Man! Is it already December 23rd?!? Ugh. How'd that happen? If you're like me, today (and let's face it, tomorrow) is for rounding up last minute gifts. Have you been out there today? It's kinda crazy.... Nothing like waiting to the last-minute. Oh well, we'll do better next year...

But chances are you have all the materials and ingredients you need to put together a totally thoughtful Christmas gift that's actually completely last-minute! Just open up your liquor cabinet and bottle a batch of your favorite cocktail! Even if your bar is less than well-stocked, your neighborhood liquor store will have everything you need and should still be open. God bless 'em. When I happened upon this idea, I realized I actually happened to have a 5 liter oak barrel of a favorite cocktail barrel-aging already. Man, this is easy. But even if it's not as simple as pouring directly from a barrel to a bottle for you, the cocktail I had on hand, A Long Week, doesn't need to be barrel-aged (but it's cool; stay tuned for more post on that process) and is a very simple recipe: it's equal parts El Tesoro Plata Tequila, Cynar and Carpano Antica. To serve just stir the cocktail with ice in mixing glass, serve up in coupe, add few drops of mole bitters, garnish with orange peel (and you could totally get away without bitters or the garnish if you need to). So A Long Week is definitely a great option for this last minute gift, but Manhattans, Negronis and anything that doesn't contain perishables (like citrus or diary) will also work perfectly for your bottled cocktail christmas gift. So just choose your favorite; the recipient will loved that you love it.

So all I did for this last minute gift was fill a bottle with the cocktail, fill up an eyedropper vessel with some mole bitters and grab some oranges from the grocery store. Then I printed the ingredients and serving directions on kraft paper and used my tag punch and hole punch to make gift tags which I tied on the bottle with baking twine. Boom! Done! A hand-crafted Christmas cocktail gift.

Materials/Ingredients:

printer
kraft paper
craft tag punch
hole punch
baking twine
glass vessel to bottle the cocktail

Extra credit:

bitters eyedropper vessel (if your cocktail calls for bitters)
oranges (garnish)

Does it get any better than a beach weekend with your besties? Maybe if it also happens to be your bachelorette weekend. A close knit group of friends and I spent the weekend at my family's beach house in Rockaway, Oregon. Sea air, barrel-aged cocktails, a gourmet smore's bar, and some nautical-themed bachelorette temporary tattoos, made for one unforgettable time. Read on for all the details and loads of inspiration to throw your own end-of-summer bash for your bride and her girls…

Just a few steps from the beach house is the beach with a great view of Twin Rocks. I've been coming to Rockaway beach since I was a little girl and it's still one of my favorite spots on the Oregon coast. It's a small town that isn't as developed as some other coastal towns but that's part of it's charm too. We had the beach almost entirely to ourselves.

So we packed up a picnic of cheese, meats, fruit and crackers (along with some tasty add-ons for smore's). Although a simple spread it made for an easy but delicious picnic on the sand.

Keeping with the nautical theme, we wanted to do a barrel aged cocktail. Although these requires a bit of planning a head (most recipes call for several weeks of aging), it's portable and can simply be poured over ice straight from the spigot. Using a rum-based cocktail seemed appropriate so we used a recipe we fell in love with at Urban Farmer called The Sun Also Rises. It's a easy summer sipper featuring a Portland spirit: 7 Sirens Rum. Fitting for the event, right? Urban Farmer ages their for 30 days although I'm thinking it could actually go a touch longer and pick up some of the nice oak notes from the barrel. Either way it's simple to make; all you need is:

1 1/2 ounces of 7 Sirens Rum
3/4 ounce verjus
3/4 ounce Luxardo
Grapefruit bitters

It was an amazing, relaxing weekend and definitely easy to plan and put together.

Photographer, Stylist, Design: Kristen McGillivray / Tattoos: Etsy / Hair & Makeup: Havilah Howard/ Cocktail Barrel: Baby Barrels/ Cocktail Recipe Adapted from: Urban Farmer

Three different tattoos are featured in this post: Last Sail before the Veil, Buy Me a Shot, I'm tying the Knot, and Tank her Before She Drops Anchor