10 Easy Projects for Leftover Wine Corks

When one of your major hobbies is drinking/experiencing/learning about wine, over time you go through a lot of wine corks.  Rather than tossing them in the trash (or if you're a savvy recycler like we are, in the compost) hold on to the corks and make something decorative or even useful out of them!  If you search "what to do with wine corks" you'll see hundreds of websites with crazy projects.  Here are my top 10 favorites that are actually feasible to create at home with minimal crafting experience required!  

1.  Classic Cork Board - You really can't go wrong making a cork board with wine corks.  Find a frame you like (or build your own), decide on a pattern, grab a glue gun, and secure corks to the backing of the frame.  If you search "cork board" on the internet, you'll get lots of how-to websites.  Below is the one I just finished, hanging proudly by our wine rack.  My friend John asked me how much I had invested in this cork board...  It took a lot of wine, and over 2 years, but it is worth every penny!

2.  Wine cork bath mat - The original inventor blogs on CraftyNest.com.  Click on the link and you can find a how-to tutorial as well as a few updates on how the bath mat stood up.

3.  Monograms from wine corks - These look awesome and would be a great addition to an empty bookshelf, on the edge of a mantel, or as a housewarming gift for someone.  I just recently spent a goodly amount of time cutting up wine corks, so I know how difficult and irksome it can be.  This project looks a little too labor-intensive for me, but I will be a most gracious recipient should anyone like to make me a set!   

4.  Cork-filled Vases - This reuse of wine corks is so easy and a no-brainer.  Grab an empty vase, or a large wine goblet, fill it with corks and use it as an accent piece.  It's how I put some of my wine corks to use while I was working on collecting enough to make something crafty with them.  

5.  Wine cork wreaths - If I get in the crafty spirit this fall, I'm definitely going to try my hands at creating a wine cork wreath.  Save-on-crafts.com has a great tutorial.  Strap a big festive bow on this and I've got myself an inside wreath for my door!  

6. Wine cork framed clock - HELLO, AWESOME!  I really love this cork-framed clock.  It was sold on Etsy a long time ago, but it doesn't look terribly difficult to DIY.  

7.  Wine Cork Trivets - Oh Martha Stewart... you really know the way into my heart.  These super simple wine cork trivets come from Martha Stewarts sister site Whole Living.  Check out item 10 of 25 in the column "25 Eco-Chic Ideas For Your Home" which gives the tutorial for how to create these eco-chic trivets.  

If you need slightly more of a challenge, or you're feeling particularly crafty, visit CraftyNest.com again and follow her instructions for this half-sized hexagonal wine cork trivet lined with ribbon.  

8.  Cork napkin rings - These are great because they don't require you to collect hundreds of wine corks.  If you have a few on hand and happen to be throwing a dinner party (*cough* Wine & Dine party *cough*).  Drill a hole through the width, thread some pretty ribbon through, and tie together.

9.  Cork coasters - I found these on Etsy, but they look so simple to make!  Take 8 similarly sized corks and glue pairs together with a hot glue gun.  Then, glue the left side of a pair to the base of another pair to create a pinwheel pattern.  Finish off by gluing a decorative ribbon around the edges.

10.  Wine glass cork charms - These would be really useful at Wine & Dine parties!  I've been tempted to buy a set, but now I'm going to make my own!  I also found on Etsy, but I think it's a project that would be fun to tackle.  And it's another project that you can do if you only have a couple extra corks on hand.  If you have any experience making jewelry, these should be a snap to put together.  This might even be a fun group project for us girls!