Bourbon Cocktail Recipes

October heralds the beginning of Fall, which in my mind also means the beginning of bourbon cocktail season. Sure, there are plenty of spring and summer cocktail recipes that involve bourbon (I’m particularly partial to bourbon smashes), but on cool fall and winter nights there’s just nothing better than a nice bourbon hot toddy or even a spiked coffee cocktail. So today I thought I’d round up a few of my favorite bourbon cocktail recipes from the OSBP cocktail recipe archives!

Bourbon Cocktail Recipes

  1. I’m absolutely obsessed with the way all the flavors of this Bourbon Pear Vanilla Bean Smash combine into one seriously delicious drink. And generally, we’ve discovered that vanilla bean in cocktails is just always a good idea. We HIGHLY recommend considering this cocktail for any fall dinner party menus, or even for Thanksgiving!
  2. Maple Bourbon Hot Toddy. Warm, oakey, sweet, and just a little bit spicey. Just the thing for a cozy night at home.
  3. You really can’t go wrong with the classic Mint Julep, and our Basil-Mint Julep can be enjoyed all year long.
  4. Raised in a Red Barn. Bourbon, muddled figs, and sweet vermouth. We created this recipe for our friend Amy’s holiday party at Red Barn Mercantile a couple of years ago, and it’s still one of our favorites!
  5. The Robert Frost. With bourbon, white port, and sherry, this is definitely one of the most unusual cocktails I’ve ever tried, but also one of my all-time favorites. It’s also on the sweeter end for bourbon-based cocktails, which I personally appreciate.
  6. Our take on the classic Irish Coffee – Kentucky Coffee – mixes bourbon, brown sugar, and mint coffee. Such a great combination, right? Kentucky Coffee would be a great winter brunch cocktail, but I think it’s also high time that we worked on a bourbon hot chocolate recipe for cold winter nights. Stay tuned!

Unicorn and Gemstone Inspired Birthday Party Invitations

These unicorn and gemstone inspired birthday party invitations are perfect if you’re in the mood for something magical, festive, and just plain fun! This bright pink invitation suite, complete with the most adorable gemstone envelope liner, was designed by Briana of Flyover Design Co. I imagine that quite a bit of giggling ensued while guests played pin the horn on the unicorn!

Unicorn and Gemstone Inspired Birthday Party Invitations by Flyover Design Co.

From Briana: We designed this unicorn-themed invitation suite for a lucky four-year-old girl’s upcoming birthday party. The client’s main request when contacting us to help with the party was to incorporate hand-drawn unicorns, watercolor washes, and geometric elements while staying in the desired pink color palette.

Unicorn and Gemstone Inspired Birthday Party Invitations by Flyover Design Co.

Our process began with the illustration of the unicorn—we hand-drew a few variations of unicorns for the client to choose from. Once the unicorn design was selected, we started on the main 5×7 invitation. The final invitation includes all of the party details with design elements including: watercolor, hand-lettering, and gold-foil printing. After completing the main invitation, we moved on to the envelope liners to accompany the suite. The liners incorporated the same geometric gemstones from the 5×7 invitation while staying in the pink color palette. From there, we created party favors for the event.

Unicorn and Gemstone Inspired Birthday Party Invitations by Flyover Design Co.

The favors and details we created include laser cut wood unicorns that were wrapped around the invitations and the napkins at the party with gold and white twine. We added holes and ribbon to hang the poster. We also created stickers in six color variations as party favors for guests to take home from the party, along with a 10×20 Pin the Horn on the Unicorn Sign with a hand-drawn unicorn on a 10×20 poster board and cutout horns for the guests. Finally, we printed place cards with the gemstone motif for the number of guests specified, then hand-lettered each card with a black paint pen.

Unicorn and Gemstone Inspired Birthday Party Invitations by Flyover Design Co.

Unicorn and Gemstone Inspired Birthday Party Invitations by Flyover Design Co.

Unicorn and Gemstone Inspired Birthday Party Invitations by Flyover Design Co.

Once finished, the overall suite and favors create a cohesive look for the birthday party. By sticking within the same palette and including the two main elements—the unicorn and gemstones—throughout, it stays consistent and gives off the magical, girly feel that the client was looking for.

Unicorn and Gemstone Inspired Birthday Party Invitations by Flyover Design Co.

Thanks Briana!

Design: Flyover Design Co.

