I wouldn’t necessarily call myself crafty, but here and there, I work on a DIY project that turns out pretty well.
DIY success: my wine cork Christmas wreath
I think that becoming a homeowner has made my hubby and me more DIY people. For instance, recently he built a new pergola for our backyard with my father-in-law…
…after our old, seemingly sturdy and very heavy pergola flipped over into our pool during some crazy winds during a rare San Diego storm:
This was not fun!Â
We’ve since stained the pergola, added a solar cover, and planted flowers in the hopes that their vines will start to wrap around the sides of the pergola (fingers crossed):
The view from the pool
I think that it came out pretty great! We also recently re-painted our bedroom and redid the guest bedroom/my workout room, though we do have our limits: A few weeks ago we hired professionals to re-paint our kitchen and dining room – because that would have been a little too much DIY work for our liking!
I mean, do you see all of those shelves?! This is actually before the re-paint, but you get the idea. I think we would have gotten paint all over them had the job been done by us – and it would have taken us, like, three months to get the job done, as opposed to the two days that it took the pros.
But I digress.
Another DIY project of mine in recent months was a wine barrel cocktail table for my backyard. It came out pretty cool and I love that it adds a unique touch to my backyard, where we hang out pretty often. Today I thought that I’d share how I made it with you guys. Let’s get to it!
Step 1. Find a guy selling used wine barrels on the side of the rode in wine country. I was with a girlfriend wine tasting in Temecula and couldn’t resist pulling over to check out the barrels. It was only a moment or two before I was sold on the idea of nabbing one!
Step 1b. Buy the barrel on the spot (this type of find doesn’t happen every day people!) and figure out a way to fit it into the backseat of your hybrid car – ideally without scratching your car door as I did but eh, you lose some and you win some right?
Step 2.  Head to your local home improvement store to nab a stain paint color that you like and a few brushes. I used a small roller one and a smaller paint brush for getting the tough to reach areas. Layer on two coats of stain to give the barrel a cool oaky color while still letting its wood color shine through. It’s supposed to look rustic, so no worries on getting it perfect!
Step 3. Find a round glass table top. I nabbed one of these from Pier 1 Imports on sale.
The size that you buy depends on how big you want the table to be. I considered having the glass be the same diameter as the barrel to have it sit in the barrel rather than on top of it, but in the end I decided that a bigger table sounded better to me.
Step 4. Gather lots of wine corks. If you don’t drink a lot of wine you might need to steal some from your friends and family, but we didn’t have a problem because I save all of our corks in a basket and cork holder for occasions like this – and we drink a good amount of wine! đ
Use a hot glue gun to adhere corks to the barrel. There are so many ways that you can do it, but I had my barrel table stand straight up, and made a creative cork design on the top side. I think I used around 150 corks!
Step 5. Move your barrel to wherever you’d like your table to be, then place the glass table top on top of the barrel to rest. Moving it beforehand makes it easier because both the barrel and the glass table top are heavy!
I was initially worried about making sure the glass table top would stay put on the barrel. I was picturing myself a guest enjoying a glass or two of wine, telling a story using lots of hand gestures, and accidentally flipping the glass off the table… but then I actually bought the table top and felt how heavy it is. It would take some serious hand gestures to knock it off!
With its weight, my initial idea to glue the glass to the table became unnecessary, which works out because if I want to ever move the table, I can easily remove the glass first, then be able to handle the table better.
Step 6. Buy barstools that work well with both the table’s height and the look you’re trying to achieve. It took me awhile, but I found reasonably priced brown wicker chairs that matched my other backyard furniture.
And voila, a wine barrel cocktail table! I love using this table to enjoy a glass of wine or eat dinner. I think it makes for a nice complement to our backyard!
Tell me… Is there any DIY project you’ve done lately that you’re pretty proud of?Â
I’m SO jealous of your barrel find! We keep any eye out every time we’re in wine country. I WILL make this one day!
That is such a fun tutorial! My husband loves DIY projects like this.
I love this!!!! You did great! I save my wine corks too haha. I haven’t done anything with them yet because I’m NOT crafty, but I just save them in case I DO feel crafty one day! haha
Or I find someone that I can pay to do something with my wine corks! LOL
What size glass did you choose?
I believe my glass is 24 inches.
What is the diameter of the glass table you used and how thick was the glass? Thanks!
I used a 24 inch glass table! Unfortunately it looks like my original Pier 1 hyperlink within my post no longer works, but it was tempered glass and may have been this product: https://www.pier1.com/round-tempered-glass-table-top/PS115497.html#q=24%2520inch%2520glass%2520table&origin=gridswatch
I recently did the same with a wine barrel we bought. How have your corks held up outside? I have noticed condensation under the glass and was wondering if I need rubber bumpers to lift the glass a bit to allow ventilation. Thanks!
Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I built this table while living in San Diego where it doesn’t rain all that often, but I had the table for about 4 years (I sadly had to leave it behind when I moved) & eventually some of the corks started to warp a bit from condensation. I think that the “real” corks made from trees did much better than any of the corks I had on the table that were made of synthetic materials. The only solution I can see is replacing some of the corks over time, as it’s inevitable that they’ll get wet being outside.
I also have a barrel, and I want to make a table like yours. I’m worried that it will get dried out and fall apart like my 1/2 barrels did. Did you have this problem?
Hmm! No, my barrel stayed together fine. The only issue I had with anything drying out was after a few years, some of the corks started to get a bit warped from exposure to moisture.
Wine barrel tip is 27 inch diameter so 24 inch glass top response was probably inaccurate. Most Iâve seen use 36 inch dia glass top but 42 gives a bit more room. 44.8 inch is the extreme largest diameter that is stable physically. So 36- 42 is probably what most people want
How do you adhere the glass to the top of the table? We have horrible winds and I am just afraid of it slipping off. I know it will be heavy. Any suggestions on what to use to stabilize on the barrel?
Since the glass is nice and heavy, I did not use anything to adhere it. But you can use an epoxy adhesive, which dries clear and is pretty strong.
My previous post was inaccurate. Wine barrels are smaller than whiskey barrels. Wine barrels vary but the one I have is approx 35h x 23.5 dia top. So 23.5 dia x.33= 7.75 inch radius x2=15.5 added to the 23.5 barrel diameter is 39 inch diameter for maximum glass top but still stable. Hence, 36 dia glass is the correct size for wine barrel top.
You could be right! I see that I responded about 4 years ago with my glass size, and I think I did know the glass size then.. but I’ve moved & no longer own the barrel so I can’t check.
What makes the most sense for anyone wondering what glass size to buy is to measure your barrel to see what its diameter is, then decide how much larger you’d like your glass to be (or if you want it to match the barrel diameter).
Cheers!
Art-Thanks for the information. Can you please clarify how you came to your calculations? Specifically, I am wondering why you multiplied by .33? Is this because you don’t want to have an overhang that is more that 1/3 the size of the barrel? I have a beveled glass top that is 47″ diameter that I want to use with a wine barrel. Based on your post, I think my husband would need to build some sort of wood or metal support ring that extends out in order to support the bigger piece of glass. If you have any examples of this being done, I’d appreciate it.