Fall has arrived, and even though the holidays are just around the corner, it seems that everyone is getting the itch to party already. This often includes giving bottles of wine as hostess gifts. One of the greatest wrapping challenges in the crafts department is the wine bottle. Every year it comes back and we are left staring at a looming bottle begging to be dressed for its recipient. We scratch our heads and make cups of tea pondering (and procrastinating) the challenge ahead. Wine bottles are difficult to wrap because they are not square. They have curves and are stubborn.

This challenge came again in the November 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living. My colleague Athena Preston had been experimenting with colored hot glue in the craft room but did not know what to do with it. Inspiration struck and emerged when she planted a metal stamp into the hot glue and replicated a wax seal. Athena’s hot-glue seals hung around for months with no application until November Good Things came along and I thought they would look good on a wine bottle.

The wrapping is simple and forgiving. If the paper wrinkles a little, it looks good. Any thicker paper, such as kraft paper, will do. Consider recycling a brown bag from the grocery store. Cut a piece of paper that is about 3 inches wider than the circumference of your bottle and a height that is long enough to fold over a ¼ of the bottle height when wrapped. Add another 3 inches to the height to fold under the bottom of the bottle as well. Roll the bottle in the paper, and secure with double-sided tape. Fold the extra 3 inches on the bottom under the bottle. Then fold the remainder over the top front of the bottle and secure with double-sided tape. Wrap waxed twine around the bottle, tie a knot, and finish by attaching the hot-glue “wax seal.” Then you are ready to party.

Posted by Shane Powers on October 17, 2011 in Inspiration Board