I’ve learned all sorts of things this week, including the proper name for the ‘cage’ on champagne bottles: muselet.  I’m dusting off my high school French and letting the word roll off my tongue.  It’s also been great fun fashioning tiny cafe chairs from what we heretofore  referred to as ‘that wire thingy that holds the cork in place.’

Here’s how it all started. I fell in love with the idea of fairy gardens when volunteering at my son’s school.  The idea is to fashion a miniature garden using bits of this and that, along with rocks, twigs, flowers and leaves.  Originality is key to attracting mythical fairies.  I try to fashion my fairy garden with living plants, rocks and twigs, as well as items I would otherwise toss or recycle.

Fairy tables throughout the years include wine corks, an empty spool of thread, rocks and a muselet.  My neighbor and fellow gardener, Ruth stopped by, took one look at the fairy birthday garden table, and told me about the cafe chairs.  Be still my heart!

She loaned me the charming red chair pictured here so I could create one of my own.  It was easy and fun.  Since I’m Organized at Heart, I twisted the back of mine into an organic heart shape, but really, the skies the limit.

Next time you’re at a party, you can wow your host by leaving behind a tiny chair at the end of the evening. You could also put a bug in the ear of the caterer at a wedding and offer to take the muselet off their hands.  Once home, you can fashion a pair of chairs for the bride and groom as an unexpected anniversary gift.  These would make cute gift toppers as well.  Who needs a bow when you can attach a cafe chair instead?

Specials thanks to Ruth for the inspiration and the loan of her chair.

Here’s a quick visual tutorial:

Muselet Cafe Chair tutorial: 1. Remove from bottle, 2. untwist and lay flat; 3. remove the long steel wire piece from the base; and 4. twist into shape and attach along the back of the chair legs.

Muselet Cafe Chairs

• I found this great blog on all things muselet. (Sorry…I can’t stop saying that…muselet, muselet, muselet). Did you know about the six turns? Check it out!
• Fellow blogger Greenhousing is making Elderflower Champagne in her garden. You can follow along here. Doesn’t that look tasty?
• For the truly inspired, check out L’art du muselet.  These are stunning artisan miniatures.

Please drink responsibly.