All right, winos; this blog is for you!
For the last four years or so, I have been avidly collecting wine corks, poaching them from my parents' kitchen, my friends' recycling bins, and restaurant tables. By the time last November rolled around, I realized that I had quite the stash and it was time to do something with them. After a bit of Google crafty research, I stumbled upon the idea of creating (drumroll, please) . . .
Because I was making these for Christmas presents, I did this over the series of several weeks and numerous hours in front of Netflix. However, it's a super easy project, and the only thing you have to wait on is glue dry time.
What You Need
- 8 corks for each coaster
- Really good glue (I suggest wood glue or tacky glue; hot glue doesnt hold strong enough and it leaves a chunky mess)
- Cork matting
- Scissors
- Ribbon (Optional)
- Heavy books or other weight
What You Do
Step 1: Glue together the corks two at a time. You want them to be roughly the same width and as close to the same length as possible. Do this to all of the corks so that you have four sets of two corks. Let dry.
Step 2: Glue the sets of two together. You can either alternate the directions or have the corks all facing the same way. Glue together and let dry. On the left, you can see that I used plastic corks; on the right, I used real cork. Both options are fun to work with, but I won't lie: the plastic ones are usually way more consistent in same-sizeness.
Step 3: Measure a square of cork matting that is just barely smaller than the bottom of the cork coaster. (To be honest, the square below is probably a bit too small; you probably want it a little bit bigger, but as long as it gets the bottom flat, that's what counts.) Cut it out, and glue it to the bottom of the coaster to create a flat base. (Note: my cork role had a "sticker" base that I tried to use at first, but don't be fooled: it pops right off. I just put glue on top of the sticky, and it held that way.) Cover with a heavy book or other weighted object to glue the matting firmly in place.
Step 4: Ta-da! You're done. If you want to make a cute gift, sign the bottom of two coasters with the date and your name and wrap them together with a bow.
Tip: Another fun twist on this is to make trivets for hot plates and pots. I bought $1 wooden picture frames from Michaels, flipped them over, and glued corks in cool batterns all along the frames. I also glued some corks directly onto the bottom of the glass of some picture frames for another twist, like it the one I made below. I've already used mine for pots of pasta!
Ready to try your hand? Pop open a bottle and get started!
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