For anyone that loves wine as much as I do, and also anyone who looses their keys as much as I do, this will be a great DIY project for you! I made this in no time and I love it. So here are the simple steps.
Materials:
Picture frame with REMOVABLE glass. (It's imperative that the glass is easily taken away from the frame!)
Also depending on the look you want you can find one as is or spray paint it to have the finish you want. I spray painted mine because I couldn't find a dark brown (almost black) one that I liked at Homegoods.
Wine Corks (Amount dependent on the size of your project- if you need some let me know, I have tons ;)
A pot for boiling water and access to a stove and water
Box Cutter
Glue gun and glue
4 small C-hooks- color optional. I used these.
A safe surface to cut on
Step by Step :
Ok so this is super simple. Start with filling your pot with water and bring it to a boil.
While the water is heating up, prep your frame. Take the glass out and spray paint the frame if you don't like the finish that it has. (Make sure if you spray paint it, you let it dry before moving on btw.)
Once you have the look you like for the frame, put the original backing back on (without the glass!) and set the frame down on a flat surface facing up-a.k.a. the way you want it to appear on the wall.
Then lay out your corks (without cutting) to get an idea of how many corks you'll need for your size frame. If you look at my picture above you can see I used 5 per row. (You will cut eventually but this is just to get an idea of how many you'll need.)
Take the amount of corks you will need for your project (and a few extra as backups in case you mess any up in the cutting process) and toss them in the pot of boiling water. Boil the corks for 5 - 7 minutes. (This will make the corks SO much easier to cut! Trust me don't skip this step.)
Once they've sufficiently boiled, set the corks aside in a bowl. (There's no real way to tell if they're "done" but once you start cutting them, if you find they're still really hard to cut, you can throw them back in for more time.)
Then on your working surface, you're going to cut them in half length wise. (You DO NOT have to cut them as soon as they come out of the pot, so if they're still too hot to touch, save your skin and wait for them to cool a little!)
With cutting the goal is to make the back flat enough to be able to easily glue them onto the backing of the picture frame. (They don't have to be exactly in half but you will want a flat enough back to line them up evenly.)
Once you have flat backs on all of them, you can line them up. I would lay them out and decide what ones you like the most and want front and center. If you love wine like me you'll likely have a preference on the ones that stick out the most so this is an important step!
Once laid out (roughly) you will want to start at the top left corner and start gluing them in place. You're going to need to cut the ones on the end of each row that don't fit perfectly.
On the second row I suggest alternating and starting on the right side with your first full cork, and doing the same thing on the left side with cutting the cork on the end that doesn't fit. (See picture above for reference.) This prevents from having all the cut corks being on the same side and adds a nice aesthetic touch. Continue to alternate rows as you go, and make sure it looks nice before you glue!
Then when all your corks are placed, cut and glued - let them dry.
Once dried, take the C-hooks (I used 4, but if you use a bigger frame you can use more) and screw them into the corks in the second row. (Again if you use a bigger frame you can move them down accordingly so that when your keys hang, they hang appropriately on the frame.) And there you have it!
Simple project with a nice personal touch for the entry way of your house that is both cute and functional!
