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What To Do With Old Wine Corks

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Are Wine Corks Worth Anything

DIY CORK DECOR | WHAT TO DO WITH OLD CORKS | WINE CORK CRAFTS

Worth is in the eye of the beholder. When we were last in Italy, we took a tour of a vineyard. The breakdown of the cost of the bottle was very informative. The cost of the cork was one dollar US for each and every wine cork! If I could sell back my collection to a vineyard, I would have a lot more money to spend on wine. Alas, this is not to be. You could gather your wine cork collection and put it up for auction. The going rate is about 10 cents per cork.

Canape Wine Cork Crafts Knife Handles

This canape knife handles from Yarni Gras take two old items that you might otherwise throw away and put them together to create a new set of rustic canape knives. If you have any old canape knives that have faded or damaged handles, this is a good way of giving them a new lease of life.

Instead of putting them in the trash, youll crack the handle off and replace them with the wine cork.

What’s The Best Way To Dispose Of Used Wine Corks

Hello there! I’m Dr. Vinifera, but you can call me Vinny. Ask me your toughest wine questions, from the fine points of etiquette to the science of winemaking. And don’t worry, I’m no wine snobyou can also ask me those “dumb questions” you’re too embarrased to ask your wine geek friends! I hope you find my answers educational, empowering and even amusing. And don’t forget to check out my most asked questions and my full archives for all my Q& A classics.

Dear Dr. Vinny,

What’s the best way to dispose of used wine corks?

John, Sammamish, Wash.

Dear John,

Check with your local recycling laws, but most synthetic corks and screwcaps can go into your recycling bin. Natural corks are biodegradable and can be safely tossed in the trash or a compost bin if you’re so inclined. There are also some companies that collect natural corks and recycle them into other goods. There are some companies that operate drop-off locations for cork recycling, including Cork Forest Conservation Alliance and ReCork. And Cork Club has a system where you can mail your corks in, but you need a minimum of 500 corks or 5 pounds’ worth.

Dr. Vinny

Also Check: How Many Ounces A Bottle Of Wine

Kitchen Tools Holders Never Looked So Good

If you have a kitchen, then you have cooking instruments. Instead of taking up drawer space that could be utilized for something else, you can craft a wine cork holder to keep those instruments together in one place. Not only does it serve a practical solution for storage, but it also looks wonderful on your kitchen counter next to the wine.

Ingenious Ways To Use Old Wine Corks

New Uses For Old Wine Corks

22nd Dec 16 8:55 am by admin

Picture this scenario: You are out for a dinner in an exclusive restaurant, and you order a bottle of wine. The first question the sommelier will ask you is, Do you want to smell the cork? You see, just by the smell of the cork, you know whether the wine is good or not.

But thats if you are a wine expert. If you just want to enjoy a good bottle of wine like I do, without getting too deep into corks and stuff, dont worry. What I want to show you today is that a wines cork can do much more than determine whether the wine is good or not.

So dont throw wine corks away any more. They can be such an asset in your DIY projects, and youll be surprised what can you do with them. The next time you enjoy a bottle or two of wine with your friends, keep the corks!

Recommended Reading: Mille Gradi Sangiovese

Wine Cork Coasters For Your Wine Glasses

Make some wine cork coasters to sit your wine glasses on. Its just the right thing to do! This design is both artistic and functional. Your guests will rave about these at your next dinner party and marvel at how creative you are! For this cork drink coaster craft you will need: wine corks, box cutter, sand paper and grab your hot glue gun!

Couple these with the DIY wine charms idea coming up, and you got yourself a winning formula.

Diy Wine Cork Corkboard

Corkboards are not typically made out of wine corks but that doesnt mean this idea wont work. Theres a nice tutorial on everydaydishes which explains exactly how to make a wine cork corkboard and the result is great.

The frame is actually a repurposed wooden tray in this case and it works out great for this particular project. The corks are glued together and theres twine all around the edge hiding the gaps in the corners.

Read Also: Can You Ship Alcohol To Illinois

Keychain And Jewelry Thats Totally Original

Another interesting project to take on is to take those wine corks and form either a keychain or jewelry out of them. For those who love wood, not to mention the healing properties wood can possess, adding it to your jewelry is a way to stand out from the rest. You can craft beautiful pieces that cant be found elsewhere.

Wine Cork Ampersand Wall Art

How To Open Old Wine without Breaking the Cork

via Craft Cuts

When you want an awesome idea for cute wine cork crafts, this DIY ampersand wall art should be at the top of your list. Make it with lots of different colored corks for best effect, does not matter if they are wine-stained, they look all the better this way. I crafted one of these for my kitchen and always get compliments on it. Dont be afraid to go big with this DIY wine cork letter because smaller letters end up being overwhelmed by the corks, plus bigger letters leave more room to fit the corks naturally. And please, whatever you do, dont cut the corks to make them fit. It just looks tacky. Either leave some of the wood exposed or go over the edge a little. I experienced both of those scenarios in this project and still love the end results.

