Ok, so this isn’t exactly a new crafty concept but its one of my old favorites…the corkboard! I’m talking the cork-straight-from-the-wine-bottle-board. There’s something so satisfying about accumulating enough wine corks to make a corkboard out of it. Oh yeah, its probably the wine buzz that is satisfying actually.

What’s that? You don’t drink wine and will never acquire enough corks for this project? Well, that’s too bad. Thanks for visiting anyway.

Wait! Just kidding. I have a little secret for you…ready? You may be able to find enough corks without hitting the bottle. First, you can ask every wino you know to save their corks. Or maybe even easier, visit your local winery and ask them if they have any used corks that they are going to discard. Seriously. They pop bottles all day long and can’t reuse the corks. This works. I can attest to it. You may have to buy a bottle or 2 to look interested. Or in my case, an entire case.

Can you tell my favorite winery? That’s right, Cape May Winery. Shocking, I know. I love everything about Cape May.

Ok onto the project…

First, pick your base. Do you want a picture frame lined in cork

a mirror lined in cork?

or just a framed corkboard?

If you are going for the plain corkboad option outlined with a frame, make sure you purchase a shadowbox frame so there is enough depth for the corks. I have found these at Michael’s Crafts and Ikea.

For the mirror and picture frame, they are available at Michael’s. They’re unfinished wooden frames. (Removing the dust is optional.)

Now that you’ve made your choice. Prep it. Remove the glass from the frame. Do you want to paint the frame? I spray painted this one apple green. I gave it as a housewarming gift to a friend that loves green like a fat kid loves cake.

Next, I typically lay out the corks in a pattern before gluing. I like to have a plan. The basket weave pattern is my old stand by.

And finally, I hot glue the corks into place and let them settle. It is pretty easy and quite satisfying to make. I recommend using real cork, not the newer fake corks that some wineries use. I’ve tried this and the pourous surface of cork holds the glue much better.

My favorite is the framed shadowbox corkboards because the edges look “finished” more than the others.

What do you think? What else would you cork-ify? And how many times did I say cork in this post? Too much, eh?