Where Did Our Quince End Up?

As you will know from earlier posts, this year saw a bumper crop of quince on our tree. We gave away what we could and kept a few kilos for ourselves. Our vat sized cooking pots were brought out from the back of the cupboard and a heck of a lot of steaming and stewing ensued. Jelly bags were hung from chairs and a variety of fruit liquids were lovingly and ever so slowly and methodically extracted. The result is that we now have a bounty of jars containing either Mostarda di Venezia or Quince Jelly (plus Nick's sister dropped off a block of quince cheese she made from the ones we gave her).

Nick is a practical person, and he ensures the jars are sterilised perfectly, labels are made and proper storage is provided. What he doesn't bring to the table, is any sense of style or aesthetics. Plain jars of brown sludge are handed over as gifts and I know they would look just a tad smarter without too much effort. So this year I have taken it upon myself to tart up our jars.

I got onto my Mac and designed a series of labels, all of which have a uniform look but with different colours depending on the jars' contents. I designed a fancy shaped label (to be used with Spellbinders Label 4 die) for the front and a matching circular one to go on the top.

I printed these out and using my Cuttlebug and Spellbinders dies, created the labels. I then cut up some squares of patterned paper, trimmed off the corners (to create a rough hexagon) and folded these over and around the lids before holding in place with an elastic band. Finally, I sprayed my labels with adhesive and stuck them to the jars. A huge improvement, I think you'll agree (Nick certainly does). They certainly look much nicer lined up the shelves now.

Now, if I find the time, I'll tackle the numerous homemade Sloe Gin bottles. Though most people we give them too don't care too much about external appearances. It's the contents they adore. Tastes so darn moorish, they'd be happy if it were presented in a rusty watering can lol.