DIY Ideas with a wine cork

Also Check: Sell Vintage Wine

Diy A Wine Cork Chandelier

Chandeliers add a touch of class to any space despite its size. The glass and crystals in them refract and reflect light.

This causes the light to be spread out through a room in various patterns. Whats more, their eye-catching presence cant go unnoticed in any room.

If youd love to have a chandelier of your own or the idea of making one appeal to you, guess what? Now you can! With these simple steps, youll be more than ready to make some money from your impressive work.

Before bringing the chandelier to life, youll need to get the supplies:

  • Wine corks
  • Hanging votives
  • 12 packets of Loctite Super Glue Gel
  • Eye screws

Drill a hole in each of the corks then start stringing them.

Cut the cord in different lengths then make a loop at the top of each cord. Then, thread the needle and start stringing the corks.

Space out the corks once each of them is on each piece of cord. Leave some extra cord at the bottom of the streamer so you can tie an S hook on the end.

Put the streamers of corks on cardboard sheets and secure them with a dab of glue at the top and bottom of each cork.

Install screw hooks in the base of each box plus eye screws at the top of the box for hanging.

After the bases are complete and the screw hooks are in the right places, hang the streamers and decide which of them can contain a hanging votive.

Add the votives, light the candles and there you go!

Some Of Easiest And Coolest Wine Cork Crafts That You Can Do

Why would anyone bother to save the wine corks, you might ask. Well, because its easy and because they can potentially be used in a lot of creative and interesting DIY projects and wine cork crafts.

Repurposing wine corks is one of the easiest things you could do and its typically super fun to do so. Lets have a look at some of these crafts and see if any of them inspires you.

Also Check: Will You Be My Bridesmaid Wine Glass

Create A Wine Cork Wine Charm

If youre no stranger to wine parties, youve probably seen wine charms before. They are those small, cute decorations around the stems of wine glasses.

Some are made of plastic while others are made of colored glass. Apart from enabling a guest to keep up with their glass at a wine party when they set it down, they help round out a theme such as a themed party or wedding shower.

The best part about making charms out of wine corks is youre in control of the materials. Additionally, you can add or do without a few details if you want and you dont have to get so much done.

Heres how you should go about making wine cork wine charms. The materials youll need are:

  • Pliers
  • Charms or beads
  • Small picture frame eye hook

Place a cork on a cutting board and cut it into slices using the knife. The surface on which you place the board has to be firm.

Select a shell for each of the slices. The shells have to be different.

Glue the shells to the center of the slices.

Carefully screw a small picture frame eye hook at the upper part of each charm.

For the wow factor, use pliers to add a bead or charm to the slices.

Fix the hoop earring notion to the eye hook and your wine charm is complete.

Diy Ways To Reuse Wine Corks

30+ Magnificent DIY Projects You Can Do With Wine Corks

ByLuria Petrucci

Do you keep your used wine bottle corks? Did you know they can be recycled? But what if you keep them for sentimental value? Or youve been saving them for a good DIY project?

Good news: You can reuse your wine corks and get new life out of them. In this article, we look at four DIY projects that give new life to your old wine corks.

This article contains affiliate links that help fund our Recycling Directory, the most comprehensive in North America.

Recommended Reading: Where To Sell Vintage Wine

Great Ways To Use Recycled Wine Corks In The Garden

November 9, 2017 by Kasi Smith

If you drink wine, you might have a few corks lying around. You never know when theyll come in handy, after all. Well, were about to give you some reasons to actually collect those corks. There are actually a whole slew of ways you can use them in your garden. Just make sure theyre the natural, organic kind . Ready? Lets go!

1. Mulch

Shred those corks with a knife or in a blender, and you can make fantastic mulch with them. The natural material will break down over time, and help hold in moisture. Try it in on your outdoor garden or potted plants.

2. Plant Markers

Cant remember what you planted where? No problem! Make your own plant markers out of skewers and corks.

3. Compost

Yes, those natural corks will compost just fine. No reason to waste them by throwing them in the trash!

4. Build a Fairy Garden

Corks are useful for building yourself an adorable fairy garden, just like this one. It works great as a pathway lining!

5. Save the Bees

Did you know that bees can drown in standing water, such as a bird bath or rain barrel? Throw in some corks and theyll have a safe place to land.

6. Build a Birdhouse

Not a gardening use exactly, but you could certainly place an adorable cork-made birdhouse in your garden.

7. Stepping Stones

Use those leftover corks to make unique stepping stones for your garden path.

