Wine Cork Framed Cork Boards

I finished my classroom today and I have to say, this is the happiest I have ever been with my classroom before the start of the school year. I was able to complete all the projects I wanted to and really got the look I was going for- can't wait to take you on a classroom tour this Sunday!! The only thing missing now is artwork and pictures, without them I still feel like it is really empty, but I think I have a great starting point.

I just couldn't wait to share this project though! I had two large bulletin boards in the classroom but the four year old class needed boards for instruction and, honestly, I didn't know what to do with them anyway, so I just offered them mine. I like a challenge and felt like this would give me the opportunity to think outside of the box as to designing the walls for display purposes.

I am pretty proud with what I came up with! But I am going to be honest, there was a fail in this project in the middle and if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have ended up with this so I will share it anyway. I am keepin' it real.

I had a big wall to cover but I think this would look great on a smaller scale too. Click "Read More" to get the whole tutorial!

Materials:

Cork Rolls

Scissors

Wine corks

Serrated knife

Hot glue gun and hot glue

First I cut my circles out of 2 rolls of cork that I got from the craft store. I did 3 large, 2 medium and 4 small and still had a lot of smaller pieces left over that I saved... naturally lol. 

 Then I put them on the wall, for most, it should go up with double sided foam adhesive, but this brick is the most frustrating part of the classroom because nothing, I mean nothing, sticks to it. So between you and me, I hot glued these to the wall ;) I got the idea from some of the other teachers because it works the best and you can still scrap it off with a putty knife when you want to take it down. 

 

The step after this, that I didn't end up taking a picture of, was I cut circles of fabric and hot glued them on top of the cork- but it just didn't click. Do you have that? That is how I know a project is done, it clicks and I think "there, perfect" and if that doesn't happen then I know that there is still some work or problem solving to get through. So, I took down the fabric but then had an issue with the leftover hot glue line around the edge on the cork. 

Hmm, what next? Then I thought of some recent pins I had found on Pinterest with projects that used slices of cork, about the same time as I glanced at the big containers of cork I had on the shelf.

Click!

This was also about the time that Wade dropped off Avery at the school and he was so kind as to slice corks for me- he is seriously the best.

 I didn't count as I went but at the same time, I didn't use nearly as much as I thought I would for this project. I am sure a couple dozen would be more than enough for what I did, and I don't imagine most of you would do as many as that, plus you can vary the thickness of your cuts.

Then, it was simple, I just glued the slices of wine cork around the edge of the cork circles. It covered the glue, rounded out the edge and was still a surface I could pin and staple into. FABULOUS!!!

I think it looks so great and is not something you see in every classroom! 

Still needs art work but that will happen!

I am joining these great parities!

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