DIY: Wine Cork Coasters

These are so chic and look like they were expensive and from a designer store - but we seriously have everything you need to make these at home already, which is amazing!  Can't wait to give it a try and it's all thanks to Heartmade's blog (how cute of a name is that?). 

 

materials

For this project you’ll need:

- at least 25 wine corks

- hot glue gun with glue sticks

- thin cork paper circles

- a pocket knife

- a cutting board

- coarse sand paper

step by step

When you gather all the troops, follow these oh to simple photo actions:

DIY: Packthread Wrapped Vase

A wonderful upcycle tutorial from Sheepy Me!

Supplies:

1.) Double Sided Tape
2.) Packthread

3.) Scissors

4.) A used bottle!

DIY: Cork Tile Placemat from Wine Corks

Thanks to Creme de la Craft we have found another wonderful way to reuse those wine corks!  We absolutely love upcycle projects, and this one is right up our alley.  We get to drink wine AND make fun, easy crafts?  Yes, please.

Check out their webpage for more DIY! 

DIY: Cork Tile Placemat From Wine Corks

   

If you're a cork collector like me, this DIY project is for you. Wine drinkers know how many leftover corks you can accumulate over the years, so let's put them to use! Not only do I love wine, but I love using cork for crafting projects. It's easy to cut, naturally waterproof with a beautiful rustic look, and it has a cushion material that makes for the perfect handmade placemat.

The DIY possibilities are endless by simply gluing corks together. You can also make coasters, table runners, trivets, floor mats or cork boards, just to name a few. Make one for yourself or maybe a gift for a wine lover? The best part is, if you know how to use a glue gun, you'll be a pro at this project.

Follow the steps below to make your own upcycled cork placemat. 

Materials:
• Approximately 50 wine corks. Don't have some handy? You have some options: (a) drink lots of wine (b) ask your local restaurants, bars or wine shops or (c) buy them online
• Utility knife
• Hot glue gun

Tip: Use as many red wine corks as possible to add some beautiful shades of red to your placemat.

Steps:
•  Cut corks horizontally into small pieces (about 5-6 pieceseach). All pieces should be similar in size so that when they are glued together, you can easily place objects on top, but don't worry about making them exact. A little contrast in size actually gives the finished product a beautiful look.
• Place the corks into your desired shape and glue each cork to one another using a glue gun (you only need a small amount). I suggest placing a large piece of cardboard underneath in case any pieces get stuck to your work surface.
• If they do, use a knife to gently scrape them off and remove.

DIY Cork Bulletin Board Bar

So easy, and a great way to upcycle / reuse those wine corks!  Don't have wine corks saved up?  Hit up your local wine bar or restaurant and ask them to save some for you for one night - you'll have plenty!  They usually have no problem saving them for people, you just have to ask!

This Bulletin Bar keeps bulletin board overlap at bay while doubling as a recycling project: It uses up all those corks you've been saving for no particular reason.

Materials

• 45 corks (per yard)
• A yardstick

• Hot glue gun

Instructions

1. To make one, simply glue the corks side by side onto a yardstick or similar strip of wood. Uhu brand "natural materials" glue works well, as does hot glue, and you'll need about 45 corks per yard. Do not glue the first and last cork on either end of the yardstick--that's where you'll fasten the bar to the wall.
   
   
2. Let the glue dry, then screw or nail the board to the wall. Glue the last cork on each end after you've screwed your board in place on the wall.

DIY Wine and Beer Bottle Vases

Pieces of Anna has a great tutorial on how to upcycle those wine / beer bottles into amazingly fashionable vases that would be ideal for a gift or for your own home!  I would love this!!  Can't wait to try it.  

Be sure to check out their page for more inspirational DIY projects!

Found here. Originally from here.

A little bit of googling turned up handy tutorials on how to wrap bottles with jute. Some tutorials called for using a hot glue gun, which I don't own (and quite frankly, I can't imagine that getting hot glue on your fingers is all that pleasant). Luckily, I found some tutorials, like this one, which claimed that you could achieve the same results using plain old Elmer's glue.

The first step was to obtain some empty wine and beer bottles. I asked D to help me out with this step. I literally told him, "I need you to drink beer for my project." He was happy to oblige! Once I had a few bottles collected, I needed to remove the labels. Soaking the bottles in hot water makes this step much easier than trying to scrape dry labels off the bottles.

Bottles soaking in hot water in the kitchen sink.

Some labels came off rather easily, while others required a little scrubbing. On one wine bottle, I wasn't able to get all of the glue off, but it was fine by me, since I was going to cover it with jute anyway. After all the labels were off, and the bottles no longer smelled like alcohol, I let them dry overnight.

Bottles drying overnight.

Once the bottles were prepped, I gathered my supplies. I figured I would start with a beer bottle because it was smaller, and if I screwed up, I'd still have plenty more extra beer bottles to play with. I also bought Elmer's glue and a roll of jute (which I found in the jewelry and beading aisle at an arts and crafts store). I used a paper bag to contain my mess and not ruin the dining table.

Supplies.

I started wrapping my beer bottle from the bottom just because I figured any mistakes would be less obvious there than on the top. I did not glue any jute underneath the bottle. These photos had to be taken with my phone because I don't happen to have three hands (one to hold the bottle, one to hold the SLR camera, and one to take the photo).

I started wrapping the bottle from the bottom.

The basic steps of the process involved putting a little bit of glue on the circumference of the bottle, placing jute over the glue, and holding that part down for some time to make sure that it set enough for me to move on to the next section. The beginning part was hard because the jute kept trying to slide off the bottom of the bottle, so I had to hold it in place longer than the subsequent sections. The rest of the bottle was mostly straightforward, except when the bottle started narrowing. In that section, the jute kept sliding up the bottle to the narrower part, and I had to allow for a longer setting time again.

Glue and wrap. Glue and wrap. Rinse, repeat.

To wrap one beer bottle in jute took me about an hour. Granted, I was being paranoid and made sure that every piece of jute was glued to the bottle. I probably could have gotten away with gluing every other turn around the bottle, but since this was supposed to be a gift, I didn't want to take any chances. After an hour of sniffing glue, I had gotten quite light-headed. But it was totally worth it because the beer bottle vase turned out great!

The beer bottle vase is complete!

Inspired by my initial success, I was eager to proceed with the rest of the bottles. I happened to have some yellow yarn sitting around from another project, so I figured I could try wrapping one beer bottle with that, just to mix things up a bit. For some reason, though, this particular yarn was refusing to stick to the bottle. It would just slide off, no matter how much glue I would dump on it. I suspected that the yarn may have been too narrow, and so I bought a multicolored blue/green yarn that was wider. It worked out much better.

The yarn on the left is wider and flatter than the yarn on the right.

I made a few more beer bottle vases and one wine bottle vase. The wine bottle vase took two hours to make, and of course I was trying to finish it up the day before Christmas Eve! Luckily, it all worked out.