Borough

You need to make our peach sangria recipe this summer!

When we head to the grocery store and see barrel after barrel of ripe local peaches, we crave peach sangria. It’s crisp, refreshing, and has just the right amount of alcohol soaked fruit! Sangria time is also the perfect excuse to pull out our Grandmother’s vintage pitcher and glasses that are suddenly so on trend!

 We’re sharing our favorite peach sangria recipe, just in time for you to grab some beautiful peaches from your local farmers market. We don’t like anything overly sweet on a hot day, so this is a straightforward recipe that let’s the fruit and wine shine. Letting this summer concoction sit overnight is definitely the hardest part of the recipe!

Peach Sangria

 Ingredients

- 3 peaches

- 1 orange

- 3/4 cup of blueberries

- 1 cup sugar

- Bottle of rose or white wine

- 10oz soda water

1. Dice the peaches. Peel and slice the orange. Cut some blueberries in half for more blueberry flavor.

2. Combine the fruit in a bowl and pour the cup of sugar over top. Let sit 20-30 minutes.

3. In a pitcher combine the fruit and sugar with the wine and soda water.

4. Stir and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.

5. Serve over ice garnished with a lime or lemon slice. Pairs beautifully with a Borough dress.

Vintage glassware makes everything taste better

Our Oyster Roast print looks picture perfect with cocktails or pair with our Just Peachy print!

With the holidays here and an ever-growing collection of fabric scraps we decided to create a winter Borough fabric wreath and share the process. There’s always so much DIY-magic in the air around Christmas. This is a fairly simple project and can be adjusted to fit with any season or holiday. Happy crafting!

 Materials:

• 14” foam wreath
• Scraps of fabric to cover the wreath
• Pinking shears
• Pins
• Hot glue gun
• Festive adornments  

Step 1: Measure your foam wreath to determine the sizes of your fabric strips. We went with a 3.5” width. Then trim your fabric to size with pinking shears.
Step 2: Lay out your fabric strips around the wreath to determine placement. Your last piece will not overlap, which is where you’ll want to place your additional decorations.
Step 3: Pin the first piece of fabric in place, overlapping at the back of the wreath. Secure the fabric strip with your hot glue gun. Continue hot gluing the strips around the wreath.
Step 4: Lay out and assemble your adornments, then hot glue them to the wreath covering the last fabric strip. Let the glue dry, then admire!

As soon as the azaleas start blooming we start craving pimento cheese sandwiches! This Southern classic was a childhood staple for us, but now as adults we're trying to limit our intake of cheese and mayo concoctions to holidays and special occasions. An afternoon of watching The Masters on TV definitely qualities as a special occasion.

While ingredients and preferences vary based on who you talk to (whether or not to add cream cheese, the heat level, how fiercely loyal they are to Duke's mayonnaise, etc.), we love almost every version. We've shared our favorite pimento cheese recipe below. Whip it up as you watch The Masters or for any other occasion you deem worthy (getting that pair of shoes on sale, hitting all the green lights on your drive home, buying a new Borough dress, etc.).

 Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

 Ingredients:

• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese grated (Grate yourself using the largest holes on your grater)
• ½ cup monterey jack cheese grated (Grate yourself using the largest holes on your grater)
• Heaping ½ cup Duke's mayonnaise
• 4oz diced pimentos
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Dash of dry mustard
• Dash of garlic powder
• Tiny splash of Tabasco
• White Bread

 Preparation:

• Start by getting recipe ready- we recommend putting on our South of Broad Shift Dress in the I Think I Can print and a crisp apron
• Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl using a rubber spatula
• Serve on white bread with crusts removed
• Store leftovers in a mason jar and refrigerate

Photograph your efforts and post them to Instagram. Make sure to tag #shopborough so we can see your cheesy perfection (and beautiful shift dress).

Flowers and spring go hand-in-hand so we were thrilled to see models draped in romantic blooms coming down the runway during Fashion Week. Floor-length floral dresses will be big this spring as fashion takes on a garden party look.

We love a garden party, a floral maxi dress, and beautiful blooms! A flower crown is the perfect accessory to top off your romantic spring look. Flower crowns also happen to be one of our favorite crafting projects. Follow the steps below to make your own and breeze into spring 2016 adorned in blooms.

1. Gather your materials:

• 8-10 artificial flowers (we were in a ROYGBIV mood)
• Green floral tape
• Green floral wire
• Wire Cutters (pink handles are of course a plus) 

2. Prep your materials:

• Pull the flowers off their hard wire stems (trying to work with this wire creates very sore fingers)
• Cut pieces of floral wire and insert one piece of wire into the bottom of each bloom. If the blooms fall off double the wire over like shown. You can also use a glue gun to make sure the blooms stay on.
• Make the base of the crown by using enough wire that it can wrap around your head twice where you want the crown to sit. Fold the wire in half and shape it around your head. Secure the wire by wrapping the loose ends around the folded end. 

3. Add the flowers:

• Lay your flowers out around the crown to determine spacing and order
• Pick a starting point and wrap the flower wire around the crown base
• Continue until all your flowers are secured onto the wire base
• We added flowers all the way around, but you can also just add flowers to the front half 

4. Add the floral tape

• This is a key step if you don’t want wires poking into your head
• Start wrapping the floral tape tightly around the wire
• You’re going to go around twice, the first time overlap the tape as you go, the second time you can leave more space
• You’re going to want to skip the second layer of tape, I know, but you need this layer to make the crown more sturdy
• Pinch the end of tape to the base of the crown so it sticks to itself 

5. Step back and admire your creation! Flower crown + Harleston Village Maxi in Borough Blooms = Spring Ready!

Why set around tea lights when you can have candles in oyster shells? Oyster shell candles are the perfect piece of coastal décor and make an easy gift. After seeing these for sale and realizing we could do this at home (while using up some shells from our oyster roast), we gathered our supplies and had candles in under an hour. Here are the steps we followed to put those old shells to good use:

Step 1: Prep your Oyster Shells- [Optional, throw a fabulous oyster roast in order to get shells] Choose oyster shells large enough and deep enough to hold wax. Then thoroughly clean your oyster shells. I used dish soap and a tiny bit of bleach to get rid of the lingering smells. Let them dry completely.

Step 2: Gather Your Supplies- You will need:

-Clean dry oyster shells

-Wicks

-Wax

-Double boiler

-Thermometer

-Disposable stirrer (wood skewers are perfect)

-Fragrance

You can find a candle-making starter kit at most craft stores with everything you need.

Step 3: Set the Wicks- Place them in the lowest part of the oyster shell for maximum burning time.

Step 4: Pour Yourself a Beverage- Optional, but it definitely made watching wax melt more fun.

Step 5: Melt the Wax- Break the wax into small pieces for easier melting. Melt it in a double boiler using a thermometer to monitor the temperature. Follow your wax’s directions and temperature guidelines. Stir the wax occasionally to encourage melting.

Step 6: Add Fragrance- Once the wax has completely melted, add your fragrance until you reach the desired intensity. A beachy scent seemed appropriate for oyster candles so we went with Teakwood.

Step 7: Pour the Wax- Carefully pour the hot wax into your oyster shells. It helps to have an extra set of hands around to keep the wicks from falling over while the wax firms up. You may need to prop some shells up to keep them level so the wax doesn’t spill out. When the waxed has firmed up trim your wicks down. The wax should set completely in about 2 hours.

Step 8: Light and Enjoy