Memories of Guadeloupe and an Impromptu Cocktail Hour

I bought these cocktail napkins last year at Anthropologie.  I love the colors and funky prints and have used them quite often - but I only have 4:

While I was in Guadeloupe 2 weeks ago, I fell in love with the madras plaids in the colorful marketplace:

 So, the hunt began - could I possibly find cocktail napkins on an island where most of the vendors speak French Creole?  I had fun using my basic french, but the closest to "cocktail napkins" I could translate was  "le fabrique pour la table, pour le bouche"... (you should have been there when we tried to find "une toilette" - but that's a whole other post)

 ....so the hunt took me to a fabric store where I bought two different pieces of madras:

 ...and I made 8 more cocktail napkins to coordinate with the Anthro napkins:

 I used them for the first time over the weekend for an impromptu cocktail hour:

 The napkins coordinate well with my favorite little hors d'oeurvre dishes and they will always remind me of a fun day (journee de plaisir) in Guadeloupe.

They also share the colors of some of the swizzle sticks I collected back in my college days - - do you remember when bars and restaurants all used swizzle sticks rather than those silly little striped plastic straws?

I am glad I kept my collection - it's fun to walk down memory lane, especially during a fun happy hour!

Sharing with:

Tabletop Tuesday@ A Stroll Thru Life

Let's Dish@ Cuisine Kathleen

Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch