{DIY} How do you spell "VINO"? With corks!

Today I will share with you a fun, easy project involving corks, hot glue gun and a bit of puzzle assembling skills :) For this you will need:

• Pre-cut pressed wood letters V,I,N,O (or for whatever word you choose) available at any craft store. There are various sizes, I used the medium size.
• Used wine corks (real cork, not plastic!)
• Ribbon (about 3/4 to 1-inch wide)
• A hot glue gun + glue sticks
• Clear acrylic sealer
• A sharp knife
• A cutting board

1) Cut several wine corks length-wise, and into various shapes. It doesn't have to be exact but you will eventually need to assemble each piece like a puzzle onto the letters. Do try to use the wine-stained ends, they will add a little color to your final result.

2) Start hot gluing each piece onto the letter. Start with the bigger pieces, then fill into the smaller spaces with smaller pieces. Sometimes you will need to custom cut pieces of corks, but you should save that for last, and basically "fill in the blanks."

3) Do the same thing for all of your letters, and when you are done, it should look something like this:

I recommend spraying your letters with a clear acrylic sealer to protect the cork, which is know to dry out and break off easily over time. I applied two separate coats, just to be on the safe side :)

4) Assembling the letters: Line up all of your letters vertically to write the word "VINO". Attach each letter (making sure you keep the spacing constant and the ribbon straight) to the ribbon with hot glue.

To add the loop for hanging, I used a piece of round cork, and glued it to the ribbon. There are different ways you could make the loop but this way was to me the easiest way :)

And the final product will look something similar to this, which I think is a pretty neat way to use your used corks, don't you agree? Happy crafting!