CHRISTMAS CORK DECORATIONS

DECORATING WITH CORKS!


CONTINUING MY SEARCH FOR CRAFTY WAYS TO USE CORKS, I SAW THIS GREAT PICTURE OF SOME CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS!
THESE CUTE LITTLE TREES WOULD LOOK PERFECT ON ONE OF MY TWO CHRISTMAS TREES THIS YEAR!

WHAT DO YOU THINK? LOOKS PRETTY SIMPLE...

 

IT LOOKS AS IF THE CORKS HAVE BEEN CUT IN HALF, THEN GLUED TOGETHER TO MAKE THE TREE SHAPE. THEN A SMALLER PIECE OF CORK IS ATTACHED TO MAKE THE BASE OF THE TREE.

I LIKE THE TWINE USED TO MAKE THE HANGER BUT I THINK YOU COULD USE ALMOST ANYTHING, MAYBE COLORED TWINE, STRING OR EVEN RAFFIA. IF I END UP MAKING SOME OF THESE I WILL SHOWCASE THEM IN MY BLOG CLOSER TO CHRISTMASTIME. I MAY EVEN TRY SEVERAL VARIATIONS FOR THE HANGER TO HELP ME DECIDE WHAT LOOKS BEST!

FUN WITH CORKS!!

CRAFTY THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH CORKS!

Over the years I have collected many, many wine corks, both from drinking and from friends and family. I put them in glass jars, etc. until I could figure out clever ways to use them.
Here are a few ideas I came up with to try to use wine corks...you've already seen my cork letters in a previous blog but I've been trying to use up my corks for awhile!!

WINE CORK KEYCHAINS

I have made and sold many of these and the possibilities are endless!! You can personalize the keychain with any type of charm. I've even made seasonal keychains with Christmas charms (those I sold very quickly)! The butterfly keychain was a sort of experiment. I used brass fittings to match the gold tone butterfly and painted a plain cork with gold craft paint...but I mostly like to use the silver tone charms because they are more readily available and less expensive!

CORK PLANT MARKERS using Sharpie marker

Another use for wine corks, plant markers! I have many plants in pots on my patio and have trouble keeping track of what they are! So, I wrote on a cork with a Sharpie, stuck two toothpicks on the underside of the cork and voila, instant markers! So far the weather has not affected the writing on my markers, likely thanks to the durability of the Sharpie ink!

WINE CORK TRIVET with Biltmore wine corks

Since I love going to the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina we have collected many corks from their famous wines! So, I made a large trivet using only Biltmore wine corks! This trivet was made from a "kit" I purchased, but you could make one of your own. I tried using picture frames, but they are not the right size if you want to keep the corks intact and refrain from having to cut them. 

As you can see, apparently the possibilities are endless! Be creative and have fun with corks!!

WINE CORK LETTER

WINE CORK LETTERS

I am on a roll with the alphabet!!
Decided to try getting rid of more wine corks with another craft project!
I bought a large letter A @ one of our local craft stores, Dee's Crafts. The letters are made of pressed board, are not as heavy OR as expensive as wood letters.

I've seen corks on letters before, but most of them are cut and that seemed like too much trouble! Besides, I wanted to use the entire cork and keep any lettering or design intact.
So, I glued the corks to the letter with hot glue, just applying glue to the ends of the corks...

I also made sure to use REAL corks, not the plastic kind that are sometimes being used.

I think it turned out great, and the best part is that the letter stands up on it's own!! Now on to make a few more...check back soon to see my progress and what I plan to do with the letters!

ALPHABET BOOKENDS

Getting my blog on.....

I've noticed letters of the alphabet are very hot in decor and decorating right now, so I had an idea to use my own initials and my husband's to make a set of bookends....
My husband's name is Ron, so I purchased some unstained plain wood letters A and R  and two base plaques at Michaels.
I wanted a bright color but still like the grain of the wood to show through, so I used a neon green craft paint by Apple Barrel and lightly "washed" the wood, almost like a stain, as shown here....

With the help of my handyman husband we put adhesive felt on the bottoms of each plaque and then using wood screws as shown attached the A and R ....

The finished product looks very cool....
I plan to use them in a very dark wood corner cabinet, so that's why I chose the green stain, so the bookends would pop....

Love the fact that from any angle you see an A and an R!! And they are my initials as well!
Will post the bookends in the corner cabinet in a few weeks! 

UNIQUE HANDPOURED JAR CANDLES

UNIQUE CANDLES!!!

I've been getting my craft on this summer before starting my LAST semester working on my MSN!! YAY!

I had some half pint glass Mason jars and some left over blocks of beeswax and became inspired.

I decided to try to personalize the jar tops with some kind of decorative paper and tried a few with cut outs from some old Christmas cards....great Christmas candle idea. Like the one below....What a great way to repurpose old Christmas cards!!

I found another attractive design on a card and placed it in the jar top and it looks like this...

Now I am really inspired!! My niece has a birthday coming up and she has a beautiful border collie, so I downloaded a picture of her dog, printed it on some heavy cardstock and voila!! A very unique and personalized candle!

PICTURE FRAME BOW!

RAFFIA BOW DECORATION FOR PICTURE FRAME


On a recent trip to a local (and locally owned) craft store I overheard an employee talking about using ribbon to decorate a picture frame. She noted that the frames were "selling like hot cakes"! I never got to see what she had created because it was sold, but it got me thinking. 
What could I use to decorate or enhance a picture frame?
Chevron patterns seem to be very popular, especially in burlap. But I have an older looking frame with pictures of the home my husband grew up in, printed in black and white. So I decided to go for a more "country" look and used raffia and added a button for more flair!
I think it turned out very cute!!

I just wrapped the raffia around the back of the frame, much like you would wrap a present, tied off the bow and added a button to the center of the bow with wire.

More picture frame decorating ideas are coming soon :)