Monogrammed Wine Cork Wall Hanging

I have one more great project to show you for using up some of your wine corks. 

Although if you are like me and you've already made more than one Wine Cork Board and/or Wine Cork Trivet you are running low on wine corks!  That just means it's time to open another bottle...I love it! :)

This project is much more a piece of art than a practical and useful cork board, but still a very nice effect.  It's a Monogrammed Wine Cork wall hanging.

Supplies you'll need:

- wine corks (a variety of sizes and colors)

-hot glue gun

-frame

-foam board (if your frame doesn't have a back)

-knife

The first step will be to glue the back onto the frame.  My frames were the $2 ones from Ikea, so the didn't come with usable backs.  I substituted some foam board that I cut to the right size and painted black.  Using your hot glue gun make sure to get a good seal all the way around the frame.

Then you will start laying out the letter for the monogram.  You'll need to cut about 7 corks into discs if you're using an 8x10 frame.  I usually get 4 discs per cork.  And depending on how you lay out your letter you may need more or fewer discs.  But make sure to have fun with this part, and add a lot of visual interest to the wall hanging, by using corks with logos on the ends, or that were stained by red wine.  I also used a champagne cork with a star on it for the top of the "C" for another special touch.

Once you have the letter laid out, you'll need to fill in all the surrounding area with corks that have been cut in half length wise.  I always try to keep the logos whole when I cut corks in half, so my wall hanging will be very busy and graphic.  Unless you are squaring off the letter in your wall hanging, you will end up with a ton of usual angles that need to be filled by very rectangular corks.  It's not hard to get the entire background covered...just filled in as many whole corks as you can fit first (using the best designs, or course), and then started cutting them to fit.  I ended up with one row on top of the "C" that is only 1/4 of a cork, but as long as the black is mostly covered you'll get the right effect. 

Once you have your frame filled in the way you like simply glue each cork down one by one.  You might have to make some adjustments as you glue, so keep all your left over cork pieces handy to fill in any large gaps.

I made a second wall hanging for my brother-in-law and used a slightly larger frame.  The process was the same, but I liked how I added a row of 3 cork discs to each end of the "K" in this version.  I think it makes the letter look capitalized and more like a traditional monogram.  I'll definitely use that technique again when I make more of these.

Of course these wall hangings could be used as cork boards, but I think they are too nice to cover up.  I added picture hangers to the back of each one so they could go up anywhere the recipient has a photo grouping. 

I hope you like this idea for a way to repurpose used wine corks into a custom wall hanging...and that you can find the time to make one!