Wine Cork Memory Box

One of my favorite ways to save memories that we can look back at later and reminisce is with my wine cork memory box.

On one of the very first dates I had with my husband, we shared a bottle of wine. Later, when I was washing the wine glasses and cleaning up, I started to toss the wine cork from that bottle in the trash, but something stopped me. Perhaps it was just the feeling that something special might become of this new relationship. So instead of tossing that cork, I took out a sharpie, wrote the date on it, and dropped it into an empty glass vase that was sitting in my dining room.

Fast forward a few more dates, a few more months, and several more bottles of wine, and soon I had a collection of wine corks all with the dates of meaningful occasions in a relationship that was turning into something special. 💕

While on a weekend get-away to Galena a couple of years ago, we came across this vintage inspired cork box, and knew we had to have it to hold our collection of wine cork memories. It was perfect, right down to the vintage cork screw handle!

As the years have gone by, we have continued to toss our corks into our wine cork memory box. Sometimes with only a date, but often with a few words to remind us of the special, and sometimes not-so-special occasion when we drank that bottle of wine.

Special Memories

Some of the corks represent important occasions.

Like holidays…

Our engagement, writing our wedding vows, our honeymoon…

My daughter’s bridal shower and wedding…

Special Events

Some of the corks are from bottles we drank at memorable events or activities..

Like when my husband surprised me with tickets to the musical Love Never Dies at the Civic Center for our anniversary, and the bottle my daughter and I drank when we went to Board & Brush together…

Our New Home

When we built our new home a couple of years ago, we toasted many memorable moments with a glass of wine. The day we signed the papers on our lot…Lot 18, and then came back a couple of days later and had a picnic on this new piece of land that was now ours.

We cracked another bottle several months later, on the day the surveyor staked out where the house would go, and one more when they poured the footings. We were so excited for each new piece of our dream house to unfold!

Not As Awesome, But Still Memorable

More wine was needed for some of the less-than-awesome-but-still-memorable experiences connected to moving. Like packing almost everything we owned into 4 PODS when we moved into an apartment for the summer, because our old house sold before the new one was done.

A bottle of wine was consumed on the night we finally moved into our new home– a humid August evening in Iowa– when we discovered the air conditioning wasn’t working. The technician who came to repair it couldn’t figure out what was wrong after two hours of trying, and began hinting that he’d have to leave and send someone else the next day. As I recall that night now, I wonder if he was motivated to figure it out when the crazy lady with sweat dripping down her face poured another glass of wine and said, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon, when you keep looking…” 🤨 (The crazy lady was me, just in case you were wondering.) He did eventually figure it out. Cheers to that. 🍷

Sad Memories

We drank this bottle of wine on the day my sweet pup Diva died at the age of 16. I still can’t think about her without a pain in my chest. I couldn’t have asked for a better little dog to help me raise my kids. 💔

Vacations

We have lots of corks commemorating vacations or trips we’ve taken. One of my favorite things to do is crack open a bottle of wine with my husband and plan our next adventure. I love looking back through these corks and remembering those fun evenings.

We also have several corks from bottles that were drank when we were experiencing what I call “vacation depression”. You know, when the highly anticipated trip is over, and now all you have left is piles of dirty laundry and real world responsibilities again. 😦

Lottery Dreams

We drank this bottle on the night we bought a lottery ticket one of those times when the jackpot was something like a bajillion dollars. Lady luck wasn’t on our side, but you gotta play when the jackpot is that high, right? It’s fun to at least have a chance.… And even though we didn’t become multi-millionaires, it was still a memorable evening sipping wine and talking about what we’d do if we did win.

My Blog!

This cork is from a bottle we drank to toast the day I finally created my blog. It was something I’d been thinking about for awhile, and with my sweet hubby’s encouragement, I finally decided to give it a try. 😍

Cork Containers

We have so many corks now, that there wasn’t room in our original cork box, so I bought this big vintage jar at an antique store and moved some to it.

Doing so gave us a bit more room, but I still have to figure out what to use next. Below are some of the options I’ve scoped out on Amazon, but I’m also keeping my eyes peeled when we antique shop to find something vintage.