Corks Galore

Before getting pregnant, I loved having a glass of wine (I still love wine but I obviously can't have any while pregnant).  Over the last few years I've accumulated a lot of wine corks because I refused to throw them away.  This poses the question, what the heck do you do with all those corks?  

 

The first possibility :: create a wreath with corks.  

This was a simple project but a bit time consuming.  Total cost was $0 because I had all of the materials on hand - you probably do too except maybe the scallop punch. 

 

I used cardboard from a box as the backing.  You do need something dense for this piece.  I cut the cardboard into four fairly equal rectangles and used a glue gun to adhere them together - you can see the formation below in step 1.  I then glued about a hundred corks to the cardboard backing (step 2).  I could have stopped at this point (step 3) but I didn't love that bits of the cardboard were showing.  To make it look more finished, I used a scalloped punch and magazine pages to make about a hundred square pieces of paper (step 4).  I then added this as fringe around the outside and inside of the square.     

The second possibility :: use the corks in a vase.  This is also a nice way to store them until you are ready to use them for another project. 

The third possibility :: make a cork coaster.  This requires eight corks, a glue gun, and about five minutes.  Cost for me was $0 as I had everything on hand.  To get a straight square, find 8 corks that are all about the same size and length.  Then match them into pairs - 2 vertically and two horizontally.  Glue the pairs together and then repeat for the other four corks.   

And for fun, you can keep the cork vase with the cork coaster! 

Seriously, what did we ever do without a glue gun?  Hope this gives you some cork inspiration.  Please enjoy a glass of wine for me!