The Wine Cork by Carol Eliassen

Making Wine Cork Bears

They aren’t just wine corks.  No, they are versatile pieces of art, and oh, the stories that could be told if they could all talk.  You may think I’m as crazy as a fruitcake on a hot summer day if you are a connoisseur of fine wines, but it is true!  The wine cork is so much more than we normally give it credit for, and let me explain why. 

First, I like to drink the dark red wines.  The red wine leaves a ruby hue of a stain that graces the end of the cork. The cork has had the honor of sloshing around in the glorious wine until it has been slowly pulled out by the forceps of a wine cork remover.  I see something most people don’t when they find a cork that has been blessed with a deep red stain.  I see a wine cork bear.  It’s not just any bear, it’s a Christmas bear ornament.

I don’t drink enough wine to collect all of the wine corks (darn) that I need to make my bears, so I visit the local hobby store and buy them in packages.  The stories these wine corks will tell you.  How?  Well, once I opened a package of corks with the monogram of a California winery and inscribed on the cork with a handwritten message saying, “I love you, our first anniversary 1995.”  My imagination went wild, and I wondered how could they lose such a precious memento? 

Were they young or old?  Did they fall out of love and throw the corks away?  I wanted to believe that they rented a storage, forgot to pay and all their things were auctioned.  Whatever the reason I wanted to believe that love prevailed and they were still together.  I had to believe it.  I couldn’t imagine otherwise.

Were they young or old?  Did they fall out of love and throw the corks away?  I wanted to believe that they rented a storage, forgot to pay and all their things were auctioned.  Whatever the reason I wanted to believe that love prevailed and they were still together.  I had to believe it.  I couldn’t imagine otherwise.

My Christmas bear that year bore their message on his arm.  It was a badge of love as he hung from the Christmas tree with his wine cork arm straight out bearing their words.  His hands and feet were just ruby red stains of what was left of the wine the two lovers shared that night in 1995.

No, the wine cork is not just for wine.  It’s also for Christmas bears and love.