Ask any of my girlfriends and they’ll all tell you I’m kinda obsessed with corks. Ok, truth be told…I’m totally obsessed with them. I’ve been collecting them for years and over time they began to seriously pile up. Every time I visit my favorite winery I come home with another big bag of corks to add to my collection. What can you do with so many corks you might ask. Making these decorative balls to use as an accent in your home is one way to use up quite a big bunch of them.
I love the organic feel you get with corks. There’s something earthy and wholesome about them. Plus they come from wine making, something that’s near and dear to my heart. I have a long family history when it comes to making wine, and I’m just drawn to corks.
One of my very favorite cork projects was creating backsplashes with them for our dining room wine bar and china hutch. It adds such a lovely organic feel, loads of texture, and it’s a really unique accent for your home without being too kitschy. Learn how you can create the same look for your home with this easy DIY: Cork Wine Bar Backsplash project. If you are proficient in hot glue gun usage, you can easily do this project! I’m the glue gun queen! I love a good glue gun project like this one.
As I collected yet more corks I was on the lookout for more ways to use them.
I came across several posts online that featured cork balls like these and I knew I just had to figure out how to make them. Keep reading for tips on how to save money and make these very inexpensively.
They make quite a bold statement. The largest ball measures almost 13″ across. The medium sized ball measures almost 10″ across. The smallest ball measures almost 8″ across. Grouped together they make quite a dramatic display.
Design Principle: The “Rule of Three” is the secret formula of interior design. There is a natural appeal with groupings of three. It adds far more interest than just a single item and it’s much less formal than a grouping of just two items.
Supplies:
- 3.8″ solid styrofoam ball
- 5.6″ solid styrofoam ball
- 8.5″ rubber playground ball
- Acrylic paint, beige
- Foam paint brush
- Hot glue sticks
- Hot glue gun
- 575 or more wine bottle corks
Cost Saving Tips: Instead of buying an 8.5″ styrofoam ball for $20 (a ridiculous price if you ask me) head over to the kids toy section and buy an inexpensive 8.5″ rubber bouncy ball instead for about $5. Use a 40% off coupon when purchasing the two smaller styrofoam balls at the craft store for additional savings.
Start by applying a coat of beige paint to each styrofoam ball and onto the rubber ball. Use a color that is close to the color of the corks, so if there are any gaps between the corks it won’t be as noticeable.
TIP: Use cups or jars to hold the balls steady while you are working on them.
TIP: Be sure to use solid Styrofoam balls for this project. The regular styrofoam balls will melt when they come in contact with a hot glue gun.
Once the paint is completely dry start gluing the corks onto each ball. Glue on one complete row of corks around the entire ball.
Once the first row is glued into place, start on the next row. For the best results, place corks as close together as possible. Try to avoid leaving any large gaps between corks on the ball.
Continue glueing corks onto the balls until you have completely covered each one with corks.
Keep going until you have covered each ball or you run out of corks. This would be a good time to put out an SOS call to all your wine loving friends and ask for cork donations. You’d be surprised with how many folks collect and save corks but never end up using them for anything.
Plan “B”, visit your favorite wineries and ask if they have any extra corks that you could have.
Plan “C” start drinking more wine! But be warned this project used almost 600 corks! That’s a lot of bottles of wine. You may end up in rehab before you have enough corks for this project, so I don’t recommend this option. LOL!
Last resort would be to purchase them. Check your favorite thrift stores; I often see bags of corks for sale at my favorite thrift store for just a couple dollars a bag.
Once you get into a rhythm this project goes fairly quickly. I painted the base coat one evening and then I spent a rainy afternoon glueing on the corks. This is an easy project; it’s a great weekend project!
I love, love, love, how they turned out. I think they look fabulous sitting on my kitchen table. They sure do make quite a dramatic statement!
This was a very inexpensive project that resulted in a beautiful, dramatic accent for my home. I purchased the foam balls with a discount coupon; the rubber bouncy ball was just $5, and I already had a huge stash of corks to work with so they cost me nothing. I did use several glue sticks for the project. Total cost for this project was about $23 to make all three balls. Just goes to show you that adding beautiful accents to your home doesn’t have to cost you a fortune.
Did You Try This Project?
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And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17
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