Invitation Printing: Cat Print

Laser Cutting: Ever Laser

Envelope Printing: Cards and Pockets

Sticker Printing: Moo

Photo Credits: Briana Wengert

Classic Blush and Rose Gold Foil Baby Announcements

We’ve featured the work of designer Lauren Chism many times on Oh So Beautiful Paper – and I’m a huge fan of her classic, less-is-more aesthetic. So it’s an absolute honor to share the GORGEOUS classic blush and rose gold foil baby announcements that she made for her own daughter, Graycen Mae. Lauren really honed in on her true design style to create an incredibly elegant and understated announcement, printed in rose gold foil on absolutely dreamy pale pink paper. Just so, so pretty.

Classic Blush and Rose Gold Foil Baby Announcements by Lauren Chism Fine Papers

From Lauren: In true ‘shoemaker’s child’ fashion, these birth announcements almost didn’t happen. Motherhood rocked my world and it took me a long time to be able to sit down and design again. But alas, I finished them, and I am so glad that I did. It makes me smile every time I look at them… and then I tear up a bit when I realize how much she has changed and grown!

Classic Blush and Rose Gold Foil Baby Announcements by Lauren Chism Fine Papers

When I found out I was having a girl, my friend and fellow-stationer, Kimberly FitzSimons, texted me ‘bring on the Arturo pink!’. Yes, yes, yes! Turns out, that was the easy part. With my Arturo Rosa paper and envelopes ordered, I hit a roadblock and really struggled with where to go from there. These had to be my best birth announcements ever, right?! There is nothing like self-inflicted pressure! After putting things off for so long, I forced myself to remember my true design style. Not the most creative, out of box design, but a beautiful, classic, ‘less is more’ aesthetic… and from there, it finally came together.

Classic Blush and Rose Gold Foil Baby Announcements by Lauren Chism Fine Papers

I love photo birth announcements, but I also love a classic non-photo design too, so I met in the middle and created a two-sided announcement, with the photo on one side and the announcement on the other. The announcement was foil printed on the palest pink card stock in beautiful rose gold, which turned out to be the sweetest, most feminine color combo. It was duplexed with my favorite newborn photo, which was printed on double thick card stock. This created a TRIPLE thick announcement, which was so luxurious, and maybe a little over the top, but who cares, it’s my job!

Classic Blush and Rose Gold Foil Baby Announcements by Lauren Chism Fine Papers

Classic Blush and Rose Gold Foil Baby Announcements by Lauren Chism Fine Papers

The final look was simple and classic… just. my. style. I could not love them more. I can’t believe that I am not too far away from designing her first birthday invitations and that also makes me shed a tear or two. Life is happening so much faster now, so I love that I have this keepsake to remember this precious time.

Classic Blush and Rose Gold Foil Baby Announcements by Lauren Chism Fine Papers

Thanks Lauren!

Design: Lauren Chism Fine Papers

Foil Printing: Elefant Press

Paper: Arturo Rosa

Newborn Photography: Caroline Jurgensen Photography

Photo Credits: Lauren Chism

October Desktop Downloads!

Hello October! Fall has definitely arrived here on the East Coast, and what better way to celebrate than with brand new illustrated wallpapers for your phone and desktop?! I’m thrilled to share four gorgeous illustrated wallpapers with all of you – two each from Swiss Cottage Designs and The Good Twin – celebrating both the warm and cozy side of October and the creepy crawly Halloween season. Which one will you choose???

October Illustrated Wallpaper for Desktop and iPhone from Swiss Cottage Designs

Desktop | iPhone

October Moon Illustrated Wallpaper for Desktop and iPhone from Swiss Cottage Designs

Desktop | iPhone

Hamsa Hand Illustrated Wallpaper for Desktop and iPhone by The Good Twin

Desktop | iPhone

Ghosts Illustrated Wallpaper for Desktop and iPhone by The Good Twin

Desktop | iPhone

For personal use only. All illustrations by Swiss Cottage Designs and The Good Twin for Oh So Beautiful Paper

If you’re a designer or illustrator interested in contributing your own designs to this column, please email your design to submissions(at)ohsobeautifulpaper.com with the subject line “desktop downloads.” If it’s a good fit I’ll add it to the post for the following month!

Happy Weekend!

Tick Tock Press

Card by Tick Tock Press via Instagram

Happy Friday everyone! Confession time: the last couple of weeks have been really rough for me and my little family. Early last week, I ended up in the ER for extreme abdominal pain that turned out to be kidney stones. I’d always heard that kidney stones are super painful, but – y’all, the pain was worse than unmedicated labor and childbirth. I’ve been able to control the pain with medication since then, but unfortunately my little kidney companions don’t seem to want to leave my system on their own. So I’m having a very quick surgery on Monday to get them out. Everything around here should (hopefully) be totally normal, but I just don’t have much left for a weekly round up this week. I’m just really looking forward to finally feeling like myself again next week. In the meantime, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, and I’ll see you back here next week! xoxo