Wine Glass Charms

If you've ever been to a big dinner party, or general booze-up where wine is the main beverage, you've probably had to use wine charms, ribbons, or similar methods to mark glasses so as to avoid confusion. Though by the end of the evening, if things are going well everyone's taking sips out of each others glasses and everyone decides to go European and start kissing goodbyes, so it's not that big a deal. Some have suggested writing on the base of the glass with a Sharpie or grease pencil, but I think that's an inelegant solution, and more importantly, it's difficult to see in low light conditions. Ideally a wine charm should be distinctive from a few feet away.

Until now, I've never had any wine charms of my own, I've always borrowed from friends. There's not a big selection around here, and I never liked the ones I saw in stores. However, I found myself killing time in a craft store (waiting for a wine tasting, oddly enough) and stumbled on to a lot of little kits for making your own. Pictured at right are the charms I made this afternoon--this particular kit had an ocean theme, though I'm not sure why a butterfly is in there. And the one on the second row, far left, is a pair of sunglasses. For $6, I was able to make eight good looking charms, and an additional eight that I can use in a pinch. I've got plenty of leftover loops, and I'm considering getting some alphabetical beads to make some for my friends and common wine-drinking companions.

God, I sound like a ten year old girl. And the turtle charm is mine, nobody else can have it.