Holiday DIY: Metallic Leaf and Wine Cork Wreath

I've been collecting wine corks for a couple of years now and have amassed quite a collection just sitting there waiting for a project. So, after seeing the photo below from the Soho Grand that Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere recently bloged about (thanks for sharing!), I decided it was time to make my own festive cork wreath.

I loved the metallic painted corks but I wanted my own twist.  I turned to my craft supplies and came upon a pack of gold Dresden leaves that I had purchased years ago at Tinsel Trading in NYC. (LOVE that shop!) If I learned anything from crafting, it's that you never know when you'll use a supply so if you truly love something, buy it!

What do you think? I love how it turned out, now if I can only decide where to hang it!

Here's a little step-by-step in case you'd like to make your own!


Step 1: Gather your supplies: recycled wine corks (you could always fill in with store bought corks from the craft store), hot glue gun, glue sticks, flat wood wreath form, gold Dresden leaves.

Step 1: Begin to hot glue each cork to your wreath form. I decided to use a flat wooden wreath form (found at Michaels) instead of Styrofoam. I find the flat shape works better with the rounded corks.  

Step 2: Continue to glue corks until the wreath is covered. If you have gaps, don't worry, you'll cover them up next! 

Step 3: After your first layer is finished, fill in any large gaps with more cork. You could do an entire second layer or just fill in as I have here. Fun tip...to personalize my wreath, most of the corks on the top layer are from local Long Island wines--they are my favorite. 

Step 4: Add embellishments. I loved the idea of using these gold leaves to embellish, but you could use anything really...faux grapes, painted leaves, or just leave your wreath as is. It is up to you!



Step 5: Hang. To hang, you can use a ribbon or attach a picture hanging clasp on the back.

Hope you enjoyed this little project. What are you crafting today?