Reuse and Recycle Wine Corks

For some reason, we have a lot of wine corks around the house. I can't bring myself to throw them away. Since corks can be a versatile foundation for many do-it-yourself (DIY) craft projects and I like to make holiday gifts, this year I plan to recycle these corks into gifts. And if I run out before I finish my projects, I'll have to figure out a way to get more corks.

Here are 5 fun and useful things you make from wine corks.

For an informal sit down dinner, make homemade place card holders. Secure two wine corks together with glue. Line the glue near the bottom of the side-by-side corks, leaving a groove at the top to insert the name card. These place card holders can do double duty; they work great to identify different cheeses on a cheese board.

Turn old wine corks into a homemade bulletin board. Simply glue the corks end-to-end to create a frame. Then fill in the middle of the cork frame with more corks. This project will look more interesting if you play with the cork arrangement, and create interesting patterns for the inside of the bulletin board.

Similar to the bulletin board DIY project, make trivets out of used wine corks. For a large trivet to protect counter-tops from hot cookware, use whole corks. For a thinner table trivet, cut the corks in half lengthwise. Either glue the corks onto a wood base or frame them with a decorative wooden band or a circular wire clamp.

Wine corks make excellent fire starters. Fill an old jar with wine corks and pour rubbing alcohol to the top of the cork-filled jar. Allow the wine corks to soak in the alcohol. Put two or three of the saturated wine corks into the fireplace, under the kindling and logs. Light and watch how fast the fire starts. For gift giving, tie a decorative ribbon around the jar with an instruction card attached.

Glue several wine corks together, depending on the size of final pin cushion. Use the wine corks as a holder for sharp household items. These wine cork pin cushions work well for pins but also for needles, thumbtacks, drill bits, corn cob holders, metal skewers, etc.

Additional suggestions for reusing real wine corks include wreaths, fishing bobbers and Christmas tree ornaments. Let these suggestions spark your imagination, the possibilities are endless.

If you're interested in turning Christmas cards into holiday gifts, visit this article: Reuse and Recycle Christmas cards.