Kids Cork Crafts on Pinterest

Also, I wanted to share what one of my daughters has been doing with corks this week!

A is for apples. The three year has been learning her letters and enjoyed painting with corks.

F is for Frog. Pipe cleaner, champagne corks, and googly eyes, and we were hopping around.

Even our new kitten has been playing with corks!

So save the corks and get crafty too! ~Bee

Special note: I had decided to stop writing Corky Wednesday posts due to time, orders and family!   Some sweet customers and followers have been asking about them, so I am bringing it back. Instead of weekly, it will be monthly postings now. Thank you for the support!

Previous Corky Wednesdays:  Wine Cork Portraits, Wine Cork Wreaths, and Wine Cork Jewelry

Wine Cork Stamps!

All you need is an oak wine cork, a marker, and a x-acto knife or razor blade.

Here’s a good tutorial on making a wine cork stamp: lil blue boo: Wine Cork Stamps

and here’s another good tutorial: The Sweet Spot: DIY cork stamps!

Corky Creatures!

Corks are also a great material for creating creatures!

Cork Snake sold on Etsy by Our Children’s Earth

A little crochet, buttons and corks make these cute guys!

Here’s a great tutorial for making these cork bugs! Camp Sunny Patch Session 4: Cork Bugs

Last year for my daughter’s first book report (on Verdi by Janell Cannon), we drilled, painted and created a green cork snake on a log.

You can find more fun ideas from The Crafty Crow: what you can make from corks, and I will see you next week with some more corky ideas!

Thanks, Bee

How to Make Wine Cork Magnets

Materials needed:

Oak Wine Corks

Drill

Glue

Magnets

This is a messy project because of the cork that will be removed with the drill, so I would definitely cover an area, or do this project outside.  Let’s get started…

First decide which side of your oak cork you would like to be the front of the magnet.   You will drill a hole for the magnet on the opposite side.  The size of the drill bit doesn’t really matter (unless it is better than your magnet).  You are going to use the drill to dig out a shallow hole the size of the magnet.

Don’t worry the holes don’t have to be perfectly circular or anything special.  As you dig out the cork with the drill you can stop and check to see if the magnet is fitting.  You want the magnet to fit in flush with the cork.  If you drill or dig too deeply into the cork, don’t worry either, that’s what the glue is for.  I use both sides of an old paint brush to help get extra pieces of cork out of the way as I’m drilling.

Magnets

There are several magnets you can use. I selected Neodymium Rare Earth Magnets, size 3/8 x 1/16.  I purchased a set from a cute little Etsy shop.  Each little magnet can pull a little over 2 pounds and holds down several sheets of paper .  What is important in magnet selection, is that they are stronger enough to hold what you would like, and small enough to fit nicely into your cork.

Glue

Now, we are ready to glue.  I would recommend an industrial strength glue, like E-6000.  It dries clear and is strong enough to hold the magnet to the cork while it is in use. I also like it because E-6000 is waterproof, non-flammable and washes off my hands easily.  Just fill the drilled hole with glue and place the magnet in the center.  If some glue oozes out or gets on the magnet, don’t worry it will peel off the metal when it is dry.

It is important to note here that the magnets will attract to each other while you are doing this project.  Once glue has entered the picture, I would keep the corks with magnets drying in them, far away from other corks with magnets drying in them!  I used some wood molding sticks to separate them, but you can use plates, cups, Tupperware, anything that would help separate the corks while keeping them face down to dry.  E-6000 recommends you let the glue dry 24-72 hours. I found after 24 hours all was dry and ready for use.

This project allows you to showcase special wine corks. Like corks that are from a rare bottle of wine on a special anniversary, or unique corks that have pretty markings.  I like to use oak wine corks that have natural wine staining on the ends.

Happy Crafting!

And of course, if you would like to me to make you a set, just hop on over to our shop!

‘Love me some corks!’ by thewoodenbee

Great for eco crafting: garland, key chains, coasters, trivets, bulletin boards, the list goes on… Colored corks make unique creations; from wreaths & ornaments, to vase fillers & wedding favors. Corks are a versatile eco-friendly craft supply!

Colored Wine Corks – Gr… TheWoodenBee $8.00	Red Wine Corks – eco cr… TheWoodenBee $7.00	25 SOLID Synthetic Wine… TheWoodenBee $4.25	Purple Wine Corks – eco… TheWoodenBee $5.00
Purple Wine Corks – eco… TheWoodenBee $7.00	Colored Wine Corks – OR… TheWoodenBee $8.00	Colored Wine Corks – De… TheWoodenBee $8.00	Upcycled Wine Corks, Lu… TheWoodenBee $4.00
Oak Wine Corks for eco … TheWoodenBee $1.75	Colored Wine Corks – TE… TheWoodenBee $8.00	Upcycled Wine Corks, Fu… TheWoodenBee $4.00	Colored Wine Corks – Gr… TheWoodenBee $7.00
20 Wood Grain Wine Cork… TheWoodenBee $4.00	Purple Wine Corks – lot… TheWoodenBee $5.00	Colored Wine Corks – OR… TheWoodenBee $8.00	Dyed Oak Wine Corks – u… TheWoodenBee $3.75

How-to Upcycled Scarves, made from old t-shirts

Before we get started, let’s talk t-shirt selection:

~ Different size shirts create different size scarves. I like the length of a scarf made from a men’s t-shirt. I can double it or wear it long. I think women’s t-shirts make good children’s scarves. I used the leg of a pair of sweatpants to make my toddler a scarf.

