Wine cork Christmas trees

This is one of those projects that has been high on my to do list for a very long time. I got my Pinspiration here. There were no instructions or anything, that I could find anywhere. And I searched. I used Google Image and tracked down all kinds of blog posts that linked back to a now long gone (but not forgotten apparently, at least not by rabid Pinterest pinners) article on the Stonewall Kitchen online catalog. Some links even said their was a tutorial on the website. Not any more. So I started in, and learned some things by trial and error. 

When I make decor crafts, I usually want them to be sturdy enough to store and display again year after year. This craft was definitely one of those, so I knew hot glue gun was out of the question. I ended up using Liquid Nails, it dries clear, doesn't shrink or expand and is tough enough for items that might be outside. This won't be, but being that tough sounds like a good thing in my book. The one draw back is that it takes 24 hours to dry completely. So this project has been a slow one, testing my patience along the way. But it was totally worth it and I am thrilled with the final outcome.

This is a shot of the side and back of the cork trees. I spent a good amount of time sorting my corks for this project. Ones that had prettier designs went on the outside. Ones that had writing that was upright from only one side, I tried very hard to display them on that side. The corks that had no designs around them whatsoever went on the inside of the tree shape.

While I was gluing them together I was careful to keep the wine stained side towards the back. I like the look of the backsides as well. Change out the star and the bakers twine bow at the top and I could turn them this way and display them during fall time too. I enjoy the rustic look of the back side.

I used a 3/4 inch circle punch on my paper stack Vintage Christmas from Hobby Lobby and adhered them to the front of the corks with a dab of the Liquid Nails again. I used a dauber and CTMH inks in Topiary and Cranberry on a few of the corks. I added a few SU! brads, and some buttons and pearls from my stash, for a little more texture. I also tied a bit of ribbon around the portion of Champagne cork I used for the tree trunk.

I used two rubber bands to hold the tree together after I had glued all the corks together. They had to sit for 24 hours so I wanted to insure they would not move around or sag. It worked perfectly. 

The top parts I cut off the Champagne corks I made magnets out of. One nearly had my husbands initials (just a little Sharpie doodle and it could be his monogram) and the other had just a T for our last name, I thought they would be cool. It's a quick little craft since I have the magnets handy and the Liquid Nails out already.

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy!