The subject of a kitchen wreath I made from wine corks came up in one of my online groups. Since some people were interested in “how” to do this project, I decided to post the directions with a picture here.
Before midlife, I did some needle arts: crocheting , crewel and cross stitch. My paternal grandmother was always artistic musically. She played the organ at church, but also who studied piano with master teachers into her late 70’s. Sometime in midlife, she also took up painting.
I do not have any musical talent, but I guess I kept hoping that I might find my own “artistic” medium as I entered midlife even though I never considered myself artistic. I don’t think I’ll ever resemble anything close to a “real” artist, but I enjoy crafting. And, my forte seems to be yard art with found objects. One of the hindrances to my art making is my perfectionistic tendencies which, thank goodness, don’t so much come into play with yard art for which there are no rules or expectations.
Theoretically, I believe everyone can and should be an artist of some kind . . . . there is a joy in creating beauty in whatever medium.
I love the idea of recycling things into art. Cork is an endangered plant and many wine bottlers are going to plastic corks because of the shortage. I’ve forgotten the exact statistics, but it takes a long time for cork plants to grow. So, I understand the move to plastic corks, BUT, I don’t like it.
So, after saving corks for many years and seeing several cork wreaths, I decided to make one for my kitchen. I didn’t like the ones I had seen. They seemed to be too bare in places. After starting on it and finding out it took several hundred corks to make the wreath for my kitchen, I understood why the ones I had seen were not done with as much detail.
The discussion of my kitchen cork wreath brings up the issue for me of why I do not spend more time in creative activities since I find it so rewarding. And, it’s a shame since I have almost enough supplies to open a small craft store. Like everything else, it is a matter of time and priorities. Perhaps, I just need a new project on which to focus my energies,
I’d love to hear about your art or craft projects. Maybe they will inspire me.
Below are the directions for the way I made my kitchen wine cork wreath.
Supplies needed:
* straw wreath (leave the plastic on)
*wine corks,
*2 1/2 inch finishing nails
*artificial grapevine with leaves and grapes (I had to look and look to find a
grapevine that I thought looked realistic enough)
*pliers for inserting nails into corks.
Instructions:
Use pliers to insert nails into the same end of all works . . . insert about 1/2 inch of nail, leaving nail head sticking out.
Weave the grapevine around the straw base. with plastic still on
Stick the heads of the nails through the plastic, firmly into the wreath base so that the cork is tight up against the wreath and layering them so that all space on the wreath is covered.
I did not cover the back side, but I fully covered the front and the sides so that hanging on the wall, none of the straw wreath base showed.
Wire can be woven around the top of the base under the corks with a loop for hanging on the back.
Note: It takes a good bit of strength to push the nails into the corks. I was lucky to have the help of my dear husband who is much stronger than I am who did most of the work of inserting the nails into the corks for me.
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Posted by: iphoneicons | March 23, 2012 at 05:44 PM