Halloween Ornament Construction from Wine Cork Skeletons
Ready to craft a budget-friendly, wine cork skeleton for Halloween? Here's an approachable guide using common household materials and your recycled wine corks!
Skills Required: Beginner
- Gluing
- Painting
- Cutting popsicle sticks
- Screwing and adjusting screw eyes
If you've dabbled in crafting, this project should be a breeze. You'll be mainly gluing, painting, and screwing your way through this skully creation.
What You'll Need:
- Wine corks - 13
- Black craft paint
- White paint pen
- Popsicle stick - 1
- White pony beads - 5
- BBQ skewer or thin dowel rod
- Screw hooks (1/2'') - 24
- Strong scissors
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Sandpaper
- Pliers
- Dremel tool (optional)
The Process:
Step 1: Prepare Cork Pieces
Before you start assembling, you need to prepare one cork by cutting it into four pieces that will form the skeleton's hands and feet.
Put the cork in a boiling pot of water for ten minutes. Then, using a knife, cut it into four equal pieces and set them aside to cool and dry.
Step 2: Glue and Paint the Corks
Hot glue two corks together, forming a rib cage. Let it cool.
Afterward, paint the rib cage with black craft paint. Paint all the corks with the black craft paint as well (including the four prepared pieces). You might need about two coats per cork, so make sure they dry completely between layers.
Step 3: Draw on the Bones
Once everything is dry, use a white paint pen to draw bones on the corks. Your tasks include:
- Rib cage design on the two glued corks
- Skull face on one cork
- Bones to make arms and legs with eight corks
- Hip bones on one cork
- Hands on two round cork quarters
- Feet on two round cork quarters
Step 4: Make the Shoulders and Spine
Both the popsicle stick and skewer (or dowel rod) need to be cut down to 3 1/2' - 4'. The precise length depends on the corks you're working with, so determine it based on the corks' dimensions.
Cut them with strong scissors (or a Dremel, or a sharp knife) and then sand the rough edges with sandpaper. Afterward, paint both of these items with black paint and let dry.
Step 5: Assemble the Body
Now you're ready to put your skeleton together. Slide the head down onto the skewer.
Add two pony beads as vertebrae, then glue the cork ribs onto the skewer, right below the vertebrae.
Add more beads, and then slide the hips onto the bottom of the skewer.
The base of the body is now assembled, and the rest is easy!
Step 6: Add the Arms and Legs
Finally, it's time to attach all the corks (arms and legs) with screw hooks. Screw them into the corks easily and then use pliers to open them.
After all the appendages are attached, there's only one last step (optional, but we think you'll like it). Screw the arms into the bottom of the popsicle stick shoulders, so the screw heads are securely hidden.
If that isn't appealing, you can glue the upper arm wine corks directly to the popsicle stick shoulders instead for less movement and an easier build.
Now that your cork buddy is complete, display it proudly as your DIY, recycled Halloween craft!
Try out this wine cork skeleton craft and let us know your thoughts in the comments. If you loved this project, be sure to check out our other fun ideas:
- Shrunken Apple Heads for Halloween Fun
- DIY Halloween Spooky Skull Display in Minutes
After completing this DIY project, you'll have a unique, wine cork-based skeleton perfect for a home-and-garden decoration. With your skilled gluing, painting, cutting, screwing, and sanding abilities, you can enhance your lifestyle by adding this charming Halloween piece to your home-and-garden.
If you're looking for more affordable and creative DIY projects to add to your collection, consider trying our shrunken apple heads or spooky skull display, all suitable for your home-and-garden setting.
