DIYW: Wine Cork Reef

Yesterday was not a good day.

The initial signs of this pregnancy have started to rear their ugly heads. Luckily, the morning was about the worst of it and after a good nap, thanks to the hubs for watching the kiddos, I was able to feel up to getting this project done last night.

So where to begin...

Well I think this madness started when I was at Goodwill last weekend trying to find a nice desk, which was a bust. However, no trip is ever a failure. As I perused the store I ended up happening on this huge bag of corks for $7. Most looked like they came from local wineries from our area and the wheels started turning.

So, I decided I had to have them and I was going to make something personal, especially with us leaving this beautiful place soon.

Well, I'm one of those dorky people who loves front door decor and reefs. Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving. I totally have those covered. But, the warm season I just never really had anything because well, they don't really make any that fit our style. We're also hanging down in San Diego alot during the summer so we aren't really home any way. Nonetheless...

So I took the corks, bought some burlap ( on sale for like $2 a yard), a $3 reef, and a little welcome sign. Cause you know, I like people to feel welcome in my home. Solicitors...ehh not so much, but I have a different sign for them.

I took the reef and cut a strip of burlap about 12" long and wrapped a section of the base, then hot glued it down.









 To make the bow, I took another 12" section and folded it in half.  I sewed the section together and flipped it inside out so the seam was on the inside. Crimping the inside I pinned it then sewed a 3" x 3" strip of the same burlap and folded it in half and sewed the sections again, Making a 1 1/2" strip for the middle of my bow. I then removed my pins and adjusted the bow with the center section then sewn the back of the strip together on the machine to keep it secure. Then, hot glued it down on the wrapped burlap.

 Next I took my cork, found some plain pieces, and cut a them down for filler for some of the open sections of the reef. I just took an ordinary steak knife to do it (my Leatherman was MIA).





After I had my pieces prepped I laid the welcome sign down as a marker, so I knew how far I should go down, and started hot gluing the corks to the reef (using the filler where needed to get the corks to lay the way I wanted).
















In some spots I had to lay hot glue in between the corks for a better grip. If there were globs (no clue if that's a technical term) I just took a paper towel and wiped them away. I highly recommend not using any appendages if at all necessary, that stuff is molten sometimes.

Once I had the corks in place, I removed the "welcome" and began painting. I took a simple blue and painted sections of the sign, then covered them with glitter (Martha Stewart). Now you don't have to use the glitter but my daughters love............ glitter. So mom got vetoed out 2 to 1.
















Let it dry for about half and hour then hot glue the sign in place and done!
Hang it in the house, place it on a table, or in our case, the front door.

Welcome those you love into your home! Or just have an awesome little piece of decor that you can brag about because it has something local on it. I know it will remind us of home while we are overseas.





































So until next time peeps, have fun with this stuff, and especially have fun with the kids doing it.
 It never hurts to include them...

-Lisa