Wine Cork Tray

I started out with this tray...... my challenge: make it over using ONLY what I had on hand--no Michael's or Home Depot runs this time! Lately I am finding my remakes are more costly than if I just bought the stinkin' thing...sooo....

and a heck of a lot of old wine corks. (Can you tell we really, really love wine?)

(Check out my post about touring the SantaYnez/SantaBarbara wine trail here.)

I also had this idea of a Ballardy-Elegant-Slightly-Shabby look... like these old crates I have been seeing lately. I like them a lot.

(photo courtesy of this website)

Item above and photo from Whiner&Diner--(soooocute check it out)

Plus I needed some color. My kitchen is pretty monotone right now...

I had this sample paint in my paint cubby..(ok, ok-- the shelf above my washer in the garage)

I ripped out the center of the tray--it was stained and gross grasscloth and had a tile just glued in the middle of it. I bought this thing like 6 years ago at a Model Home Furnishings clearance center for 3 bucks. A lot of those places have trays with stuff glued on them and I don't know what kind of glue they use but man its almost impossible to get it off! Can you believe I've had it just gathering dust all that time?

Here it is, after sanding and wiping off,  getting a quick sloppy coat of acid green.....

hmmm..not much better but wait, I have a vision and I know it will look good!

See where I'm going?

Now after the green coat dried, I painted over it, rather sloppily (is that a word?) with white... a flat paint probably would have been better but I used what I had, which was eggshell....

Here's a detail of how it looked. Let this dry completely.

Then I came in with my sandpaper and went to town. I sanded all the edges, exposing some brown wood under all the paint layers. I also sanded the sides slightly to expose only the green layer in places. I thought I was going to add a glaze to further bring out the wood, but found I did not need to... it looked just the way I wanted it to.

Now a few coats of Spray-On Matte Clear.... let this dry overnight. Adds a sheen without being shiny and most importantly, protects the chippy and exposed parts.

Before you get too far,

get your corks ready. I would lay them out first and make sure you have enough. This 13 x 9 tray took about 130 corks!!! You can also buy corks on Ebay.


I used a thick layer of gorilla glue and then lightly pressed the corks into it, alternating their direction here and there. Piece it together like a puzzle. They won't fit perfectly, but thats OK.

Then I weighed it down with a few heavy items and let dry while I took a break. This is hard work, I tell ya, I may need a glass of wine!

Here is my finished version....

I could use a piece of glass or plexi for added stability. I like the idea, though, that cork is a natural "trivet"...so I may just keep it this way.

You can also buy a kit to make a wine cork tray like this:

Here

or look how cute this is:

Above Image from: Trendy Gifts

So, drink some wine and have fun with your wine cork crafts!!

Above image from Yum-Sugar, which has a tutorial here.

There are pretty patterns you could do too... Kinda wish I would have planned mine better now... but my impromptu style IS charming, don't you think?

Haha! I'll leave you with this idea from a cool site called vinography..... Happy Cork Craftin'!!

See you at Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous and My Romantic Home Show and Tell.. I'll be linking up!