A natural, completely renewable material – cork is so versatile that it’s a star of many of our favourite reuse ideas! And, as Christmas usually sees the wine flowing more freely than at other times of the year, we decided to share a few upcycling projects that include using wine corks!
We hope we’re not encouraging irresponsible drinking over the Christmas period… please say that no one plans to drink a bath mat’s worth of wine over the holidays?
If you’re excited to try one of these projects, it’s worth chatting to a local wine bar or restaurant to see if they’d be willing to save up a bin bag or two of wine corks. Might need to do some serious sweet talking if you want to make a wine cork floor, though…
Know someone whose hobbies take them near or onto the water? Make them a floating wine cork key ring for a truly thoughtful, upcycled gift (which costs mere pence). Extra bonus credit if the cork is from a memorable evening spent drinking with them!
Wine cork succulent mini-planters would be good, but turning them into fridge magnets? Genius! Kids would love this, so perhaps a project to save for a rainy day in the winter holidays?
Need a family noticeboard? Get hold of a deep frame, a bunch of corks and that’s about all there is to it. In less than a couple of hours your new organisational tool will be up and running! Perfect for shopping lists, school notices and cutesy pictures of baby animals.
This was the picture that started our love affair with cork reuse crafting. We’d never thought of using corks in this way before, but it makes perfect sense. This cork bath mat looks super stylish, repels mould and water naturally plus it’s soft and warm underfoot.
A different take on the same idea from eco-friendly legend Danny Seo. His version is more hardwearing with the addition of a wooden frame to keep the corks firmly in place. Love the way he’s used some of the corks ‘wine side up’, for a sprinkling of colour interest. Cosy!
A showstopper of an idea! Apparently an effect like this requires a heap of time, a fair bit of patience and approximately 72 corks per square foot. But look at the final result with its undulating pattern – stunning flooring at a budget price, and stunningly comfortable, quiet and warm to boot.
Yes, so not everyone has a month to spend gluing wine corks to the floor of the upstairs bedroom, but could you spare an hour to make some of these excellent wine cork coasters? Tutorial here!
Corks are very easy to cut and forgiving on the amateur crafter, so you don’t need perfect accuracy here – in fact it adds to the charm. A sharp craft knife, a bit of hot glue and you’re done!
Of course, this is only the tip of the reuse amazingness that is wine corks! Have you seen other good examples? Share with us here or on Twitter and Facebook!