~ I recommend a solid t-shirt because the design is going to stretch and distort.

~ Always check sides of t-shirts for seams. It is possible to make a scarf from a shirt with two side seams, but for this look, it is better to select a t-shirt without side seams.

~ Since there is a stretching of the material, I think the thicker the t-shirt material the nicer the scarf.

~ The scarves really do keep you warm.  A white scarf is my favorite.  They can make any color jacket or shirt look new.

Okay, let’s get started…

This was a t-shirt my sis & I purchased to irritate our dad when we were young.

Lay the tube of your shirt flat on a surface and return the cut ends out. The sides of the shirt will be top and bottom. Start cutting lines/stripes in the shirt. Do not cut all the way through the shirt. You will want to leave at least one to three inches uncut on one side of the shirt tube.

The width of the cuts depends on the look of your scarf. The smaller the cuts, the more layers/strings your scarf will have, the wider you cuts the chunkier your scarf layers/strings.  I wouldn’t make cuts smaller than a half inch, or bigger than four inches. I like scarves with about two inch cuts. It is all a preference. You can make thin and thick cuts in the same scarf for a different look as well.

Once you have finished cutting, you need to stretch your scarf and your done!  I think the easiest way to do this is to run your arm through the uncut side of the shirt tube, and then just pull or stretch each cut strip to get your desired look. You can pull some harder or lighter than others for variations, or all with the same resistance. Just be sure to pull firm enough so the cuts disappear and the layers/strings look soft on the edges.

Simple, frugal, handmade, upcycled, and stylish. Love it! You can find more (some elaborate) t-shirt tutorials on my Pinterest board.

Happy Crafting!

With just days until Christmas we are all ready and super excited for our Christmas company to arrive!  I hope you have found time to craft this holiday season.  We wanted to share a few crafty things new and old.

Our neighbor didn’t want the above pictured snowman bags anymore, so we filled them with wine corks and hung them in the dining room for a little extra decorating!  I’ll have to add another line to my ever growing list of wine cork uses… stuffing.  Yes, leftover wine corks make great stuffing for decorations.  We could have stuffed them with more corks, and they would have been able to stand up themselves.  We decided to hang them for space.  Additionally, the corks were a great size for my two year to help stuff. She loves our new “noman” decorations.

This year, one blog subscriber made wine cork trees from last year’s craft post.

Another subscriber made our upcycle gift bows (and won our gift tag contest).

This month our holiday craft tutorials have been featured on this Florida blog:

Wine Cork Garland

Wine Cork Trees

Magnolia Wreaths

AND we are featured in an awesome little interview! Check out our answers on nash pop!

I hope you have found some time to create and share this busy holiday season.

Happy Crafting, Bee

Enter coupon code CYBERMONDAY

for 25% off your entire order!

Offer good Monday, November 28th ONLY. Enter code at checkout. Not applicable on custom orders.

Other Wooden Bee Happenings to report:

~We only have 3 of 5 holiday ornaments still available (above), and they have only been available since the 19th of November!

~Limited Time $5 SHIPPING SALE on Select Items

~We were excited to be featured in this article:  Turn Your Corks Into Home Décor

~We have a new Pinterest board: Wine Corks It features a ton of wine corking ideas!

Lastly, we have a great article on Upcycled Gift Wrap out, with a little giveaway to help you get started!

Happy Monday,

Bee

Like last year, FREE eco-friendly gift wrap will be available upon request on all orders. Buyers just need to request the free gift wrap in the buyers note section of their order.   Free gift wrap offer is good November 26th through December 20th, 2011.   Here is what we are offering this year:

Eco-friendly, recycled brown wrapping paper handstamped with the words “One Earth.”  All gift wrap materials, including ribbons, gifts tags and bows, will be recycled and upcycled.  Our goal this year is to make use of the large craft supply collection we have accumulated.  You should see my boxes of ribbons!

Each gift wrapped order will vary because of the upcycled materials, but all will include our hand stamped recycled paper and upcycled paper bows.

I decided to make paper bows out of discarded toliet & paper towel rolls. I’ve had a big stash of them for awhile now so I wanted to use them up.  I’ve blogged about crafting with paper rolls here before and this time we just used the same concept, except we glued the paper roll pieces to each other instead of to the paper.  I can tie them up with ribbon or attach them to gift wrap now.

I had to make sure I considered shipping methods when deciding my eco-friendly gift wrap.  The flat bows will work great with shipping, and the recycle brown paper will help protect our wood creations.

