Not only do I like drinking wine, but I love how many crafty things there are to do with the corks once my Chardonnay is gone. A lot of them are easy to make, and they can be really useful to have around the house and on the road.
So if you needed any more inspiration to pop open some bottles tonight, set your corks aside and make them into any of these creative DIY home projects. Cheers!
1. Make butter knives for your kitchen
Grab some corks and old canapé knives and check out the instructions here.
2. Magnets for your fridge
Just cut the corks in half vertically and glue small magnets to the back of them.
3. Keep your chip bags closed
Use a knife to cut slowly down the middle of your cork about halfway through. Then cut down again at an angle to create an opening. Check out this tutorial.
4. Use them as keychains
They’re easy to make with a hammer, nail, cork, and some wire. And they’ll keep your keys from sinking if they happen to fall in water. Get the step-by-step directions here.
5. Replace knobs on a drawer
Use champagne corks, a screwdriver, and a screw to add the custom knobs to old dressers.
All of the steps can be found here.
6. Make homemade drink coasters
They’re simple to make with cork paper circles. Check out the tutorial on Heartmade.
7. Or a stylish tray for your table
Empty out an old picture frame and fill it up with corks, like this blogger did.
8. Design a DIY jewelry organizer
If you already have a tray on your table, use corks and an old photo frame to make a stylish jewelry organizer. Learn how to on this blog.
9. Craft these adorable cork pumpkins for Halloween
This charming home decor can be made with about 24 corks, some orange acrylic paint, and a hot glue gun. Follow the step-by-step directions on My Gourmet Connection.
10. Create a trivet to place under hot pots and pans
Trivets will keep hot pots and pans from damaging your countertop. To make your own, just glue halves of old wine corks onto a large cork circle.
11. Prevent water damage behind your sink
Depending on how much and how often you drink, it might take a while to save up corks to get this one rolling. But once you’ve got a decent collection going, try gluing them all onto a corkboard and mount it up behind your sink.
It not only gives your kitchen a rustic look, but it’ll help prevent any water damage from backsplash when you’re doing the dishes.
12. Homemade dog leash
Check out the full instructions on Olive Bites Blog.
13. Level wobbly chairs
No more loud, squeaky sounds, or worry about your floor getting scratched. Just cut off small discs from the corks to slip underneath.
14. Use them in your garden
Paint them over white, glue them onto a stick, and mark them with a Sharpie to use as easy DIY garden indicators.
15. Make them into a USB drive
Carefully take the plastic off the USB, cut a hole into the wine cork, and slide the flash disk in tightly. Check out the full tutorial here.
16. Bulletin board
Glue them into an old photo frame, and pin up important reminders, notes, and to-do lists. Here are the step-by-step directions.
17. Create homemade stamps
Simply draw your design on the bottom of a cork with a black permanent marker, and carve out the negative space with a knife. Read more on The Sweet Spot.
18. Make your own cork pen
Just drill a hole through a few corks, and slide them all over a pen. Voilà!
19. Use them to keep your headphones from getting tangled
Poke a hole in the top as a headphone jack, then wrap them all the way around.
20. Start a campfire
Soak them in a jar of isopropyl alcohol in a jar before you take off for your trip and they’ll work as instant fire starters.
