DIY Christmas Gift Collaboration

Hello friends! Erin and I are back with another edition of our DIY Christmas Present Collaboration! This week, she made the coolest book ends for her nephew. What a fun and thoughtful gift! Be sure to go say hello to Erin and see what she's created, I'm so impressed!

Today I'm sharing a little something I made for my sister!

I've had this pinned on my DIY board forever, and I knew it would be a great gift to make someday. Well, I finally decided to make it for my sister as a Christmas gift. One thing my sister and I both love is a good glass of wine! And her kitchen and dining room decor has sort of a wine theme, so I knew this was the perfect gift for her.

This project was so simple, since I had all but one item already on hand. You'll need wine corks, a knife, hot glue, paint, a sponge brush, and an MDF wood letter. Mine is a letter "M" for my sisters last name. I got it at Beverly's for $3, so it's definitely an affordable gift.

I ended up using a serrated knife instead of the razor blade to cut my corks

Once you gather your supplies, the first thing you'll want to do is paint the edges of your letter. This step isn't totally necessary, but I thought it would give the final product a more finished look. I used black since I had that on hand, but I wished I had some dark brown since that would go well with the wine corks. But the black turned out great too.

Now, while the paint is drying, you can get started on the corks. Since I always save my wine corks, I've gathered quite a collection over the years. I went through them to pick out ones with interesting images, or from wineries that I know my sister likes. I was hoping to find a "2011" since that was the year she was married, but no luck. I did find a 2005 and a 2010 so I used them anyways because I liked how they looked. I also tried to pick corks that were stained from the wine to add some color and interest.

I knew I wanted to use a combination of whole corks and cut up pieces, so I set aside the corks I wouldn't be cutting and got to work on the others. This is the tricky part. BE CAREFUL. I managed to only cut myself once. I found using a regular steak knife worked best, and the dry corks cut much more easily. After trying to cut one in half, I realized it was easier to just cut the ends. I didn't even attempt to cut the synthetic wine corks. I cut off the ends that were stained red, or the ones that had a date. One cork had a "C" so I cut that out for my sisters initial. Otherwise, there wasn't really any rhyme or reason to how I did it.

Once you've cut up your corks and the paint has dried, you can get to gluing. I used a hot glue gun which was really easy. I was just mindful of the "strings" the glue leaves behind and cleaned them up as I went. I did use a ton of glue, so make sure you have enough on hand. I almost ran out!   I started with the whole corks first, and then filled in with cut pieces as I went. Once I was finished, I cut tiny pieces of cork to fill in any holes or empty spaces along the edge.

Full Disclosure: I'm a messy crafter!

I'm really pleased with the way it turned out!  I'm sure I'll be making many more of these in the future. Save your corks for me!!

My favorite part of this project was finding ways to make it personalized for my sister. I found a cork from Toad Hollow Winery, which is a winery we went to together on my 21st birthday. It was one of the best days ever, we had so much fun, and I wanted to include it! I also used a Rombauer cork that says "The Joy of Wine" because I thought that was fun, and I know the girls in my family all get a lot of joy from our wine :) I also found a cork with a sun on it, and my sister LOVES the beach and sunshine, so that was perfect for her. Another one I used was from Ferrari-Carano, because that is one of my sister and her husbands favorite wineries.

I can't wait to watch her open it on Christmas morning, I know she'll love it!

Be sure to go over to Cali-Land Chic and see what Erin has been making in her Toy Shop! If you've done any posts recently with DIY gift ideas, we'd love to see them!

I hope you you all have a wonderful day!! Happy DIY-ing!