DIY Wine Cork Heart (three design ideas)

Rustic DIY Wine Cork Heart Ideas

Last year I made some romantic lace Valentine’s hearts, but this year I was inspired by my new surroundings and came up with a bit more rustic hearts. Rustic or not, I think they are still perfect for Valentine’s Day. And if my hearts are getting you in a romantic mood you will be glad to know there are many more Valentine’s Day Craft Project Ideas at the end of this post by my fellow members of the Thrifty Style Team.

I live in wine country now. Wherever we go we are surrounded by vineyards and wineries and many of our hills are planted with rows and rows of grapevines.

So used wine corks are very easy to come by around here. And what better way to use those corks than by turning them into pretty hearts.

 

I had so much fun making these hearts and the cork was so easy to work with that I just couldn’t stop. I came up with three different designs for my cork hearts and ended up making four different ones. I love how they look all together hanging on my little hook rail.

Let me show you how I made them. It is really easy and fun to do.

How to Make a Wine Cork Heart (in three different ways)

Step 1. Create a template

First things first. It is so much easier to create your cork hearts if you have a template to work with.

I simply cut three different heart shapes out of cardboard. I varied the size and shape of my hearts to make my collection of DIY hearts a bit more varied.

Step 2. How to Cut Wine Corks

After a bit of experimenting with different (power) tools to cut the corks, I found that simply using a craft knife worked best. I tried using a multi-tool which worked really fast but it scorched the cork a bit, a band saw would have worked wonderfully but I didn’t have one.

In the end, I found that a simple craft knife was fast, precise, and really easy. One tip though for cutting through corks. I quickly found out that pulling the knife through the cork in one direction worked way better than making a sawing motion. Pulling gave me more control, a cleaner cut, and was really fast.

I cut corks in half in two ways, lengthwise and straight through the middle. I always could find at least one illustration on the cork that was centered that I could use as a guide.

Depending on how you want to hang these, it might be handy to drill a hole in a couple of corks at this stage. You can thread some twine or ribbon through that hole later. I didn’t do this because I had something else in mind.

Step 3. Lay Out and Try Your Designs.

I played around with my cut corks until I came up with my designs.

I wanted solid hearts and open hearts, so I figured out different ways to get the effect.

I also found out that sometimes it looked prettiest to show off the printed side of the cork, and other times so use the cut (inside) side of the cork as the front.

The heart above was the last one I made and the most difficult one. I needed to make extra cuts to several corks to make sure that the outline followed the heart shape. Luckily enough cutting small pieces of halved corks is really easy. I just followed a trial-and-error approach until I had every cork in its place. The cutting of the angles was fast and I had plenty of corks to work with so making a mistake or two was not a big deal.

When I was playing around with the corks I noticed that I had several with a print on the bottom of the cork that was stained with wine. I liked that and decided to use it as a feature on one of my small hearts. Since the red stain wasn’t as strong on all of them, I decided to make one ombre cork heart.

If you have corks with a hole in them, this is also the time to make sure that cork is in the right place for hanging.

Step 4. Hot Glue Your Corks Together in a Heart Shape

The final step in making these wine cork hearts was hot gluing the corks together. This went fast and was easy. I’ll share some specific tips for getting your hearts right in one go.

The first one I made was the easiest because it was just rows and rows of corks.

Some tips for making cork hearts like these:

• When making a solid heart like the one above: start with the longest row first and use a line underneath (I used my cutting mat) to make sure this first row is straight.
• Work from the back of the corks, this way the front will be level

 

• Try out each cork in its proper place and draw small lines to mark where the glue needs to go
• Don’t glue all the way to the front to prevent glue spills on the front side.

• When the heart is assembled carefully turn it over and check the design. When everything is as it should be, turn it backside up again. Add a bit of extra glue to all the joints to make the heart sturdy.

• Add ribbons or twine to hang your hearts. Three of my hearts had an open design which made adding ribbon to hang them easily. For my solid heart, I had to come up with a solution since I had not drilled a hole in a cork (and didn’t want to do it at this point for fear of breaking my heart). I simply used a sewing pin to attach the ribbon to the heart. Super easy and fast way to hang this heart.

Decorating With Wine Cork Hearts

I love how my little hearts have turned out. I decided to hang them all together on my little rail with hooks. I like how they work together as a little collection.

I could also see these hearts hanging on the key on my hutch.

They would look great as a door key tassel.

I can see myself using these as ornaments on my Christmas tree.

Or they would make a nice topper for a Valentine’s Day gift.

But for now, I am more than content just showing them off in this little corner of my home.

If you are now thinking “I have some used wine corks I could craft with” then please don’t hesitate and make yourself some fun cork hearts. Or maybe a little wine cork phone holder is just what your life is missing.

More Thrifty Valentine’s Day Craft Ideas for You

Today I am collaborating with the Thrifty Style Team to bring you affordable decorating ideas for your home. As it turned out we all had Valentine’s Day on our minds and many of the projects are inspired by the Day of Love.
Have fun visiting my friends!

Redhead Can Decorate –Turn Boring Christmas Wreath Into Beautiful Valentine’s Day Wreath

Our Crafty Mom –Yarn Wrapped Hearts Valentine Garland

I Should Be Mopping the Floor –Cute Valentine Kitchen Towels

The How to Home –DIY Cricut Valentine’s Day Jar

DIY Beautify –Vintage Valentines Tree

2 Bees in a Pod –Create Vignettes With Thrifted Finds

Songbird – Wine Cork Heart DIY

Simple Nature Decor – Watercolor Hearts Tea Towel

Zucchini Sisters – Dollar Tree Linen Closet Organization

Sonya Burgess – Creating Simple Silhouette Art