Last Minute Gift

Not many sets of twins can brag about having separate birthdays. My identical twin was born right before midnight and I was born right after. In the past my sister has held her slight seniority over my head, but never before has it mattered as much as it did for our twenty-first birthday. I mean come on, she was legally allowed to consume alcohol for a full twenty-four hours before me!

Despite our different birthdays, we usually exchange gifts at the same time. Since turning twenty-one is all about the alcohol, I carefully chose my gift amidst the rows of gleaming glass bottles at the liquor store. I knew my sister is big on tequila... I mean she had heard good things and was looking forward to trying it for the first time... wait, who am I fooling? Anyway, choosing the right brand was tricky. I glanced over the familiar household names along with some of the more obscure labels. Would you drink tequila flavored with a larva? I swirled around a bottle of tequila and watched as the white, segmented larva danced around in the golden fluid. Setting the bottle back down, it was hard not to imagine the unsettling, chewy crunch after imbibing larva infused tequila. No thank you.

I settled on a bottle that I'd never seen before but looked impressive and artistic with skeletons adorned in sixteenth century garb. Since my sister is the artistic sort, it seemed fitting. My selection was approved by the cashier who exclaimed the skeleton tequila "is a good one." Hopefully my sister would agree.

So, if you ever want to purchase alcohol as a gift but feel that handing over a bottle is a bit too insincere, try this:

Materials:

Paper bag you got at the liquor store

A sharpie

A piece of rope or string

A card-sized piece of cardboard

Actions:

Look up a bunch of drink recipes made with whatever alcohol type you are gifting.

Sharpie them onto the paper bag.

Write a little message or just another recipe on the card.

Cut a hole in the card.

Put the string through the card.

Tie the string around the neck of the bottle and bag.

Voila. It looks like you tried a little harder than just swiping your credit card.

The bottle

The bag