Wine Cork Wreath

Just a note...I promised to share the wreath and picture in a previous post.  Here they are:

Now, if you're anything like me, you've been saving wine corks for forever because there is a fabulous project that you will just HAVE to make with them.  The problem is, you haven't found it yet! Have no fear, your project is here!

To get started, you will need lots of these:

How many, you ask?  I estimate that I used between 200 and 250 corks. 

You will also need a straw wreath, like this:

Don't forget to remove the plastic!

This next step is extremely important!

Wrap some wire around the wreath and make a loop for hanging.  There is nothing worse than getting your wreath all done and then say to yourself, "Hmmm, how the heck do I hang this thing!?!

Now you're ready to get started.  Be sure to cover your work surface to protect it.  I used a lovely old vinyl tablecloth that I had laying around.  You know the one - you look at it and say, "I actually bought this  -  What was I thinking?!"  It's OK, it's perfect for catching all of that hot glue that drips!

Plug in the glue gun, put the straw wreath on the lovely vinyl table cloth and start gluing corks around the outer edge.

Continue to glue them on until you have a layer of corks on the inner and outer edge of the wreath.

In this photo, you can see the wire I attached for hanging.

Continue with two more layers and a layer across the top:

This forms the base of the wreath. You'll notice that I used the corks that I had a lot of.  You want to save the interesting ones for the top, where they'll be seen.  I also used the the "non-cork" corks.  If you are a wine drinker, I'm sure you've noticed that many wines are using synthetics instead of cork as stoppers.

Now for the fun part!  Start gluing corks randomly on the wreath. 

If you look closely, you can see some of those corks that I used as the base.

When you are done, your wreath will look something like this:

The last thing left is embellishing!  I decided to add some grapes and a simple bow.  You choose.  The best part about it is:  if you don't like it, remove it and add something else!

Voila! You have a beautiful wreath to hang on the wall and you used up those corks you've been saving!  

In the interest of full disclosure, I used hot glue but, looking back, I would now use a more permanent glue, like E6000.  I made this wreath several years ago and after a few moves, some of the corks have fallen off. I now reattach them with E6000 and they are staying put! 

Before I go, let me share the 'picture' I created with wine corks.  The backing is a piece of thin plywood that I call 'luan' measuring  24" x 24".  Once again, the corks were glued on with hot glue.  Any that have fallen off have been re-glued with E-6000. 

This took years to complete and I had help from friends and colleagues that donated their corks to me.

Before you ask, no, I don't know how many corks are in it.  Let's just say, "A lot!"

So there you have it, inspiration for all those wine corks you have tucked away.  Don't have enough?  Start drinking that wine, tell all your friends to start drinking their wine, and to give you their corks!  
Cheers!

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