I can get crafty on the side and the past few years have been having fun.  For awhile I was making cork wreaths.  I sent notes out to all those I know to save those precious things some throw away when they open their lovely adult beverage and also went around to restaurants to collect them.  I made one wreath for myself and then was given 3 enormous bags of corks from a restaurant and gifted and gifted wreaths after hours of labor.  Also make cork trivets after buying the frames.

But, there is more fun…screw top wreaths.  First, though screw tops are becoming more common, when you try to collect/gather them, they don’t come nearly as quickly as corks.  It took me a long to gather enough to make a wreath.  Then, when wreath making began, *($%^.   There is not nearly the surface area of a cork!  This was not as much fun as I thought.  After a couple hours, I decided putting cotton balls in the screwtops would give me more surface area.  After many months of (more) off and on labor hours, the screw top wreath is complete!  I did this tonight while enjoying some great South African wine after just booking a trip to South Africa…there will be many food and wine reports to come in a few months.  The wine I enjoyed was one of my favorites, the Wolftrap Red Blend of Syrah, Mourvedre and Viognier.

And, the original wreath I worked on a couple years ago…good old fashioned corks.