Christmas lights + wine bottles = love

I am behind on writing posts, as we went to Salzburg, Austria's Christmas markets yesterday and I need to update everyone on our Austrian adventure, but I wanted to post a little something about what I just made. :)

I took this picture last December while visiting my aunt and uncle in Baltimore:

I thought it was an adorable work of art, but they were about $25 a piece! Crazy! So I took a picture to remember what it looked like, and how I thought I could make it. I mean, we live in Italy, the land of wine--I could make these with my favorite wine bottles and make them more personable to me.

Time passed, and Pinterest came into my life. :) And I saw something with wine bottles and Christmas lights and remembered the long-forgotten picture I had taken 10 months ago. I pulled it out, jumped on HobbyLobby.com, and ordered everything:

Wine bottles (I had them already) : 3 euro each, or $4
Raffia: 1 bundle = $2.99, I used about a quarter of a bundle for two, so make that $0.38
Grape cluster: $3.99 each
Christmas lights: $2.99 each, strands of 20
Hot glue: Can I put a price on two dabs of hot glue?
Time: 20 minutes each

That means that each one of the two I made cost me a grand total of $11.36 and 20 minutes each!

I like them much better than the store-bought ones, and I'm thinking about even making them as Christmas presents for some friends and family. Score!

Ciao ciao! I promise I'll update soon with pictures and storytelling of our Austrian adventure!