Does your wine cork collection keep growing? We’ve got another fun way to put those “wine memories” to work. Wine Guide Ashleigh Campbell shows you how to make wine cork pumpkins, perfect for holiday decor, host gifts, and fall happiness.
Fall is my favorite season! Apple picking, pumpkin everything, and, of course, enjoying all the fall wine releases and upcoming holiday wines from Traveling Vineyard. Carving pumpkins is fun, especially with my kids, but I like my pumpkins to stick around a little bit longer than two weeks. So, I gathered some corks from my fall wine tastings and made these adorable, guaranteed-to-not-rot cork pumpkins!
Gather Your Materials
- 25 corks (11 for the small pumpkin)
- Glue (I recommend a 25 g bottle of Gorilla Super Glue, or plenty of hot glue)
- X-Acto or knife for cutting cork
- Optional: orange paint, fake leaves
Paint the Corks
Once you have gathered all your materials, decide if you want to leave your corks wine-stained or add paint, or mix it up! If you want to add paint, paint one end of each cork and set to dry. Choose one for the stem, if you like, and paint that one green, or leave it natural (the cork color lends itself well to an authentic pumpkin stem!).
Arrange Your Design
Design your cork pumpkin so you have an idea of what the end product will look like. Start with a row of four corks on the bottom, then a row of five corks, then a row of six corks. Finish off the top of the pumpkin with a row of five corks, then a row of four corks. Lastly, pick out a cork for your stem. I like to leave the red wine stain visible and mix in some white wine corks. Rearrange as necessary to get the look you like best.
Glue Corks Together to Create the Pumpkin Shape
Start by gluing two corks together, side-by-side. Repeat two at a time until most of your corks are glued in pairs. The rows with five corks will have one unglued cork hanging out. Next, glue your rows together. You will have two rows of four corks, two rows of five corks and one row of six corks. While you wait for the glue to dry, pour yourself a glass of wine. Lazy Lab Cabernet Sauvignon is my current go-to for crafting.
Once the glue has dried on the rows, we will start stacking them to shape the pumpkin. Place the row of five on top of the row of four, and take a look at where the corks touch so you know where to put the glue. The corks will not be directly on top of each other so it’s important to eye ball before committing the design with glue. Repeat with the row of six, then the row of five, and lastly with the row of four.
Add the Stem and Finishing Touches
The last step is to place the stem on top of your adorable cork pumpkin. Keep the cork whole and glue it at center. Or, if you want to add fake leaves, I recommend cutting a slice off the cork at an angle so you have a flat surface that will allow for secure attachment.
You can make your pumpkin as large or small as you like. Small cork pumpkins make great name cards for the Thanksgiving table! How about a variety of sizes to create your own wine pumpkin patch?
We’d love to see your wine cork creations! Tag us #travelingvineyard or @travelingvineyard on Instagram, and be sure and follow us on Pinterest for more cork crafting ideas!