Wine cork crafts: five easy projects for your old corks

Every cork comes out of a bottle with a story: a dinner, a birthday, a first date. Here are five easy ways to keep them, each needing little more than corks, glue and a sharp knife. Start by sorting your corks, because not all of them behave the same.

First, know your corks

• Natural cork: one solid piece of cork-oak bark. The best for pinning, cutting and hollowing.
• Technical cork: cork granules pressed and glued together; it looks grainy. Fine for gluing, but it crumbles when you carve it.
• Synthetic cork: plastic made to look like cork. Hard to cut and poor for pins; keep it for projects where it only needs gluing.
• Sparkling-wine corks: the mushroom shape stands up on its own, which makes them perfect for place cards.

A natural cork is a small piece of a tree. Cork is the bark of the cork oak, stripped by hand at least nine years apart without cutting the tree down, and only from the tree's third harvest is the bark good enough for a natural wine stopper.

How to cut corks cleanly and safely

• Soften them first. A few minutes in hot water makes cork cut cleaner and crumble less. Let it cool before you handle it.
• Use the right blade. A serrated knife or a sharp craft knife, on a cutting board, always cutting away from your fingers. Hold small pieces with pliers.
• Let corks dry fully before you glue them.
• Choose the glue for the job. Hot glue is quick, but it softens with heat. For anything that will meet a hot pan, use a strong all-purpose or wood glue.

1. A wine cork pin board

• You need: a deep picture frame or shadow box, a backing board cut to fit (thick card or thin plywood), natural corks, strong glue and a serrated knife.
• Step 1: cut the corks in half lengthwise, so the flat side sits on the board. Or keep them whole and stand them on end for a pattern of circles, if your frame is deep enough.
• Step 2: lay them out dry first: straight rows, a herringbone or a spiral.
• Step 3: glue each cork to the backing and press it for a few seconds.
• Step 4: let it dry completely, then fit the board into the frame and hang it.
• Make it yours: before gluing, write the date and the wine on the corks from special bottles. The board becomes a diary.

2. A cork trivet

• You need: enough corks to fill a ring packed tight, a ring to hold them (an embroidery hoop or a cake ring), and a strong all-purpose glue rather than hot glue.
• Step 1: stand the corks on end inside the ring, packed as tightly as they will go.
• Step 2: glue the corks to each other and to the ring.
• Step 3: let it dry fully, then lightly sand the top so pots sit level.
• Make it yours: use only the corks from one region, or one winery you love.
• Before the big roast: try it with a warm dish first.

3. Cork keyrings

• You need: natural corks, small screw eyes, split keyrings, and beads or charms if you like.
• Step 1: make a small starter hole in one end of the cork with a nail or an awl.
• Step 2: twist the screw eye in until it is firm.
• Step 3: open the keyring and slide it onto the screw eye. Add beads or a charm.
• Make it yours: the cork from a wedding toast or a birthday bottle, with the date written on it, makes a small gift with a big story.

4. Tiny cork planters

• You need: natural corks, a small knife or a drill bit, a pinch of potting mix, small succulent cuttings, and small magnets and glue if you want them on the fridge.
• Step 1: hollow out the top half of the cork, leaving the bottom solid.
• Step 2: fill the hole with a little potting mix.
• Step 3: plant a succulent cutting and press the soil around it.
• Step 4: water sparingly, a few drops at a time. There is no drainage, and succulents need very little.
• Make it yours: glue a magnet to the side and start a fridge garden.

5. Place-card holders

• You need: corks (standard or sparkling-wine corks), a sharp knife and small name cards.
• With a standard cork: slice a thin strip off one long side so it lies flat without rolling, then cut a slit along the top and slide in the card.
• With a sparkling-wine cork: stand it on its base and cut a slit across the top of the mushroom.
• Make it yours: write each guest's name on one side of the card and the wine you will pour on the other.

Got a big collection? Halved corks also cover a plain wooden birdhouse or a mirror frame beautifully. It just takes a lot more corks and a lot more patience.

Where to get corks

• Ask a local restaurant or wine bar. They open bottles every night, and some will happily save corks for you if you ask.
• Buy natural craft corks: natural wine corks for crafts on Amazon.
• Pull them out whole. A corkscrew leaves a hole down the middle. A two-prong Ah-So opener slides down either side of the cork and lifts it out whole, which is perfect for crafts. Here is how to choose a wine opener.

Recycle the rest

Natural cork can be recycled. In North America, ReCORK collects natural corks: find a drop-off point on its locations page. Elsewhere, ask your local wine shop or council. Synthetic corks are plastic, so keep them out of cork collections.

Questions people ask