napkin wine bag + free printable gift tags

When it comes to holiday gift wrap, I love finding simple, inexpensive shortcuts that look anything but run-of-the-mill. It’s not a challenge to come up with something amazing if you have an hour and unlimited funds…but creating a clever, no-sew wine bag in 10 minutes and a couple of dollars? Much harder to pull off.

I often use wine for hostess gifts around the holidays, and, each year, I tend to find a brand or style of wine that I love, and use that for my gifts that year. This year, the wine of choice is Gloria Ferrer…

Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards, opened in 1986, is Carneros’ original sparkling wine house, owned and founded by the Ferrer family of Spain. Exuberant and fruit-forward, Gloria Ferrer wines go perfectly with today’s diverse and flavorful cuisine, and have earned over 400 gold medals and 50 90+ scores in the last 5 years. In short, they’ll make the perfect host/hostess gifts for our get-togethers this year.

For a simple, chic and elegant no-sew wine bag, I used a cloth napkin (typically about 20″x20″), ribbon and some printable gift tags (available to download here). You can find inexpensive cloth napkins almost anywhere. Mine are from Target, but World Market, Crate & Barrel, and Pottery Barn also have a great selection.

Lay out your napkin, and place your bottle of wine at the edge, with the top of the bottle meeting the edge of the napkin.

Next, start rolling the bottle and napkin, then fold up the excess napkin fabric (similar to wrapping a gift)…

…finish by lifting up the bottom edge of napkin, and folding it over, as seen below)…

Continue to roll the bottle and napkin, tie with a ribbon, and you’re done! For this festive bow, I just took 4 pieces of ribbon, and tied them at the neck of the bottle. It gives the gift a relaxed, shabby-style feel that I love.

I created some printable holiday gift tags using some of my favorite holiday elements–whimsical trees and deer, fun wreaths, and confetti. Just print onto an 8×10 piece of cardstock, trim, and hang!

For gift giving purposes this year, I chose the 2012 Carneros Pinot Noir (my favorite grape variety), which, had a delayed harvest due to a long, cool growing season, giving the fruit more time to develop flavor and concentration. I’m also gifting the Blanc De Noirs, created mainly from Pinor Noir grapes and boasts bright strawberry and black cherry aromas.

So there you have it! A simple, yet clever, no-sew wine bag that’s sure to impress.

I’d love to know-what are your go-to tips and tricks for creative gift wrapping? 

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.