for such a time as this

I'm a keeper, a collector, but I am selective of the items that I allow to cross over into my pack rat tendencies because I also love the rush of bringing a box of things I will never use to Goodwill. From the ages of 5-12, it was elephants. Elephant stuffed animals, elephant thimbles, porcelain, glass...you get the point. And I would proudly display those animals lined up like my own little elephant zoo.


As I have gotten older, my collections have become more purposeful and whimsical perhaps at times. One of the things that I have been collecting for most of our marriage is wine corks. There is this really cool girl at our church probably 8 years older than me who collects them in jars and containers in her kitchen and I admire her style so much that it rubbed right off.

To give credit where credit is due, Real Simple also played a part as I got the idea for a wine cork shadow box the Spring before we were married.

Until tonight, the little corks stained with juices and memories were stacking themselves up in my Goodwill bottles & pitchers (see the cycle here?). There they were waiting for me; the corks from our annual wine tours, our late night dinners with friends, even those that I have snuck into my purse when we are in public. yup, stealer of cork.
They fit perfectly into my Ball jars which remind me of Ball State, near TU in good ole' Muncie. With the addition of a tea light, my little collection was transformed into something altogether new. For such a time as this, these corks were saved. And the good thing is, I can continue to collect more corks and even better, more memories.