Cork boards are a great idea that I keep meaning to do and I see cute uses all over pinterest, but I never seem to collect enough to make that happen. Even though I’ve never gotten around to making that board, I still really like the way they look in home decor, so I decided to try something a little more in reach. If you drink wine regularly, you should be able to get enough for a project like this before too long. If not, you can always go to the craft store to bolster your collection (that’s what we ended up doing, since we didn’t have enough). You can do this craft with your older kids and a lo temp glue gun, or try it yourself for a little you time while they’re in school– maybe you can even add to your cork collection while you do it, wink, wink! Just kidding. I really don’t recommend mixing wine and hot glue… That seems like a recipe for a funky pumpkin and some burned fingers!
Anyway, the end result of this craft is a really cute, whimsical little wine cork pumpkin for your end table or book shelf. We added some gold glitter to make it a little fancy and add a little more whimsy but you can add whatever personal touches you like. Here is our final result. I just love how it came out; it’s so cute!
Wine Cork Pumpkin Tutorial
Supplies:
- Wine corks (we used 19 for the size we made, with 5 as the center row. You can go bigger if you like, but we thought this was a nice size for a small, tasteful decoration)
- Hot glue gun
- Hot glue sticks
- Orange craft paint (we used a bright orange, glow in the dark paint. The brown of the corks will darken whatever color you choose)
- Twine
- Green tissue paper
- Gold glitter puff paint
First, obviously, gather all of your wine corks. The amount you need will depend on how big of a pumpkin you want. Ours is rather small and we used 19 wine corks.
start by laying them out to figure out your pattern. My center row for this small pumpkin was 5 corks, with my smallest rows being 3 across. Once you have figured out your pattern, you will want to begin by gluing the center row together and working out from there. I also made sure to keep one side consistently flush as I glued the corks together so that I would have a “flat” front (the corks will always be a little uneven. but I think it’s a charming effect).
Once your first row is finished, you will want to put glue along the gap of the previous row and along the side of the adjacent cork as you adhere each new cork. Your rows should be offset, like the photos show.
Finishing the outside rows:
With these last rows, it’s important to keep the glue towards the insides of the cork joinings so that you don’t get fly away glue strings.
Next, use a round sponge painter to dab on the color. Make sure to pat off the extra paint so that you don’t get too much into the gaps between the corks. Don’t add any water to your paint, since craft glue is pretty thin to begin with. We ended up doing two thin coats of color. We liked the look of the wine corks showing through, so we didn’t do more. You can always add more if you prefer a more vibrant color for your pumpkin.
Once the orange has dried, you can add some whimsical swirls to emulate vines, using gold glitter puff paint. Go slowly and be sure that there are no air bubbles at the nozzle, as this can cause hiccups (and even splats!) in your line.
Once the puff paint is dry (this can take several hours to a day, depending on the brand and type of paint), you can add the stem. Start by taking a full sheet of tissue paper and folding it until you are able to cut it with scissors in one pass. I cut a strip that is approximately 1.5″ tall.
To form the stem, I made a simple tissue paper rose. Unfold the tissue paper strip and beginning at one end, gather the bottom together and wrap it around itself, leaving the top loose and open. Use dots of hot glue to keep the tissue gathered as you go (about one dot for each half rotation of tissue paper). When you are satisfied with the size of the stem, cut off the excess and glue the end down (again, only at the bottom.) Fluff out and shape the outer layers of the stem to give it some volume.
Place a circle of hot glue on the center top cork of your pumpkin, about the same size as the base of the stem. Placing your thumb in the middle of the stem, press it down into the hot glue.
Next, cut a length of twine (your call on the length, We started with about 14″ just to be safe). Add some more glue around the base of the stem, then (making sure that the stem is right in the middle of your length of twine) gently tie the twine around the stem. I also added a dot of glue inside the knot, to keep it from coming undone, then tied it into a bow. Finally, trim the ends of the twine to your desired length.
I hope you love your pumpkin as much as we love ours and I really hope you enjoyed this little craft!
Check back soon for another fun craft, recipe or download.
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