15 Smart Uses for Wine Corks: Creative Ideas for Reuse

You may like to indulge in a glass of wine every now and again, but what do you do with all the wine corks? You can throw them away or recycle them, but there are many projects that you can use those old wine corks for, including ones with practical applications. So, before you throw out that old wine corks, check out these great ideas to reuse them.

You might just find that you need a little more wine, just to get the corks of course.

The 15 Smart Uses for Wine Corks

1. Coasters- pink when

Wine cork coasters might be the most popular way to reuse wine corks and for a good reason. First, the project itself is easy to complete. Second, corks are incredibly effective as coasters. The soft cork material does a great job of forming a water barrier between your drink and the surface that it’s on.

Moreover, you don’t need many wine corks to get the job done. Five or six wine corks should do the trick, so even the casual wine drinker can accumulate enough corks to build these coasters. Once you add in the aesthetically pleasing appearance, it’s not hard to see why this DIY project is so popular.

2. Place Cards- kelly leigh creates

Whether you’re decorating for a wedding, a birthday party, or just a summer get-together, wine cork place cards can be a cute way to spruce things up. You don’t need many materials and it’s easy to complete.

You only need one wine cork per place card, so it’s a quick and affordable way to get as many place cards as you need. If you’re one or two short, it’s an excuse to crack open a few bottles of wine!

3. Tray- staying close to home

If you already have a tray with a hard bottom surface, you’re halfway to creating your own wine cork tray. Creating a soft bottom helps keep different items stable when you’re moving the tray around.

It also creates a nicer visual appeal, making it a real win-win. It is a bit challenging because you need the wine corks to line up perfectly to get a final product that you’ll be happy with. It’s nothing that a box cutter can’t handle, but that’s an extra step.

Also, you’ll need to come up with some sort of design for laying the wine corks. It adds a visual element that improves the final look of the tray.

4. Vase Fillers- up to date interiors

You’re not going to find an easier project than using wine corks as a vase filler. All you need to do is throw your old wine corks in the bottom of a vase.

There are a few other visual aspects that you can add to put your own twist on things, but the basis remains the same: Put the wine corks in the bottom of a vase! Just keep in mind that you’ll need to put the flowers in the vase too, and it’s best to have a full arrangement.

Wine corks float, and if the flowers don’t push them down enough, they’ll try to push the flowers straight out the top. Another idea is to add decorative rocks to the top of the wine corks to weigh them down.

5. Jewelry Organizer- kelly leigh creates

Do you have jewelry lying around and nowhere to put it? Or is it all collecting at the bottom of a jewelry box, making it impossible to find what you need when you need it? Knock out two birds with one stone by turning your old wine corks into a wine cork jewelry organizer.

You might need to cut down a few wine corks to get them to fit into the picture frame perfectly, but other than that, it’s an easy project to complete. You can keep out some of your most worn jewelry without risking losing it.

6. Coat Hooks- condo blues

Do you need a place to hang backpacks, jackets, or handbags? These wine cork coat hooks are part of a project that makes use of your old wine corks and helps clean up and organize another area in your home.

While it’s a little more in-depth than many of the other projects on this list, it’s also one of the most useful. When you are done, these wine cork coat hooks are durable, aesthetically pleasing, and extremely durable.

This project is still beginner-friendly enough for most people to figure out — as long as they didn’t just finish the bottle of wine!

7. Monogram- the suburb an mom

If you’re looking for a signature piece and have a fair number of wine corks on hand, creating a wine cork monogram might be the way to go. It’s an easy project that looks great when you’re done, with the only limitation being your overall creativity and the number of wine corks that you have.

You can opt for low-quality glue, as mentioned in the guide, but we highly recommend going for a more durable option, like hot glue. It’ll last longer and won’t be extra work if you already have a hot glue gun.

8. Bathmat- crafty nest

If you have many wine corks on hand and want a unique bath mat, why not create a wine cork bathmat? While it’s going to take a bit of work and plenty of wine corks, it’s not difficult, and the end result is phenomenal.

Just ensure that you get the right type of shelf liner for the bottom half of the bathmat; this way, it’s truly waterproof and not just a decorative piece. Another nice feature of this wine cork bathmat is that it rolls up fairly nicely if you need to store it or just move it while you’re cleaning.

9. Backsplash- create craft love

This is by far the most complex way to reuse your wine corks, and you’re going to need hundreds of wine corks. But there’s no denying that the result of this wine cork backsplash is breathtaking.

It’s going to take a great deal of work, skill, and wine corks, but if you pull it off, you’re going to have a unique backsplash that’s both a conversation starter and just awesome looking.

So, take a deep breath and start picking up more bottles of wine, as this is the ultimate way to reuse wine corks!

10. Dresser Handles- dollar store crafts

If you have a handful of wine corks that you want to reuse, why not replace your dresser handles? All you need is a wine cork and the screws for your dresser handles.

From there, simply screw the wine cork into the dresser, and you have finished your new dresser handles! While simple, it’s a great way to mix up your furniture pieces. It puts your own flair on things and doesn’t take much work.

11. Garden Markers- optimistic mommy

Are you tired of not remembering what you planted where? That’s why these wine cork garden markers are such a great idea. It’s a super simple project that comes in handy when your plants start sprouting.

Even better, it’s easy to complete and you don’t need that many wine corks. You just need one per garden marker, so you don’t have to wait until you have dozens of wine corks on hand to get started with this fun project.

12. Cord Ties- the kim six fix

If you’re dealing with loose wires and need a quick and convenient way to organize and clean them up, these wine cork cord ties are a great way to reuse wine corks. All you need is a few common household tools and a bungee cord to complete the project.

You also don’t need that many wine corks, so it’s a great project if you’re simply trying to find a way to reuse the few wine corks that you do have on hand. Even better, from start to finish, you can complete this project in just 15 to 20 minutes!

13. Keychains- the kim six fix

If you’re looking for an easy project, it doesn’t get any simpler than this. All you need to do is screw a hook into a wine cork, and you’ve got yourself a wine cork keychain!

While it’s likely not something that you will want to use as your primary keychain, if you keep a set of keys for a pool house, the garage, or a shed, it’s a cheap and easy way to ensure that you don’t lose the key.

Even better, it takes less than 5 minutes to finish, and it’s only going to cost you a dollar or two for the \.

14. Twine and Floss Spools- addicted 2 diy

You can do many fun projects with twine and floss, but keeping everything all organized between projects can be a pain. Fortunately, all you need are a few wine corks, and you can organize that twine and floss in a way that ensures that you won’t have to deal with floss knots or tangled twine the next time that you need them.

These awesome wine cork twine and floss spools are easy to use and even easier to make! You can complete this craft in under 5 minutes and put your days of dealing with tangled and knotted twine and floss behind you for good.

15. Charms- diy inspired

The cool thing about these wine cork charms is that you get to put your own flair on things. You don’t necessarily need everything on the materials list because it’s all about what you want to put on your wine cork charms.

There are many great options out there, and they all look great if you’re willing to put in the necessary time and work to make them.

Conclusion

With so many great ways to reuse wine corks, you might find that you need to get a few more bottles of wine to get more crafts done! When you’re shopping, we highly recommend mixing up the bottles and brands so you can get more variety in your projects.

Plus, it’s a chance to find new favorites! It’s a real win-win for wine lovers.

Featured Image Credit: Felicia Montenegro, Unsplash