Vanilla Extract Favors

posted 2 years ago in Favors

Alright, well this all started when I came across this blog, which I'm sure many of you have seen:

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/02/20/diy-project-homemade-vanilla-favors/

I wasn't even going to DO favors until I saw these cute little bottles of homemade goodness! With a few adjustments, I'd say they turned out pretty much amazing. 

We started out with two huge bottles of St. Petersburg's Russian Standard Vodka (reminiscent of my studying days in the beautiful city) and a couple growlers that we hadn't yet returned to the brewery. We bought enough vodka and beans to make 80 50ml bottles of extract.

Vanilla Extract Favors :  wedding IMG 6188

We split the vanilla beans and dropped them into the bottom of the growlers

Vanilla Extract Favors :  wedding IMG 6171

And in case you ever wondered what vanilla beans really looked like...

Vanilla Extract Favors :  wedding IMG 6167

Added a little vodka....

Vanilla Extract Favors :  wedding IMG 6191

and tucked them away, only to take out every couple of weeks for a shake and sniff test. 

For the 50ml bottles I decided to go with a nice tall rectangular shape with a cork. In retrospect, I would probably have gone with the twist caps. The corks have a great look, but the twist cap would have been more functional for the folks using the bottles. 

Vanilla Extract Favors :  wedding IMG 6256

Then, my amazingly talented soon-to-be spouse who took all of these photographs put his designing skills to work and made up these bottle labels in our colors... 

 

Vanilla Extract Favors :  wedding IMG 6276

Vanilla Extract Favors :  wedding IMG 6270

Vanilla Extract Favors :  wedding IMG 6271

We still aren't to the point of filling the bottles, with the wedding not until July and the vanilla beans still steeping. But wow, I am so glad someone thought of this, because it is perfect! 

Difficulty: Easy to Medium. Making the vanilla is super easy, but getting the labels just how you want them may take a little computer know-how. I loved the ribbon idea on the blog above! 

                                                 Cost:

3.5L Vodka (splurged on the good stuff): $57

  Beans(bought bulk and had left overs): $60 

                             50ml corked bottles: $40

                                                  Vinyl: $13

                                                  Total: $170 / 80 = $2.13 per favor

All in all, it is a little on the spendy side. But I justified it by assuming that it was a usable item that wouldn't get thrown out or left on the table. Also, the costs could have been brought down by buying less expensive vodka, and doing the bottles just a tiny bit smaller. 

posted by lilnipper 2 years ago

this is a great idea, i never thought of that... love it  =)

posted by lovelii 2 years ago

I love this idea...wish I would have found this before I made my favors!

posted by Mrs. Bassethound 2 years ago

This is great and the labels are really nice!

posted by Joshs Girl 2 years ago

We are doing something similar with homemade apple pie liquor.   Do you have a template for your labels or would you be willing to share the file?

My email is zemantm@gmail.com

Thank you!

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  1. Vanilla Extract Favors :  wedding Img bottle.jpg (43.2 KB, 153 downloads) 2 years old
posted by tmz101510 2 years ago

i didnt know you can make vanilla extract like that... i would love to received this favor 

posted by Magenta 2 years ago

cute bottles! we had the same idea! my fiancee and i thought we were being so creative and orginal =)  we're doing one bottle of vanilla extract and one of hot sauce. me being the baker and he the spicy food lover.  I love the bottles and the labels! if you don't mind sharing where did you get them?

posted by WhiteChocolate 2 years ago

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