The wine stoppers are pretty fun. I bought my lathe in September, really got started turning in October, and have turned 3 stoppers, and about 20 pens. All for Christmas gifts.
The stoppers for me are more of a challenge, so I'm excited about mastering more complex shapes. I bought some chrome-plated stoppers at first, and while they are probably OK for the occasional user, I heard that they will corrode over time from the acids in wine. I learned about stainless steel models, and have found them online priced about the same as I paid for the chrome models.