Tag Archives: corks

S for Snake

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Sean was so happy with making the giraffe as our first track out project, that we repeated the activity with S for Snake as the subject.

  

Materials we used:

  • Foam board – red for the tongue
  • Champagne Cork for the head
  • White paper for the teeth
  • Wood stick (picked up from Lowes, then cut at various sizes)
  • Bottle caps (6)
  • String
  • Two eyes (picked up from AC Moore or any craft store)
  • Super Glue or Wood Glue (for the teeth and eyes)
  1. Drill a hole in approx. center of the Champagne Cork, wood and Bottle tops.
  2. Tie a knot at the end of the string (big enough to make sure the string does not slip through). You may need to melt the end depending on what type of string you use.
  3. Wrap the other end of the string with a small piece of duck tape – try to get a slightly narrow end at the tip – it makes it easier to thread through.
  4. Sean was able to thread the string through the pieces easily enough (with assistance).  Start with the bottle caps for the tail (it rattles 🙂 ), then the wood pieces and finish with the champagne cork.
  5. Tie another knot on the string, but you will want to bend the snake to make sure you tie it loose enough. If needed melt the end of the string on this end as well.
  6. Cut a strip of the red foam and double it up to cut the tongue shape. Take of the backing and press the tongue pieces together with the string in the middle (like a sandwich).
  7. Glue on the eyes and teeth.
  8. Use paint, crayons, markers or paper to decorate the pieces of wood.

Here was his journal entry, his picture, the word snake he sounded out and wrote and his story.

“Snakes curl around whatever it finds and squeezes it. The snake opens its mouth and swallows whatever it finds. His body is then very big.”

 

Now to come up with the next one….I think we will do “Caves” or “B for Bats” based on our trip to the blue mountains.

Recycling wine corks – Cork Boards

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I got into making cork boards about 15 years ago. I saw this amazing framed wine cork board in a home goods store, but it was so far out of my price range (like $200-300). I went home and wondered how I could make the same thing for next to nothing.

I made some mistakes along the way, for example very stiff cardboard is not enough for a backing to glue on corks – yes, it buckles from all the glue. Second, you need a lot of friends that drink wine 😉 that was the only way I was collecting corks.

Today, what I do is use a backing board of some kind – similar to what you would use for backing furniture. I collect corks still, but I also go to my favorite cafe/wine bar who give me the corks for free!!! I also ordered used corks online – you can get them by the box….I mix the used with wine stains and the used from online to balance out the look.

NOTE: The used corks from online means they have been printed but not with the wine stains.

Also I switched from a craft knife (scalpel) to an electric knife – saves me from slicing my finger off….btw was a common occurrence (at least once per board).

NOTE: Using an electric knife, you will need to take breaks as the knife will heat up and you don’t want to start a fire.

Finally, I just use wood glue to glue the corks on the board.

Here are two of the designs I do:The first, is more of a fun design – a circle using corks from the top/bottom, these allowed me to use the hundreds of champagne corks that I had, as they don’t work for design #2.I use a piece of string and a drawing pin (tack) to draw the circle on the backing board, and then my lovely husbands uses the sharp object to cut out the circle. Painting it some cool color and once it dries, I get into cutting the corks and glueing the corks on the board. Below are pictures of the first one I made, which my Mum received for Christmas.
Circular Cork Boards

This is a more formal looking cork board. It is framed – which, I either use second-hand frames or I make them and paint/stain them. The corks for this style are cut length-wise. I place the corks in various designs – no two are alike. Below is a picture of my cork board and matching blackboard (we use for a meal planner) that are in my kitchen.

Cork and Chalk Boards

One of my favorite things about this cork board, I was able to incorporate a wine cork of a reserve wine my brother gave us for our wedding gift….I wrote the date of our wedding on it and now its a memory we have forever.

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