Wine Cork Storage

Hello friends! Happy Friday!
Here's a little secret that many of you can probably relate to... As a crafter, I'm also somewhat of a hoarder! Shocking! An organized, OCD, repurposing hoarder. I save things. Lots of things. Because all of it can be made new somehow! Right?!
One of the things I save is wine corks. I don't know why. I just do. My husband and I have a thing for locally made wines, and I always keep the corks. Over the years, they've accumulated in a giant zip lock bag as well as in kitchen drawers. In my little craft-loving mind, I've always thought I would find something to make with them one day. 

Well, now the wine corks have taken over, and it's gotten to the point that they need to find a better home than a plastic bag. Since our home decor style is somewhat rustic and vintage and wine corks kinda sorta fit into that style a little bit, I decided to put them on display!

Materials:

Mini crate Paint (I used Decoart's Chalky Finish by Americana Decor in "Primitive" and "Timeless" Paint brush Stenciling brush Printer and paper Pencil Permanent marker
I wanted my wine cork storage crate to have a vintage feel to it so I knew I wanted to use some muted neutral colors and a paint technique that would give it a distressed look. I've seen tons of great vintage and rustic projects using chalk paint. I've never used chalk paint before and thought this was the perfect project for it! I was super excited when Decoart said they would send me some of their new line of Chalky Finish paints to try!

To start, I gave the crate a thick coat of paint in "Primitive" with a regular paint brush. I loved how smoothly the chalk paint went on. I didn't need to sand first and the coverage was great. Once dry, I knew exactly why people rave about chalk paint! The texture looks amazing!

After the paint dried, I decided to use the dry brushing technique with the "Timeless" color. Dry brushing gives a distressed feel to paint without actually doing any distressing. It's also quick and easy! To dry brush, you dip the very end of your brush in just a small amount of paint. Brush off the excess paint on some scrap paper. You want the brush to be "dry." I like to use a stencil brush for this part because it doesn't absorb much paint and I get more control with the stiff bristles. Brush across your project very lightly making long streaks that follow the direction of the wood grain. 

While the paint was drying, I explored the world of fonts looking for a vintage font. I decided on the font "Volutes." I printed out the words "wine & dine" and then followed my favorite font transfer technique. 

I shaded in the back of the printed text with a lead pencil. 

Then I flipped the text over and taped it to the crate where I wanted the text to be. I traced over the letters with my pencil. This should cause the lead on the back of the paper to transfer to the crate so that there is an outline that can be traced.

Last, I traced the penciled outline with a black permanent marker. 

This easy project took less than two hours to complete (including drying time) and now I have a decorative way to store my wine cork collection!

Lookin' pretty good in our dining room too, if I do say so myself ;)

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*This post contains gifted products. Please see my full disclosure policy.