YAH: Wine Cork Wreath

Mind if I share another wreath with you? See, for the past few years my family has done a homemade gift exchange. We each make one thing, wrap it, and then take turns picking a gift or stealing another gift that has already been open. Since I can't yet share with you what I'm making this year (in case anyone in my family reads this blog of mine), I thought I'd show you one I've made in the past. I ordered a bunch of corks online, but I think it would be better if you used your own. I just didn't have any on hand. I also used a foam wreath form from Michaels. I went through all the corks and picked out the broken ones (but held onto them just in case) and put aside the unique ones that I wanted for the top layer.

Then I used a glue gun to attach a row of corks on the inside of the circle. You can see I used a broken one because a whole one wouldn't fit. I knew it would be covered up.

Then I kept adding rows. When that was done, I glued on corks every which way.

This was a little harder. You have to check to see where the cork touches other corks so you know where to put the glue. And I noticed really smooth corks didn't stay very well. The rough ones worked best. So I kept going until I was happy with it. I think I may have gone overboard a bit. It's kind of big.

I did this project over several weeks, so I don't really know how long it took me all together. Lastly, I added the unique ones. Hi:

 A goose:

 Frog's Leap:

I love frogs, so it was like having my own little signature on the wreath. Then I used my Bowdabra to make a bow. I added it to the lower right side just for fun, but I attached it with pins so it could be moved or exchanged for seasonal bows.

I really wanted to add a group of grapes instead of a bow, but I couldn't find any that looked real enough. I was worried that the corks might come off when I wrapped it up (a few fell off as I was handling it -- those darn smooth corks!), so I used a huge box and filled it with newspaper, then added a layer of tissue paper and gently set the wreath inside.

I cut the box so the top would open to both sides so when I closed it up I covered the seam with ribbon and another bow. (I love my Bowdabra -- it's like a second set of hands!)

And then I made sure that the box was never tipped over at any time. It was successful because it arrived in one piece. One of my brothers ended up with the wreath and he was actually who I had in mind when I made it, so I'm glad he got it. He put it above his fireplace, but moved the bow so it was centered at the bottom. He also didn't re-fluff the bow the right way so it looks way too big for the wreath. I have yet to visit him since he's had it (he lives down south), but when I do I'll be sure to fix the bow.

One nice touch would be to add some used corks from red wine that have a nice reddish stain on the end of them. I wish I had done that.

**Linking up to Bowdabra's Saturday Showcase!**