Wine bottle covers.
Dress up your bottles.
Recently, my friend bought me a bottle of wine that was wearing a funky little T-shirt with a slogan about my age on it (it was one of those years where you get a bit fat 0 in your age!).The wine bottle looked very stylish and I think there should be more outfits for wine bottles!
It reminded me of the big knit that we did to support Help the Aged where we all knitted little hats for our bottles of Innocent smoothies and showed off who had the best dressed drinks bottle. It was a bit like knitting something as useless as the crochet dolls I always used to see when I was a child, that would sit over your toilet rolls in the corner of the bathroom, but we all enjoyed it.
If you want to give a bottle of wine as a gift or you are organising a party, you don't need to stop at T-shirts for the bottles - there are the most amazing little costumes you can either make or buy for your bottles. To celebrate Chinese New Year, you can buy the most exquisite little Chinese dresses for your bottles. Or there are Santa suits for Christmas parties, or elegant beaded wire decorations, you can dress your bottle as a monkey, penguin, bride and groom, butler, or put it in a grass skirt or a life jacket. Any of these ideas will make your gift that extra bit special or will make the party table a talking point. If you can’t find an outfit that’s suitable, why not take some of these ideas and make your own. Here's a great blog where they will customise your wine bottles for you: http://www.barjonx.com
If you would like to wrap the bottle in a creative way, why not try the Japanese art of Furoshiki, which involves an elegant style of wrapping the bottle in fabric, without having to cut or sew.
For more ideas on crocheting or wrapping wine bottle covers, watch the videoclips.
And why stop at decorating the wine bottles? In the office last week, I picked up a tiny scarf off the floor that looked like it had come from a teddy bear or doll. When I gave it to my friend, she said “oh yes, it’s mine, it’s for my hot water bottle”. She then produced her very stylish hot water bottle that was wearing a very fashionable knitted roll neck sweater, especially made to snugly fit the hot water bottle. She carefully replaced the scarf and the outfit was complete. She showed me an advert where you could get all the latest outfits for your hot water bottle, whether you were looking for something casual or more formal. Covers for hot-water bottles for children have been around for years, with their favourite cartoon character keeping them from being hurt by the very hot bottle and also helping to insulate the bottle so it stays warmer for longer. It also stops the smell of rubber being quite so strong. The covers are usually made from fur or fleece, so they make them really bright and colourful and soft and furry to snuggle up with. The office gets very cold in winter and several of the girls had their stylish well-dressed bottles on their laps. We publish craft magazines, so some of them had had some fun knitting and sewing their own garments.
