive in their aesthetic.