How to Add Corks to a Wine Cork Board?

October 21, 2014  |   Posted in Experiencing Wine, Wine Decor   |   0 Comments  

My cork board making skills are at an experience cork crafters level.  I have an assortment of fabulous pieces of cork wall decor in all shapes and sizes.

You’ll find cork board making instructions online that instruct cork crafters to glue the corks down first while working on filling in their pattern.  I do not recommend this.

How to Fill a Wine Cork Board with Corks?

Pour yourself your first glass of wine and enjoy!  This is no quick project.  The over-sized magazine cork board took 16 hours for cork placement and gluing. If you are short on patience, spread out the project across a few days.  You are creating a lasting piece of art. Don’t rush it!  The following steps are how to make a tight, unique cork pattern that fits well in any shape cork board. Read instructions thoroughly before starting.

1.) Create a Pattern within the Cork Board Frame

Work on a large table surface and spread out your cork collection.  This way you can see all of your corks to find the perfect match to your coordinating pattern.  I find using two corks horizontally and then the adjacent two corks vertically looks very nice.  Stagger the pattern on the next row so that two corks that are horizontal have two corks vertical below them.

 

2.)  Spend Time Matching Cork Sizes

Make sure the two corks that are horizontal or vertical match each other in size.  The key to a beautiful wine cork board is the tightness of the corks. Never do you want to view the cork board below the corks.

 

3.)  Recommendations for Cork Selection

It’s your preference which corks lay beside each other and vertical or horizontal placement throughout the cork board.  I like to view corks with images such as horses, ranches, vineyards, trees, bears, and so on horizontally.  Most corks have the vineyard’s name on one side of the cork.  For the corks that have a vertical placement on the cork board, I prefer the words to read from bottom to top of the cork and face right. For example, a cork with winery Four Vines portrayed on it would be set with the F on the bottom of the vertically placed cork and with the bottom of the letter F placed towards the right side of the cork board.

The red wine corks will be stained on one end of the cork.  If you prefer the cork stains to all point in  one direction, take this into consideration before laying out the corks.

If you are a frequent wine travel with corks from different wine regions you can make a region specific cork board. For example, a cork board made with wine corks from Paso Robles vineyards.   Another idea is using corks only from favorite vineyards. Some winery cork designs are eye-catching with images. A cork board with corks depicting images only is unique. The finished cork board with corks is fabulous no matter what you decide.

 

4.)  Gluing Corks to Board

 

After you have laid out the entire cork pattern throughout the board you’ll notice corks start to pop out of the pattern towards the end of your work.  This is normal, don’t worry.  Start from the corner where you first started adding wine corks and pick each one up, apply a strip of hot glue to the bottom of the cork and firmly press down to the cork board. As you get to the section that’s popping out it will be easier to glue them into place with the rest of the corks glued in.

If you get into an awkward situation where corks are not fitting, you can cut the corks.  I use this as a last resort. I much prefer to rework the wine cork pattern for perfect placement before cutting / gluing corks.  You’ll find some online instructions where they recommend cutting corks along the frame of the cork board. In my opinion this looks unnatural.

If there is a problem spot in the pattern glued, you can always tear them out and re-glue the corks to the board.  No one will ever see the bottom of the corks.

You’ll find dried hot glue strands around the corks.  They are easy to remove during or after all corks are set.  Use your fingertips in a circular rotation to ball up the strands and then pull them out.

 

I promise you’ll be filled with awe over the reaction of that special someone who received a filled in wine cork board with corks from a wine country trip shared together.  It’s the perfect wine gift for the wine enthusiast in your life!