How to Make a Wine Cork Photo Stand | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

I have a bag of wine corks that has followed my husband and me through three living spaces and two moves. I had every intention of taking it to the nifty wine cork recycle bin at Whole Foods. My husband told me it would never happen and that we should just throw the corks away. Well, he was right. But I got the last word! At least about three of the corks, anyway. :-D

I'm always looking for fun ways to display my prints, especially my square prints, which don't lend themselves to framing. So when I came across wine cork displays for wedding seating arrangements on Pinterest, I thought they would be perfect for pictures. 

Here's how I did it:

What you need:

- wine corks

- small pot (steamer optional) and stove

- small hand saw (recommended) or serrated knife

- large binder clip (optional)

- photos

What to do:

1. Steam your corks. This softens them up a little and prevents the cork from breaking into pieces when you cut it. 15-20 should do the trick. If you don't have a steamer, you can also boil them. This is especially good if you want to remove the any wine stains from the cork.

2. If you have a binder clip large enough to slide over your cork, use it to help secure the cork while you're sawing. I didn't have one, but my fingers would have felt safer with one. 

   Next, use the hand saw to slice off enough cork to leave a flat bottom for a secure stand. You could also cut the cork in half to make two stands, if you like. While you could use a serrated knife, I recommend a hand saw if you have one. It takes a surprising amount of pressure and sawing to cut through the cork. Or maybe my blade was dull. Either way, just be mindful of your fingers!

3. Once you have the bottom of the stand shaved to your liking (it may take a bit of adjustment), use the saw to make a slit in the top of the cork. I made mind right in the middle. You may need to make the slit wider or deeper depending on your photos.

4. Insert your photos and display proudly! Then figure out what crafty things to do with the rest of the corks in your bag. :-)

Do you have any fun photo display hacks? I'd love to hear about them in the comments (and maybe feature them here in another tutorial)!

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Print Your Photos! | Baby Mobile

I love writing posts here about the importance of printing your photos, because it gives me an incentive to come up with fun ways to display my own photos - like this fun baby mobile that doubles as a hanging picture display.  I came across it at an art museum gift shop awhile ago, but only remembered it recently when I was looking for ways to display my square prints.

It's really great for children's development to see pictures of themselves around their home environment.  I think it's great for parents too. ;-) I love that our son can look up and see pictures of himself and our family. And I love that I can change them out easily whenever I get new prints. I used two prints for each of the ten clips and taped the inside of the pictures together to keep them from spreading apart.

Now I just need to get a few more for other places in the house.  One of the funniest things I remember about when our first son was a baby was the random placement of mobiles in our house.  We had one above the dresser in our bedroom and one hanging from a light fixture in our dining room.  And at one point, we had one hanging above the dining table in the kitchen. We tend to use spaces in our house as the need calls for, with a couch or the floor usually serving as a diaper changing station.  Life just happens wherever we are. :-)

You can find the mobile on Amazon.  These prints are from Artifact Uprising.  Check out my earlier post about their prints (and how to get them for free!).  And stay tuned for a similar review of Parabo square prints.  I'm waiting for those to come in the mail. :-)

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