After picking yet another chewed and still slightly damp wine cork off of the floor (the Great Dane puppy is in the chewing stage and keeps stealing my wine corks!)... I decided this was the perfect place to start the official Upcycled Earth blog. My intention is to inspire you to create innovative, beautiful, useful items from objects that would typically be looked at as waste and tossed out into our already overcrowded landfills. And... looking at my bin filled with over 300 wine corks, I've got plenty to get started with! So here goes.... the very first post... the very first tutorial! Stay tuned! Plenty more ideas will be coming... waste is in endless supply.
Although not a new idea, the wine cork wreath is an awesome decoration that is fairly quick (about 3 hours) and extremely simple to make. I have seen these wreaths being sold at craft shows and online for $55 to $85 depending upon what bow or other "finishing" items are put on it! Although I personally like the wreaths "naked" this random style wreath is a great foundation for any embelleshiment you can think of. Add fake grapes, a wine colored bow, variety of nuts, feathers, whatever adds your personal flair and fits in to your decor.
Materials:
- 12" Straw wreath base - $3
- Glue gun
- Glue sticks
- Ribbon (about 8")
- Wine Corks (200-250 depending upon pattern and size of wreath)
Remove the plastic wrapping from the straw wreath base and gently tap and shake the wreath while over the garbage can in order to shake out any loose pieces of straw. (DO NOT remove the clear fishing line that is wrapped around the wreath as this is what is actually holding the straw into the circular wreath shape.) Trim off any straggler pieces of straw that are sticking out and away from the round form. Loop and knot the piece of ribbon around the wreath form in order to hang the wreath once it has been completed. You've got to remember to do this step first because the finished wreath will be somewhat heavy and impossible to hang otherwise.
Choose which corks you want to use for the first layer - I typically pick the corks I have the most of or don't have pretty or unique graphics since this is the base of the wine cork wreath and will only slightly show through the second "random" layer of corks. Apply a generous amount of hot glue to the wine cork and starting from the inside circle of the wreath form, firmly press and hold the wine cork to the straw base. Glue each wine cork end to end around the circle changing the position of the glue and the direction of the font (upside down verus rightside up) as you add the wine corks to the form. Place each wine cork as close as possible to the one next to it so that the straw from the wreath form is not showing through.
Because the wreath form is round, and the wine corks are not flexible, straw WILL show through and the corks WILL NOT fit perfectly as a ring around the wreath. It doesn't matter. No seriously... it doesn't. Don't panic, don't worry... it will turn out exactly the way it's supposed to in the way that strategically random always does. "A beautiful thing is never perfect."
Since the wreath will be hanging flush against a door or wall, only the inside, top, and sides of the form need to be covered with the corks. Once the entire form has been covered, choose which corks are the "showstoppers" and will make up the second layer of the wreath. Strategically place the second layer of corks to cover the gaps that were left in the first layer. Choose which side of the cork has the better image and glue the back side of the cork to the first layer. A long squiggly line will not work this time around though as the first layer of corks provide an uneven surface. You will have to place the cork and then determine where the glue should go on the back of it in order to have it stay securely in place. (Usually, I have a large dab of glue at one end and about 1/3 of the way down the back side of the cork for the second layer.) Firmly press and hold the cork onto the first layer.
The second layer of corks should be placed at all different angles... some to the left, some to the right, some at a 45 degree angle, some at a 90 degree angle... etc. Make sure to add the second layer of corks to the inside ring, top, and around the sides of the wreath form. This is the layer to hide the gaps and spaces which resulted from the first layer. And... Ta-Daaaaaaaaa!! A beautiful wreath made from upcycled wine corks. Perfect for a Tuscan themed kitchen... a great excuse to open a bottle to share with friends! And all the while, an innovative idea to keep these items out of our landfills. Did you know... 13 BILLION natural corks end up in the world's landfills each year? (That's a lot of wine!)
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