Contests and Fun!

Be Creative with Cork Contest Winners Named

Gene and Shirley Birlingmair, Sunrise Beach, Missouri, won first place in the Be Creative with Cork contest with their cork Christmas tree shown at left. Congratulations!

The Birlingmair's included instructions to help you make your own lighted cork Christmas Tree:

MATERIAL NEEDED

1 ¾” BOARD 10  INCHES SQUARE

Piece of felt to put on bottom of board to prevent it from scratching a table

#12 or #10 solid Electric Wire up to 20 feet

40-50 small corks – number depends on height of tree

8 Large Corks for frame of tree

Glue - we used Elmer’s

Electric Drill & Bit correct size to make the hole the size of wire used

Green spray paint – we used Rustoleum  but any brand would work. 

Decorations/ornaments for tree  – your choice – jewelry, grapes, small Christmas lights. etc

DIRECTIONS

1. Drill a small hole in center of the board base so wire will go through and be tight.

2. Cut a piece of the wire the length you need to make the tree the size you want.  Make this the length needed for the number of large corks used for the trunk or frame of the tree.

3. Cut pieces of wire about ½” longer than needed to hold three small corks. 

4. Drill a hole in the side of the first vertical cork and insert the wire, thread the three small corks on the wire – excess wire past the third cork can be cut off flush with the cork when the tree is completed.  Glue the first cork to the vertical tree, bottom cork.  Now you have one limb on the tree.

5. Install another limb on the same bottom cork at two other places.  Space them as you would like the tree to look. 

6. Repeat the same procedure on each cork as you go to the top of the tree.  As you get closer to the top, use two corks instead of three to make the limb. 

7. When complete you bend the limbs to shape the tree to your liking.  It is a good idea at this time to glue the limbs again to make them hold their positions.  

8.Take your tree outside or put it in a box and spray paint it.  It may take more than one coat to make it the color you want. 

9. Decorate

The number and size of limbs may vary according to your imagination.  Your tree will be a one of a kind, no other like it.

Picnic at a Winery!

Heart of Iowa Wine Trail Selects Prize Winners for Summer Culinary Celebration

The Heart of Iowa Wine Trail has selected three grand prize winners in their recently completed 2009 Summer Culinary Celebration. The Culinary Celebration was a summer-long event, which concluded September 30, 2009. The three winning participants are Kathy Rhoads of Des Moines, Warren and Kathy Bell of Allison, and Cassie Putt of Mankato, MN. Each will be receiving a $250 gift voucher from the Heart of Iowa Wine Trail, which they may use at a grocery store near where they live. For more information visit www.heartofiowawinetrail.com.