Monopoly game pieces recrafted to wine charms

Every Wednesday I will be bringing you a project that has been recrafted from something else. I dabble in everything from paper crafts and sewing to construction and electronics so there will be a broad range of projects. The focus being the reuse of items -- often items available for little money or even free.

This month I raided the game closet for inspiration. For years I have stocked those shelves with thrift store purchases. By keeping an eye out for odd games and even the standby classics I have more games than I will ever likely play. A few duplicates give me the raw materials for some nostalgic projects.

We entertain often enough to have the occasion to need to distinguish one glass of wine from another. For some reason people congregate in the kitchen and by milling around, glasses of wine end up misplaced and the ownership of fuller glasses disputed. Putting a unique ring on each glass stem will help people remember which glass is their own -- but there may be arguments over who gets the shoe!


To make Monopoly piece wine charms collect the following items.

• The metal playing pieces from a Monopoly game
• Cheap wine charms or jewelry wire
• Needle nose pliers
• Drill (or rotary tool) and small bit
• Beads (optional)

Some of the game tokens will not need to be drilled to be attached to the loop. Be extremely careful drilling holes in metal. Hold the game piece tightly with the pliers. I have found that the variable speed of a rotary tool allows for slowing down the drill bit to a less frightening speed (but still quite capable of making holes). Plan out how the game piece will attach to the wire loop before you touch the drill bit to the token.

I found cheap wine charms at a dollar store but you can easily make your own by using jewelry making supplies if you want them to be detachable. Perhaps you can match them to your hand-painted wine glasses and leave them on permanently. Throw some beads onto each ring for a splash of color if you would like. Monopoly not your game? Some of the Clue game pieces would work well for wine charms also.