A Beautiful Day: cork wreath

I'm so excited....and I just can't hide it! OK, I guess I just dated myself, because yes, I was singing The Pointer Sisters. But seriously, I have completed my first Pinterest inspired project and I am stoked! I think that I would refer to myself as a Pinterest wanna be. I "pin" all these cute projects and recipes and am never brave enough to try. Well, when I saw this pin, I was so excited - finally something to do with the plethora of wine corks I have been ~~hoarding~~ saving - waiting for just the right project. Well, just my luck - the pin linked back to nothing but the picture...GRRRR! Shortly after finding the picture, I also came across this tutorial on Heather's blog, Our Life In A Click. She gave great step by step instructions, and although I didn't follow them precisely it did give me the confidence to give the project a try. I also can't leave out the fact that I had a secret weapon....Megan was supervising. I knew that it wouldn't end up a complete mess as long as she was there to point me down the right path!

I didn't take enough photos to give you step by step instructions via pictures, but I will do my best to describe how I got to the end result. I am just forewarning you, some of the pictures leave a lot to be desired - especially the end result, but I am going to try to get a better one once I have some natural light to work with...it was dark last night before I remembered.

I started out with a white foam wreath form. In order to keep pieces of the wreath from crumbling off and to help protect the wreath from all of the hot glue, we wrapped the form with tulle. I had originally purchased ivory, but Megan had a brown color that we decided to use instead. I could have done this myself, but it was so much easier with 4 hands!

Next, we attached a very long ribbon to the wreath form. I am still not sure how I am going to hang it, but at least I have plenty of ribbon when I finally figure it out. Gluing corks over the ribbon will also help to secure it even more. Then it was time to bring on the corks. Honestly, there was no rhyme or reason to it - just started gluing the corks to the form trying to obtain as much coverage as possible.

Once I was about a third of the way around the top, Megan started working on the outside portion of the wreath, using the same free form pattern that I was using on the top. The only portion that we used a concise "pattern" was the inside. I stood a cork on an end vertically and it was the perfect height to cover the remaining space not covered.

Once that was done, I filled in any gaps or bare spaces that looked like they needed a little something extra. For the larger gaps, I glued corks, which in addition to covering the gaps also added a little dimension to the wreath, which I loved. We tried to save the more interesting corks for this portion since they would be more visible. We also used clusters of red and gold berries to add a little pop. The berries were part of full branches that I purchased from Hobby Lobby. Megan cut them off of the branches but left a small stem on each bunch. Instead of gluing them on, we were able to push the stem into the wreath form though the small gaps in the corks.

Finally, to add a little more interest to the wreath I purchased a "Noel" ornament and an "F" for my last name. The ornament was perfect the way it was, but the "F" was unfinished.

Megan spray painted the "F" in a beautiful shade of red. I then attempted to paint a stencil design in a metallic gold. It was an epic fail and although another coat of spray paint covered the gold the design was still raised on the letter. Megan ended up sanding it and giving it another coat of paint. From the first sanding, we decided that we kind of liked the look, as it gave it a bit of a distressed finish. Once the final coat dried, Megan sanded the entire letter - we ended up really loving it!

So that's about it....once you get the corks attached you can really make this wreath your own. Adding whatever details and extras that coordinate with your holiday theme or decorations. I was thrilled with my results and am chocking this Pinterest inspired project up to beginner's luck and superb guidance from a DIY, crafty super hero - yes, Megan that is you!

In case you are wondering, I am not sure how many corks I ended up using, but it was quite a few. Luckily some years back a friend gave me an entire quart size zip lock bag full, otherwise I would not have had near enough to complete this. I love wine, but come on! I would say just on the top alone I used nearly 100...you may have to recruit friends to help you stock up. This was my first time attempting a tutorial, so if you have any questions that I didn't answer or if something wasn't clear, please leave me a comment and I will do my best to help you.

I can finally participate with all those crafty ladies that are busting out Pinterest projects on a weekly basis! I am linking up with AP over at I Love You More Than Carrots for: