For the 3rd post in our Kentucky Derby DIY series for 14 Hands Winery, I wanted to share something with you that’s SUPER easy and also a little outside the box, which happen to be 2 of my favorite attributes when it comes to party decor. ;)

Since we already had a lot of crepe paper roses and hat inspired decor, I wanted to add a little “Southern Gentleman” flair to our Kentucky Derby Garden Party too, and bow-ties are a great way to accomplish that. Last year we made a bunch of miniature fabric bow-ties, but this year I found a much easier way to make them… using striped bow-tie pasta!

1. BOW TIE DRINK MARKERS

I’ve always loved the look of striped farfalle, and happened to spot it in 2 fun colors at HomeGoods while out shopping for this party, and a lightbulb just went off! All you need to do is add some raffia (or ribbon, twine, etc) to the center of the pasta, and voila! Cute – and sturdy – little striped bow-ties, in no time at all.

The shape of each pasta piece is a little different as well, which helps to make the bow-ties double as drink markers for guests, especially if you’re using more than one color. Use 3D glue dots to attach them to wine glasses, and you should end up with something that looks a lot like this:

Fun, right? And it doesn’t stop at stemware either…

2. BOW-TIE PASTA ACCENTS

You can also use these little bow-ties to dress up other pieces of decor. I added them to our golden horsehead statues for this particular party, but they’d look great on any sort of animal figurine – or even strung into a little garland or used as party favor embellishments, etc.

3. SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN PASTA SALAD

Last but not least, I couldn’t resist the idea of serving up some bow-tie pasta salad to a guest with a bow-tie embellished wine glass in hand…. I just love clever little party details like that! So Sonny made a batch of this tasty Broccoli, Grape, and Pasta Salad from Southern Living, except he substituted the regular pecans in the recipe for homemade Spicy Bourbon Pecans to make it a little more “Derby style”, and we dubbed it our “Southern Gentleman Pasta Salad” for the party. Gotta love it when your husband loves to cook! ;)

For more fun & coordinating Derby ideas, check out the following links:
– Kentucky Derby Garden Party
– Kentucky Derby Garden Party Printables
– Party DIY: Golden Horses and Jockeys
– Party DIY: Crepe Paper Roses Tutorial

Enjoy! :)