Trashin' It

Continuing with more hearts to empty my shuttles, here's Hearts on a Paperclip by Ellen Lai:

And I was so enjoying this pretty heart pattern!  This one is the Clover Drop Heart by Nancy Tracy on Be-Stitched.

I was happily using up thread on two shuttles, and it was looking like I would have enough to finish with little to spare.  And then . . . when I attached the 2nd clover to the center ring  . . . I realized I'd attached the first one wrong.  %#$@&%$@!  I am NOT picking this out to go back and correct the join.  Apparently I attached it to the 9th picot of the ring from the wrong direction.  I seem to do this fairly often - and then go back and unpick when (if) I realize it soon enough.  The maddening part on this one is that I had attached it the first time, thought I had it wrong and went back and "corrected" my mistake.  Hhhmpphh.  It was probably right the first time.  I will get 2 more emptied shuttles out of this - but not another heart for my stash.  I'm trashin' it and starting over because I really like this pattern!

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And speaking of "trash" - I'm so enjoying dabbling in upcycling and trying to be creative.  Well, I'm a good copier anyway.  Ha!  I have a trash stash now too.

Here are a few basic instructions on those wine bottle stoppers since Diane asked:

I used 7/8" corks and a #16 finishing washer.  The sizes and the name of the washer took the longest to figure out - but with an energetic Home Depot employee, we got it by looking at a picture!  Nice guy - must have experience with crafters :)

Hubby drilled holes in the corks, and used the original keystock (the piece between the 2 knobs) and cut it to go into the corks about 1/3 of the way or so.  (That keystock may need to be glued into the knob to be sure it's going to stay there.)

He glued that finishing washer to the top of the cork, and then used a lot of glue in the hole to place the knob.  He then used a clamp (?) to hold the pieces together while the glue dried. These photos are from a couple that are being taken apart to do again, as the cork ended up crooked.  I heard a voice in the garage that said something like, "Gosh darn it these little buggers are hard to take apart.  That's some fine glue!"  Well, that voice said something like that, anyway.

In any case, my photo isn't the greatest here, but I thought I'd show you how nicely these stoppers go with my decor. 

I'm thinking it would be fun to find doorknobs to sort of match some of the fun wines out there. (I'm thinking Marilyn Merlot, Mommy's Time Out, Elephant on a Tightrope, Arrogant Frog, etc.)  That would be a fun gift!