Jos van de Kasteele josvdk@home.nl

Now THESE guys truly have found a unique use for corks !!!!

Lyle from Canada writes ...The idea of covering bird houses with corks cut in half lengthwise, maybe second hand news to you.I make a bird house of 3mm plywood and then glue on the cork halves. I paint or stain the finished product. Here's a couple of images

Cork roofed bird house ..... Shingle roofed bird house

Cindy G. writes ... I drilled a hole down the center of the corks and strung them end to end to make a hanging bead curtain (you can put a decorative bead in-between each cork if you want it to swing better). It was especially good for our outside porch where the afternoon sun created too much glare - it has the effect of a wooden screen, but is lightweight, weatherproof, and easy to walk through when you need.

John D. covers an ENTIRE WALL with corks !

John writes .. We started saving corks over 20 years ago and finally started covering one whole wall in our bar with them on New Years' Day this year. It took me two months to complete, working about 10 to 12 hours each weekend on it. As the years went on, we had a lot of people start saving corks for us, plus we went to a lot of wine tastings where we collected corks from all the wineries represented. I want it to be clearly known that we didn't drink all of these ourselves!!--Hahaha!

I used corks cut in half as the border all the way around and champagne corks on their ends around the central mirror. All the other corks are whole---give or take some trimming to make things line up. I am sending you a picture of my cork supply before I started, and also a couple of the completed wall.

Thanks for a great web page. Now we have some more ideas of what to do with the "leftovers." JWD

Picture 1 ... Picture 2

Ken G of Toronto Canada writes .. I'm attaching some photos of a piece I did recently putting corks on canvas. All of these corks were from wines me, my wife and our friends have had at our house. At the very least its a conversation piece.

Image1 ... Image 2 ... Image 3 ... Image 4

John and Phyllis F. of Las Vegas sent in what has to be THE most innovative uses for corks that we have ever seen !! We are truly indebted to them for sharing this with us!

This is a MUST read Article

Maggie writes .. Here are a couple of ideas for using your corks.

Make a piggy bank from a small coffee can. I covered the can and lid with some pink fabric, securing it with hot glue. Regular wine corks painted pink served for the legs and a painted champagne cork for the snout. Then I used
some pipe cleaner (chenille stems) for the tail and added some googely eyes. The most difficult part is putting the slot in the top. I used an old Ginsu knife, it really did cut metal! Make sure you grind away any sharp edges
from the inside of the can so the child doesn't get cut.

My storage technique, rather than using a drawer, is a huge brandy snifter that I bought at Walmart. They are sold in the pet section as a fish bowl. The table that holds the snifter also has some cigars paraphernalia and
antique frames, so it makes a nice vignette. Three snifters is enough to make a nice wreath.

Carleen G. writes .. I have been decorating my kitchen in a wine motif. I too had several wine corks to use so I decided to dress up a wire basket that was given to us and hang it. First I arranged and glued wine labels in the bottom of the basket. Next I glued small fake wine grapes along one side. Then I added a few leaves and corks arranged just so and tipped it off with a small wine glass for added attraction. I hung it in a grouping of other wine decor and PRESTO! I received many compliments about it.

Laura B. writes .. Attached are some uses I found for our collection of corks. The first is a "corkboard" of sorts. I found a mission frame I liked, glued the arranged the corks within it and wound some silk grape vines throughout it. This particular frame really lent itself to the vines. Turns out we've hung it for decoration rather than poking it with thumbtacks.

The second image is of a candle surrounded with corks and that same silk vine and "grapes". In this case, I took a spherical bowl and placed a raised votice candle holder within the center (that way I could easily replace the candles as the melt and clean the glass without removing it from the piece). Along the sides I arranged the corks, vines and clusters of silk grapes. Very simple way to display various corks.

Thanks so much - - I've really enjoyed the site. Laura B. .Orlando FL

Bonnie B. writes .. I make a toy for my cat from corks from champagne, I drill a hole through the center and stuff catnip into it. then tie it to a string and the other end to a small stick (sort of like a fishing pole) she loves it. If she gets it loose as she often does, she will knock this cork around the room.

I collect all my corks from wine and champagne. If we had the wine for a special occasion, the cork is sliced so that it is about 1/4" thick, then I will mark the wine info on the cork and date it. This eventually gets put in our "memory" book. A picture or play bill or whatever is put with the slice in a pocket in a photo album. It is amazing how many people love this idea and friends have started their own memory album.

I saw this really cute idea also. The person tied fish hooks to a ribbons about 6 feet long. Then tied this to a decorated top consisting of all corks (sort of a ball shape) with the ribbons hanging, she put a cork on each fish hook. She hung it from each side of the drapes, and it is really cute.

Bill C. writes .. I also have many used wine corks. We had a dart board hanging on our kitchen door and although most people were able to hit at least the dart board, the door was staring to look like a used pin cushion. My solution was to make a cork lined holder for the dart board.

I started with a square piece of 1/2 inch plywood the same width as the door. I mounted the dart board on the plywood so that the distance from the top of the board when hung on the door would place the dart board at the officially approved height. I placed a moulding around the outside of the plywood such that the height was the same as a cork glued on it's long side. I glued the corks to the plywood starting at the top in a two horizontal/ two vertical pattern, then as I went down the board I reversed the pattern. I simply glued the corks as close to the dart board as possible. The corks could be cut to make them flush to the dart board if desired.

I used two angle brackets secured to the plywood to hang the whole assembly on the top of the door. It works great, and it's probably not bad for the darts, having the soft cork to stop them when the dart board is missed.

That was quite a while ago and now I have a lot more corks, that's why I found your site, looking for things to do with them.

Liz W. writes .. two more cork ideas I read on Martha Stewart's Website:

Cork Top Table

Use corks to cover the top of a small side (or you could do a coffee sized one too) table. Determine pattern (I alway like the two corks horizontal, two corks vertical pattern myself) Glue with hot gun and top with a piece of glass. Great solution for one of those stained tables you bought at a garage sale and just never got around to refinishing.

Cork Angel Christmas Ornament

(per angel)
1 cork
2 small white feathers or craft store wings
1 small wooden ball
1 gold pipe cleaner craft paint craft glue string or gold cord for hanging

Place the cork upside down. Glue wooden ball on top. Paint a face and hair on the ball - you could probably use yarn or cotton for the hair too if you wanted - form pipe cleaner into circle and glue on top of hair for halo. Glue wings and cord for hanging to back and she's done. If you want her clothed, a few scaps of lace would do it. I've not tried either of these but plan to do both.

Stepanie B. writes .. I have a friend who is a wine distributor and has probably a thousand wine corks. She cut a whole bunch in half (lengthwise) and lined the inside of her kitchen cabinets with them. No practical use, but it is whimsical when you open the doorts. A fun surprise for a visiting cook. She's been toying with the idea of doing the same thing on her bathroom walls! (smallest bath of course) What a great wall treatment! Good luck!

Gary B writes .. I saw your web site, what to do with all the corks in my drawer, you mentioned trivets, possibly the ones I make are a little different than the standard ones, the picture shows my cork trivet and a adjustable clamp, I use about 65 corks ,I place them inside the clamp and tighten until they are tightly compressed, then I use two stainless wires warped around the diameter, top and bottom, then I twist the wire ends together tightly, cut off the excess wire and tuck the ends in between two corks. The wire I use T347 X.045 dia.. ( purchased at a welding supply store ) Adjustable hose clamps are available at auto parts stores , hope this info helps you, Gary ... note if you have any questions, you can email Gary at .. grb1@earthlink.net

To see Gary's neat idea ... click here ..

Note from Art ... corks sand really easy ... so once you have this done you could use a sander with about 80 grit paper to sand the top and bottom surfaces to make them level

Patty S. writes .. I just LOVE your website! Well, here's what we did with our corks. Jim has a lot of five gallon bottles (carboys) that he uses to save coins (one for pennies, one for nickles, dimes quarters, etc). One day we bought at an antique store a lovely light green glass bottle...it is at least 15 gallons...very large...very old...very delicate glass.... We knew we couldn't put coins in it...too large and the coins and most other things would put too much pressure on the glass. It sat "empty" in our house for years. Then we were introduced to wine...fell in love with the art of wine tasting, and built a cellar to hold our "collection". Anyway, all of a sudden we spied this large green glass bottle as a wonderful way to save corks. It has now been about 3-4 years since we started saving corks in this bottle, and it is just about full to the top. It has many wonderful memories in it...some very remarkable wines...

I have no idea what we're going to do with the corks once the bottle is officially full...but it is rather spectacular to see a 15 gallon bottle full of corks of wine we have personally enjoyed! Whoooeeee!

When we started saving corks in the bottle I was afraid that mold and/or fruit flies might dominate our jar. So I decided to "soak" the used corks in rubbing alcohol (to kill mold spores and/or fly eggs). Then, after soaking they are air dried and then dropped into the bottle. Only corks from wines we've enjoyed (either at home or from restaurants) are allowed in the bottle. The "collection" is odor free and fly-free. Whew!

Liz writes .. One idea I didn't see was a picture frame with a cork inner rim. Unfortuntately I saw it at a wine store and haven't made my own but it looked pretty easy. Instructions:

Buy two cheap (or not cheap) matching picture frames one 8x10 and 1 5x7. Remove the glass from the larger frame and glue cut in half corks around the inside edge of the frame until you have a space just big enough for the 5x7 frame. Glue it to the corks too. Put your photo in the smaller frame. It was very attractive. Good luck and thanks for the ideas. Liz

Dean writes .. floating votive candle holders...the cork doesn't really burn that much... floating soap/glass holders for the bath...

Mary writes .. Having grown up with a vintner for a father and Mum being an artist, we never had a problem coming up with ideas. The cylindrical corks were painted red, given a cotton beard, little eyes, and a cone of red construction paper (with another bit of cotton on top) for a Santa. Champagne corks were painted white, given doily wings, and smiling face, two eyes and a wire halo for angels.

Another thing my mother did was to cut the corks lengthwise, glue them to a square piece of masonite, and put them side to end as a puzzle - the perfect trivet. She also used corks along the edge of a painting for a perfect grape or wine still life painting.

My name is Risa C. I like your website. I live in Houston, Texas.

I am a wine lover. I do not discriminate against color or natural origin. I am willing to give any wine my attention and a fair chance. I keep corks from bottles of wine that I found particularly good, or corks from wines enjoyed on a special occasion.

I have had recently bestowed upon me an older house which is in pretty bad shape. I have had quite a time struggling to make it livable. I am a single woman and though I am 39 years old and still working, I do not earn a very large salary. The repairs have been slow and tightly budgeted.

One repair that recently became necessary concerned the lavatory in the bath. There was a stopper in the lavatory that was operated by a metal rod that was situated in the drain. The lever that operated the metal rod that pulled down the stopper ran through a hole in the drain pipe and then through a rubber ball. The rubber ball was then pushed into the hole in the drain and held in place by a screw down 'collar' in order to seal off the hole.

Needless to say, over time the rubber disintegrated and the collar corroded. I took the stopper parts to a very old and well established plumbing supply store. I showed the old, seasoned plumber who owns the store the pieces of the stopper assembly. After inspecting the assembly, the wise and experienced plumber was sorry to inform me that the parts could not be replaced. The plumbing fixture was old and obscure and now parts could not be found.

"We can fix the leak, though", he says. "What you do" he said, smiling, "is go down to the liquor store and buy yourself a bottle of white wine. Take the wine home and very carefully remove the cork. Then drink 2 glasses of wine and take the cork, the wine and your glass in the bath where your leak is. Sit down on the floor, take the wine and pour yourself another glass. Then take the cork and start forcing it into the hole where that stopper assembly used to be. The wine will take the edge off of the aggravation, and the cork will fix your leak probably forever." He winked. " If it leaks anymore, you can always get yourself another cork."

I appreciated the advice, and did just what he said.

Linda H. of Warrensburg, MO writes ... I see Betty L's (from Ames, IA - my former home for 26 years) idea of slicing corks to put under furniture legs.

With that same 1/4" or smaller "slice", glue the slice to the bottom corners (backside) of framed fine art. It provides circulation behind your framed prints *and* provides a surface that grips the wall and keeps you from forever having to straighten pictures. (I have to credit my art dealer with that suggestion - he said the circulation was a must in the humid midwest climate.)

If you have a very large print that hangs a distance from the wall, you can vary the size of the slice to adjust the tilt of the picture.

Jeff K wrote ...I also have saved way to many corks. I usually make the basic mundane cork boards from them. However, I once saw (very hard to explain) holes drilled through the center of corks -the long way - and made into room divider kind of like a curtain.

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Mike Wallace (winemaker/ceo/janitor),Hinzerling Winery,Prosser, WA 99350 writes ..

We have the same drawer at our place. Corks can make excellent Christmas tree ornaments. They can be fashioned into little horses using them as the body, legs and so on-yarn for a mane, and you can buy little eyes at most craft stores. I gave a school teacher customer a couple of hundred corks from our tasting room for an ornament project with the stipulation that she send me one back- which she did (picture here).

ps... One other tip- boil your corks for 5-10 minutes and they will be restored to (almost) their original size.

Winston R. of Sante Fe, NM wrote ..

When cleaning up from a recent painting job, I had to scrape a lot of windows. I found that if I slit the end of a cork about 1/2" deep, I could then force a single bladed razor blade into the cork and this was a lot easier to hold onto while I scraped the paint off.

Betty L. of Ames, Iowa writes .. I've found two great uses for corks...

Slice them into disks about 1/4"-1/2" thick and glue them to the bottoms of furniture legs. This keep your floor from getting scratched and makes it easier to slide the furniture around. We even put some under our fridge and now it's really easy to move and no scratches.

Wally V of Huntsville, Al wrote .. If you have the high carbon knives, then you really need a cork to clean them. These style of knives (as opposed to stainless steel) hold a wonderful edge but have the bad habit of discoloring easily. The best (and safest) way to clean them is with a cork and Comet cleanser. Simply dampen the knife blade and sprinkle with Comet. Then use the cork to scrub the blade clean.

Hey ... we have these types of knives and this idea works great !!