Wine Trivet Art

If there's one thing to know about me, it's that I'm pretty artsy. It's kind of inevitable when you spend 6 years studying design with 100 like-minded people in your class.  The second thing you should know about me, I love a good glass of wine.  After a couple of years, I had almost 100 corks that I collected from friends, parties, restaurants, basically anywhere I could get my hands on them.  I started a hobby making beautiful wine trivets for my family and friends, and of course, myself.  It's a very thoughtful and functional gift that doubles as a piece of art!  What I like most of all, is how little it costs to make!

People are always so impressed with this gift, but my little secret is that it only takes about an hour to make.  Unfortunately, acquiring the corks is not as quick!  The hardest part this craft is getting the different sized corks to match up to one another to make the pattern fit snugly within the frame.  Even though they all appear to be the same size when you're opening a bottle of wine, there are definitely some that are 1/4" longer than others, 1/8" thicker than others, etc.  Basically...you  have to be sure to test the design before you start gluing!  I can promise you that they will not lay out exactly how you anticipate in your mind, and once they're glued, they're not going anywhere if you mess up!  Take this trivet, for example: I prefer to lay 2 corks horizontal, then 2 corks vertical, and repeat.  The dimensions of this frame wouldn't let this pattern work without awkward amounts of space left at the edges, so I had to get creative and come up with my own pattern!  I've found specific wine trivet frames at Target, which you can just buy from this link online, or you can use an old picture frame that doesn't have a table prop (think wall frame).

Once you're happy with how the design is working out, use a hot glue gun or tacky glue to secure each cork in place.  Be sure to keep all the corks  in the trivet while you're gluing so you can make sure nothing moves and the corks lay in the exact position you tested them in.  I usually move the neighbors of the cork that I'm gluing at the time so I don't accidentally drip glue on anything.  Then it's done, simple as that!  Everybody has a little creativity, a hot glue gun, and hopefully a love for vino!  Get crafty people!