Do-It-Yourself Cork Board

I first saw a corkboard made from real wine corks in Cambria, California. It's this great little town on the central coast. It's quaint, quiet, and just darling - and has some fantastic restaurants. Inland from Cambria is the Paso Robles area full of beautiful vineyards and wineries. It's definitely in my top 5 of favorite vacation spots. Ahhhh... wishing I were there right now! But back to the cork board... Cambria had a very large cork board like this in the middle of town as a "community board" for people to post fliers and pictures and such. Here's how you can make one for yourself at home.

First you must collect enough corks to fill the size of board you want to have. Drink lots of wine, ask friends to help you save corks, and always keep the cork if you order a bottle of wine at a restaurant. Each cork in your board will hold a special memory of when you enjoyed each bottle of wine.

For your frame, you can just repurpose an old frame (or make one like Mark did for me out of some molding from Home Depot). If the frame doesn't have a back already, add a thin piece of word or sturdy cardboard to the back of the frame.  That's what the corks will stick to in order to create the cork board. I used some craft glue. Just spread some around the board inside the frame.

The trick is to select sets of two corks and alternate their direction. It's like doing a giant puzzle. I recommend arranging all of the corks inside of your frame BEFORE gluing them down. Then carefully move them all outside of your frame, keeping the same arrangement. Begin gluing the corks two-by-two like you see below until you've filled your frame. 

Allow the glue to dry for 24 hours before hanging your cork board. You can also place a few heavy books on top of the corks while it's laying flat on a table or floor to keep any corks from popping out of place as they dry.

Hang your board in the perfect place in your home. Hang some favorite photos or memories and enjoy!