Wine Label Table

 Look at this amazing table, the top of which is decoupaged in an assortment of wine labels from many countries. Very imaginative, don't you think?

Created by Jenerjijewelry

One of my favorite things to sell in my vintage Etsy shop are wine and liquor labels. My mother was an artist whose favorite medium to use was paper ephemera, of all sorts--portraits, advertisements, story illustrations, you name it.

Italian Wine Labels

Years ago she had an acquaintance whose family had a liquor distillery business. His hobby, presumably, was collecting labels off of bottles of liquor and wine and he amassed an enormous amount of labels over a period of years. One day, he decided my mother should have them, since she loved ephemera. He brought her this collection, which she eventually sorted into categories. She used some of them, but could never have gotten through the majority of them--there were just too many.

Bourbon Labels

Four years ago, when I opened my vintage Etsy shop, Autena, she gave me scads of these bottle labels to sell. I admit that I really enjoy looking
through them when I am ready to list a set.
 I don't really have a favorite.
Rum, gin, French, Italian, they are all little works of art, especially
 when paired with others, as they have a variety of shapes and colors,
 sizes and designs.

Champagne Labels

But back to that table... A very creative woman, whose beautiful Etsy shop is called jenerijewelry, turned what I am sure was a lovely wood table into a work of art, using some of these labels. I love the way it came out--the transparency of the labels allows you to see what is underneath, so nothing is hidden. It gives it a wonderful depth and, I can just imagine sitting at this table and getting lost in the labels.

Very inspiring I have to say. I'm sure Mr. F. would be amazed at what his collection has wrought.

Small Bottle Neck Liquor Labels

Bourbon, Gin, Vodka, or Wine?

Many years ago, an acquaintance of my mother gave her some labels from bottles of various liquors--mostly wine, but also hard liquor, such as bourbon and vodka. Now by some, I don't mean just a little. There were quite a few. She is an artist and works mainly in paper, decoupage, collage, and assemblage and so welcomed the unexpected gift, more or less.

Vermouth

The man apparently had a passion for collecting alcohol labels, over a long period of time. One of his family's businesses was manufacturing whisky and gin, so that must have been a part of the desire.

It took hours, and I do mean hours, for her to sort them into categories, which made it easier when she wanted to find a particular type...red wine or white, Italian or French, and so on. 

Small Labels From the Necks of Wine Bottles

When I started my vintage shop on Etsy, she gave me a few packages of them to try to sell. I broke them down into smaller packs and began to sell some, now and then. Whenever I did, I would let her know. She would say, "Let me know when you want more of them." I didn't really believe she had that many more. Boy, was I wrong! She had what seemed like a million of them--far too many to count.

Spanish & Portuguese Wine

Eventually she decided she did not want them any longer and that I should take them all. I have gradually been putting them up for sale and have had fun deciding what to sell: Kentucky Bourbon, Vermouth, Italian wine, Spanish wine, French Champagne... I have enough to open a second shop selling only these labels!

I'm always curious as to what the buyers do with them, but not wanting to be intrusive, don't ask. My presumption is that they are using them in their artwork, but perhaps they are collectors of some sort, or own a bar. Maybe they want to use them as wallpaper.  After all, we had a half bathroom with decoupaged walls when I was growing up!.

Kentucky Bourbon

Wedding of the Year...1914

Yesterday was my grandfather's birthday. His 134th birthday, to be exact. I never knew either of them and have a great interest in them...what they looked like, what they liked to do, their relationships with each other and the rest of their world.

A few months ago my mother dug these up and showed them to me. I was fascinated as well as charmed by them and want to share them with you.

Here they are during the planning of the wedding, posing for the reception place-cards.

 The end result looked like this.

Created by a family friend, these were given to my grandparents after their wedding in 1914.

My favorite among these treasures is this creative collage!

This is how it looks on the back. It had been pasted in a scrapbook at one time, as you can see.

I love how the artist started with a photo of their faces, then used crepe paper and ribbon to fashion their clothes, netting  for her veil, and paper flowers for the bouquet. What a great idea!

Besides admiring the artist's creativity, this, to me, was a lovely way to honor and remember them forever.