8. Make a Planter

A Wine Coaster For Wine Glasses

What better way to use your wine corks than to further aid you in drinking wine? To protect your furniture from the dreaded glass rings, you can use the corks to make a coaster for your wine glasses and other beverages. Not only does it fit the theme, but it also just looks really cool.

Read Also: Where Can I Buy Palo61 Wine

How To Soften A Wine Cork For Crafts

Cleaning and softening your corks can be done in a couple of different ways.

Steam Your Corks

Steaming corks Is easy if you have a steamer because you can simply fill it halfway with corks and place it in a pot of boiling water. For those without a steamer, a colander will work just as well.

Ensure that the corks do not come in contact with the water as they steam. Let them stay there for 10 minutes. Then remove them from the heat and let them cool before you attempt to handle them.

Boil Your Corks

The second method to clean and soften your corks is by boiling them. For this method you will place the corks in boiling water and leave them for ten minutes.

With this method, the corks will absorb water causing them to swell. Although they will return to their normal size, this can affect the integrity of the cork, which is why it is recommended to steam rather than boil corks.

Where To Get Wine Corks For Crafting

What to to Make from Recycled Corks? DIY Cute Cork Board Project- #TrashToTreasure

If you dont have a collection of your own to dip into, consider some of the following sources for wine corks:

Once youve secured a collection of wine corks, all you need is a hot glue gun and maybe some paints to make gorgeous crafts and gift ideas! From decorative wall art, signs, jewelry organizers, wine cork ornaments, hot pads and more, these easy and creative DIY wine cork crafts are sure to get you inspired!

Let us know if the comments below: which of these wine cork projects would inspire you to open a bottle of wine?

Recommended Reading: Stella Rosa Red Reserve Wine

Cork Dork: Ten Cool Things To Do With Leftover Wine Corks

After uncorking a bottle and enjoying the wine, probably most people throw the cork in the trash. Certainly theres worse waste: Its not as if there are junkyards full of corks, and since they are the bark of oak trees, they are biodegradable. But surely we can do better than simply throw them away. Here are ten ideas!

1. Kicking things off, consider this gorgeous bowling ball from Minnesota artist . Well come back to her at the end, but this is a good one to get things, er, rolling.

2. The wall o corks as you may remember from the 15,000 cork wall at Frankly Wine, a Manhattan wine shop

3. The cork vase: easy and can bring back some wine memories. As seen here at Pottery Barn.

4. Exquisite miniatures emerge from the Design Within Reach annual contest: the foil, capsule, wire, and cork from two Champagne corks to make a chair. Behold this years judges choice :

5. Recycle! A sustainable building firm in Missouri will collect corks to recondition into building materials: Since 2004, wine consumers have mailed in 1.5 tons of corks . Amorim, the large cork producer from Portugal, has also started a program called Recork America that may reconstitute wine corks into flooring and bulletin boards. There are drop points at some wineries and Whole Foods locations. But since flooring is boring to look at , heres a picture of the cork cover for the iPhone!

7. A trivet/hot plate pad or cork bulletin board. Classic yet practicalas well as actually feasible.

Embroidered Diy Necklace From Wine Corks

via Instructables

via Suze Geeks Out

Some of the most creative DIY ideas Ive seen this year are wall art projects made with wine corks. Inexpensive to make, these crafty pin boards look much nicer than the traditional cork bulletin board. Learn how to make this craft idea to sell on Etsy or give one as a thoughtful handmade Christmas gift idea. However, you are going to want to keep one of the cute upcycled frame pinboards for yourself.

Recommended Reading: Low Cal Wine

Quirky Ways To Use Wine Corks

Once youve poured yourself a glass of wine from your favorite bottle, we assume the last thing on your mind is what to do with the cork. But next time you pop some bubbly or uncork a robust red, stash the corks somewhere safe. The reason? DIY projects, of course! Whether youve got one on hand or a full-blown cork collection, get inspired by these 20 quirky ways to use wine corks.

1. Framed Corkboard: A brightly painted filigree frame adds a cheery pop of color to this elegant corkboard. Arranging the corks in a chevron pattern? Genius!

2. : This quirky cork accent piece is really all that. Turn several small ones into a modern mobile, matching ornaments, or forgo the string and set it on a bookshelf or desk.

3. : This monogrammed cork tray is super high-class. While it may not be flat enough to serve your guests by the glass, try using it as a surface for platters of small bites like cheese, bread, and olives.

4. Beaded Cork Ring: When sliced into a thin circle, cork is such a versatile canvas for jewelry. Put a bead on it like this blogger, or even take inspiration from our painted color block cork clocks!

5. Cork Keychain: Heres a hack we can get behind! All it takes is two small pieces of hardware to turn a cork into a floatable keychain.

8. Ombre Cork Heart Wall Art: This wall art is really winning us over. A pretty pink ombre fade and inspirational quote make it a worthy addition to our list of 100 faves.

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