Wine Cork Projects

I recently came into a large wine cork collection due to a flippant comment I let out that I was saving corks for a project the last time my in-laws came to visit. A few months later when we ventured to their place, I was handed a substantial amount of corks that my father-in-law so dutifully collected for me, and my mother-in-law couldn't wait to see go from a very large glass bowl taking up space on her dining room buffet. Forgetting about my endeavors to get creative with corks, I graciously accepted the donation looking forward to the fun I would have experimenting.

Weeks later I dedicated an entire evening to the company of a good friend, a bountiful supply of wine corks and Chinese take-out. We started the festivities with a run to the nearby craft store. I grabbed scrapbook paper, blank wood frames, wood plaque looking things, a hot glue gun and craft paint. Following are the fruits of my labor:

This one I made from one my "plaque looking things" painted with red craft paint and glued three corks vertically next to each other. I liked the contrast between the plastic and natural corks. Below I painted two of the same plaques blue and glued a cork horizontally on each. I placed a plaque on either side of a large mirror. To hang all three, I used 3M tabs that pull away from the wall cleanly.

For this one I painted a plain wooden frame with cream colored craft paint and glued corks in a random yet organized pattern. I created the pattern before gluing by tracing the frame onto a piece of paper and organizing the corks. This way I was able to play with the pattern before I was locked into something that wasn't pleasing to my eye. Instead of a picture, I placed a sheet of scrapbook paper in the frame and the embellishment is a hair pin from a craft fair. This frame looks elegantly eclectic on my antique sewing machine.

Hopefully I can come up with more ideas as I am bound to come home from our Christmas visit with another ridiculous amount of corks...