Recycled wine cork hanging trivet

If you happen to have about 14 wine cork lying around and want to do something with them, why not create a quick wine cork trivet.  You can lay it on the counter or even hang it on the wall. 

You will need:

14 wine corks

Xacto knife or craft knife

Piece of old glass from a picture frame to work on

5 x 7 laser cut wooden plaque (The inside dimension is 5 ½” x 7 ½”

Small paintbrush

Brown acrylic paint

Brown felt for backing

Sanding block or sand paper

Glue gun and glue sticks

1.     Protect your work surface with newspaper or a cut open paper bag.  Use a small paintbrush to cover the entire front of the plaque with brown acrylic paint.  Let dry.  Turn over and paint just the laser cut edging and let dry. (You will be covering the back unpainted area with felt)

2.     Working with wine corks on a piece of scrap frame glass use a craft knife to cut the corks in half lengthwise.  The cork is fairly easy to cut but it is easier if you use a rocking motion as you work your way down the cork.  Continue cutting corks until you have approximately 28 cork halves.

3.     When you have finished cutting the corks use a sanding block to smooth the cut surface.

4.     Using a glue gun and hot glue sticks, begin gluing the cork half pieces cut side down and side by side across the plaque.  You will have about 7 cork halves for each horizontal row. Continue adding corks for each row until you reach the bottom. 

5.     Cut a piece of brown felt 5 ½” by 7 ½” and glue to the unpainted backside of the plaque.  You may hang your trivet or just set it on a counter.

Note: please use care when cutting the wine corks