Crafty with Corks

As you have probably seen from my wife's posts, she is very creative with wine corks (you can see some past projects here and here).  We have saved them up over the years and she has come up with many interesting things to do with them.  I decided I wanted to give it a shot to see if I could also be as crafty with corks. 

I recently saw you could purchase a kit to make trivets out of wine corks.  This seemed a little ridiculous to me, especially when I saw the price of said kit.  I figured I may as well give it a shot and trying making a cork trivet using only the supplies we had on hand...making it essentially free. 

To start, I played around with the placing of the corks until I found a design that I thought looked nice.

I then glued a couple corks at a time to each other and clamped the corks while the glue dried.

 

*WARNING* Only use a small amount of Gorilla Glue!

Have you ever used Gorilla Glue?  This was my first time.  I have used many adhesives but never Gorilla Glue.  It's pretty great stuff and amazing at adhesion, but like I said, ONLY USE A SMALL AMOUNT.  I ended up with Gorilla Glue all over my hands and I could not get it off for at least a day.  Worst, Gorilla Glue expands as it dries and when used in excess, takes over your cork trivet project.

The glue worked quite well with the corks, however, and they were extremely secure.  Once I had the design completely glued together, I decided it needed some feet to add some additional interest and, well, feet.  I cut 2 wine corks in half lengthwise and used them as a base to raise the trivet slightly.

There we have it - a cork trivet made without a $40 trivet kit!

 - JOHN

For the Love of Corks and Memories

The outpouring of comments on my heart made out of corks was amazing - it seems as though all of us has caught the cork love bug.  We all seem to agree that corks in a jar or vase or hurricane is easy and simple, but we dream of other uses for our precious wine corks.

If you look closer at our vase or corks, you'll notice something different...the writing.

A few years ago John and I started writing on our corks.  Whenever we opened up a bottle on an occasion we wanted to remember, we'd write the date and occasion on the cork and them plop it in a special vase.  Over time we've collected quite the variety of corks and memories and it's so much fun to peruse them from time to time and remember special times with family and friends or special days in our life.

Some occasions are typical such as our first wedding anniversary and a birthday dinner (complete with lobster made by John).  Others are times we wanted to look back on and smile like an evening of games with our neighbors, a dinner with our parents, or the night John finally made the big decision of where he wanted to go to graduate school.  Then, there are the times that I love reading about the most - the night I was so grumpy it was funny, the first time we made stir fry without fighting, our first night in our first apartment, a much needed lazy evening after John's first wave of grad school exams.

These are the corks I love the most...the ones that conjure up vivid memories of special times and everyday moments.  As we continue to add a cork here and a cork there to our special vase, I find myself looking forward ten years when we still have something to remind me of that evening John made creme brulee, the night we slept in front of the fire, and the day we decorated our first Christmas tree.



You can see where I regularly link in my linky parties tab, including Today's Creative Blog

Cork-aholic

Yes, it's true, I love corks. I love their texture. I love their color. I love their wine stains. I love their branding.  I love corks.

As you can imagine, with a love as passionate as mine, our cork collection is getting a little out of control.  Last night while waiting for some paint to dry, some string to harden, and some stain to darken, I made a spur of the moment decision to tackle some cork art.

I may be so bold to say I love corks even more when they are heart-shaped.  Now, to just figure out how to hang it on the wall...


Don't forget to check out my Linky Party page to see where I regularly party.  I'm also linking to Today's Creative Blog today

I Don't Recycle - I Decorate....With Wine Bottles

Wine bottles. Spice jars. Olive oil bottles. Salsa jars. The most common food is often stored in the prettiest little bottles. When a bottle is empty, I gaze at it, clean it, and then use it to decorate my house.

Don't you?

Wait, are you telling me not everyone has empty wine bottles around their home?

Oh.

At one point, my collection of wine bottles was getting a little out of hand. You may wonder why I didn't recycle them or even just toss them in the trash. That, my blogging friend, is a very good question. You see, I think I may have a problem. It stems from my inability to fathom spending inordinate amounts of money on pretty vases and other decorating items when I could use what I already have. A problem arises, then, when I pour the last drop of wine...or olive oil. When I shake the last flakes of dried spices or scoop out the last of the pesto I think to myself, "Wow, that's a pretty bottle. If my husband were to ever give me flowers, I could put one in this little spice jar and put it on my bedside table." That is how my out of control collection began.

I have been trying to part with my pretty little bottles, but it's hard! So, instead, I'm attempting to re-purpose them, make them appear a little more sophisticated, a little more in tune with my decorating style. For example, in the above picture of my living room I have three wine bottles on the end tables. I like to think they work better spray painted, etched, and hot glued.

Here are some examples of my re-purposed bottles:

I'm also in the process of altering some spice jar by making faux milk glass vases...more on those later.

Is there anyone else out there who hoards glass jars and bottles or am I the only one?