Have you ever used corks in a craft project? Lately I've been obsessed with cork crafts. My new apartment is being decorated with a vineyard theme, so needless to say I've found a trillion ideas I want to do.
One particular project is my bottle cap table. Long story short, the glass that goes over the top of the table is too small to fit perfectly. I had about one inch of space to fill. So, with the help of my brilliant mother, we came up with the idea to make a boarder out of corks!
I placed the corks around the perimeter of the table and thought "man these would look so much better if they weren't so.. bright". So, again bouncing ideas off others, my close friend had the idea to let the corks soak in coffee. The idea was that it would give the corks a deeper color without ruining that lovable texture (like wood stain might). This worked perfectly and I am so pleased with the results. Now my cork boarder looks worn in and fitting.
Here's how you do it:
1. Place the corks you'd like to dye in a tubber ware container. The first photo shows a zip loc, please ignore it! I learned the hard way (with a coffee soaked counter) that zip loc bags are not the way to go here.
2. Brew a strong pot of coffee. We're talking extra dark roast.
3. Allow the coffee to cool off for a good half hour. Then pour the coffee into the tubber ware, making sure that all of your corks will be covered in liquid once the lid is on.
4. Walk away. Leave the corks to soak for a good two days.
5. Drain the corks, allow them to air dry. Do not rinse them or blot them dry! They will be slightly larger than before due to absorbing the coffee.
And voila! Beautifully rustic corks for all of your crafting needs. You can find a whole lot of cork craft ideas on my "Crafty Things" Pinterest page.
Enjoy!
-June
Perfect! My husband and I are doing a cork board and he wanted a subtle clover design in the middle of it. I thought I could separate out my dark corks from my light ones, but there wasn't enough of a difference to notice the design. I thought about using coffee, too, since my darker corks were already just a darker brown.
ReplyDeleteI was going to just used old grounds and brew them a 2nd time, but that may not be strong enough... so now I know what to do with that super nasty peppermint coffee I bought from Dunkin' Donuts (it's only good with a lot of cream and sugar in it)! :)
Samantha, I'm so glad you found this helpful! That cork board sounds like a really great idea. Best of luck!
ReplyDelete-June