Let's tie one on

The other night I was invited to a get together at a friend's and naturally didn't want to go empty handed so I thought about what I could bring.  I knew she would have a lot of food and so I didn't want to bring something I made and defaulted to the standard bottle of wine.  Who doesn't love a bottle of wine - I know I enjoy when people bring bottles of wine to my house.  Then I thought about how could I make it a little more thoughtful then just a bottle of wine...of course a wine tie!  You have all heard of a wine tie, right?  That's what I thought so here comes the wine tie lesson.

First you start with some ribbon, floral wire, and some sort of adornment.  I had plenty of flowers I bought to top my Christmas presents so I decided to put one to good use.

The ribbon was left from Christmas too - it wasn't one of my typical dollar rolls of ribbon but it is 10 yards which you don't find too often.  Next I made a ribbon with the bow.   Make sure the ribbon you select to use has wire or else you will have one floppy bow. 

Two more loops to go.  Once I had all the loops I tied wire around the center and made sure it was tight enough to secure the bow.  Next I took the flower and curled the stem around a pen or pencil so that there are no sharp edges.

Now that the bow and flower are all set I put the bow in front of the stem below the flower and secured it with the wire.

I then cut a small piece of thinner ribbon long enough to tie around the neck of the bottle.  It doesn't matter what the ribbon looks like as it is hidden by the bow and flower.  I used a dark purple ribbon since that was what I had but anything smaller will do.

I cut the excess floral wire and tied the purple ribbon around the neck of the bottle.  This is a great way to turn a bottle of wine into a more thoughtful gift and it takes no time to do.  I was thinking about it earlier and you could also tie a cookie cutter on it or a wine stop to the ribbon as well.

The finished product - these were all things I had hanging around the house however I know most of you probably don't have this stuff.  If you keep your eye out for ribbons and floral picks on sale at craft stores you will be all set next time you need to bring something to a friend's house.

Until next time...stay creative!!