Of course, our free gift wrap will include a gift tag!  I searched high and low for upcycled gift tag ideas.  I settled for this simple recycled christmas card gift tag.  I had a container of beautiful christmas cards that I had saved over the years.  I enjoyed punching out the cards so much that I punched too many!

So I decided to share the upcycled love and give some away. Just comment on this post and you could be selected to WIN 20 recycled gift tags! Tags are shown in above photo, along with many others.  Make sure your comment has an email address for contact.  Winner will be randomly selected by random.org at 10pm on Thursday December 1st, 2011.

It was important to me that our gift wrap help promote the fact that our wood is eco-friendly and we are an sustainable shop.

Look for our next blog post to have information on our Holiday Sales, especially our Cyber Monday coupon!  It’s our biggest deal of the year.  Until then please check out two of my upcycled gift wrap posts on Upcyclers for more upcycled gift wrapping ideas!

Upcycled Gift Wrapping Ideas

Upcycled Gift Bows & Tags Ideas

Happy Wrapping!

Bee

I love to make wine cork garland. It’s a quick and classy way to decorate for a special occasion.  At home I use it for anniversaries and adult birthdays. In our shop, I use it to decorate our vendor space and for our DIY craft parties.  I think it would look fabulous on our Christmas tree this year…if I can get around to making enough!

Below, I used some wine cork garland on a window doorway at one of our DIY craft parties.  I hung five double sided square chalkboards from the garland, that read CRAFT on one side and PARTY on the the other.

I thought I’d share some how-to tips for making wine cork garland.

What you need:

oak wine corks

ribbon, yard, or twine

drill, optional

beads, optional

For the garland twine I normally use natural jute or hemp. I find the cost is much less than ribbon or yarn. I also like the width & stiffness of the twine to allow for easy threading.  However, I have used yarn, tied up scraps of ribbons, and recycled fishing line to make pretty wine cork garlands.

First determine how long you would like your wine cork garland to be, and then add four feet to your measurement.  If I wanted an 8 foot garland, I would cut a 12 foot piece of twine.  I would leave two feet on each side to allow extra twine for tying it up, for knots, etc.

You can drill holes in your wine corks either vertically and horizontally. Find a drill bit a size or two larger than the width of your twine.  It will make it easier to thread the twine through the corks.  Moving the drill bit in & out while drilling will help clear the holes of extra cork as well.

Decide your garland pattern based on your materials. For an 8 foot garland I would recommend having 35-40 wine corks. You can scale up or down from there. I think my eight foot garland has been a great length for several different uses.  Anything under 6 ft seems too short, unless you want a mini garland for the archway of an inside doorway, or some other specific space.  The garland below has a cork, three wooden beads, cork pattern. The colors of the beads varied.  Remember to start your pattern in two feet from the end of your twine.

Wine cork garland is always fun to hang things from as well.  Mistletoe at the holidays, letters and signs at special occasions.  We hung Christmas cards on them one year.  If you would like to hang heavier objects like wooden letters, or mini chalkboards like we did, then small ornaments hooks work the best!!! I have tried several methods and good ole ornament hooks work great! They hook and stay in place without sliding between corks, etc.  We use these hooks, purchased for a great price, from Cathy’s Unique Creations.

No Drill Option

So, if you don’t have a drill, or want to make a cork garland while sitting and watching TV, just tie the corks to the garland!

I would cut TWICE as much twine as what you want the length of the garland to be doing it this way.  If there is extra is it better to cut it off than to run short at the end.  Again, design your pattern and when you get to the cork, wrap the twine around the cork a few times, tie a knot, and continue.  In the beginning, tying the knots with the long piece of twine will take extra time and care. As you get to the end it will get shorter and easier.  Just think you didn’t have to sit there and drill hole after hole though.

Storing your Garland Tangle Free

You can use discarded paper towel or gift wrapping rolls to store your garlands in between uses.  Cut two small slits in each end of the cardboard roll.  Insert one end of the twine in a slit, and then wrap the garland around the roll and secure the other end of the twine in the second slit.

I am continuing to experiment with coloring corks.  I hope to be blogging about colored wine cork garland soon! Until then, check out my Pinterest Board for more wine cork garland photos. It’s a virtual bulletin board dedicated to fabulous photos and uses of wine corks!!!

Happy Crafting!

What you need:

recycled tin cans
drill
paint
candles

First we washed and cleaned a few of our leftover tin cans.  Then we decided what design we wanted them to have. (BOO is what my two year old says when she sees the Halloween decorations)! I used a permanent marker to write each letter on each can.  Then I drilled holes around the lines of the letters.

After drilling the holes, we painted the cans first with gesso and then with a burnt orange acrylic paint.  I’m sure you could omit the gesso (primer) and just paint a few extra coats of color instead.  We also sponged a black design on the cans so they looked decorative when they weren’t lit.

We dropped some pumpkin scented candles in our creation, turned off the lights, and Boo!

We kept this project easy and fun. We didn’t worry how far apart the holes were drilled and left them looking handmade and spooky!

Happy Halloween!

Some of our other Fall decorating ideas:

Hairy Herb Pumpkins

Fall Button Trees