Heart of Wine

I have said many times, there is much more to me than just cooking. Although cooking and food have always been passions of mine, I have many other things I am passionate about as well. Photography, guitar and music in general, SCUBA DIVING and swimming and … WINE!!!!!! With having wine as a passion, and there is always a ton of wine in our house, that means there is also a ton of wine corks too. I love to repurpose things as much as possible, and I have always had a very creative side to me as well. I have made many things with wine corks in the past. They are fun, unique and challenging to work with. My latest creation was a heart of wine (corks). This presented a few challenges and took more time than I expected, but right now, time is all we have. The corks just did not want to cooperate, but in the end, we came to an agreement, and things worked out. It actually came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. In fact, I liked it so much that once I figured it all out, I made another one to give as a gift.

As you see, I have plenty of corks. This was the practice run.

Making the pattern and determining how many corks I needed. Corks come in many different styles. Some are decorated and labeled, while others are plain. For this one, I used only the plain ones that were similar.

The most challenging part of this project was that the corks did not want to stick together. I used wood glue, since after all corks are made from wood, but the glue took much longer to dry than expected and the corks kept shifting around. I finally found that I had to firmly, but gently hold the corks together for a bit before adding another one. Then I repeated until I filled my heart.

After fighting with the corks to stay in place and the glue to stick, I finally won the battle and got everything to fit and lock in place. You want as tight a fit as you can get in order to hold the corks in place.

After fitting everything together, I sealed it all once more with Mod Podge, which is another type of glue that also makes it shine and adds luster. I covered the entire top with the Mod Podge glue. With the new layer of glue on, now I just had to let it sit and dry. Because it was so fragile at first, I didn’t touch it for about 2 days, just to make sure the glue was completely dried. The glue dries clear.

Now that it was dry, I needed to figure out a way to hang it. I found some cute, heart decorated ribbon that was a perfect addition. I had two very small nails that I carefully hammered into the ribbon and the corks. You do not need a lot of ribbon; just enough to make a loop.

And now, my heart of wine hangs on the wall in my kitchen nook. This one was full of trial and error, but after working out the kinks, I quickly made another one that I will be giving as a gift.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

I have worked in the restaurant and catering industry for over 35 years. I attended 2 culinary schools in Southern California, and have a degree in culinary arts from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts, as well as a few other degrees in other areas. I love to cook and I love to feed people. View all posts by ajeanneinthekitchen