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wine cork

wine cork ()

I don’t think I am alone in slowly building a collection of wine corks marked with logos and names of wineries in Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia and elsewhere throughout Europe. Each time I throw a new cork in the box I have visions of creating beautiful wine cork pieces that will continue to remind me of my time living and traveling in Europe. With the colder and more dreary months of winter, I’m thinking I should make these crafts a reality—sooner rather than later. And luckily, I even have some inspiration from a couple pre-pandemic trips.

If you’re looking for a project to craft and do something with the (inherently growing) collection of wine corks, here are a few ideas to start:

Flat Items

Creating a flat surface with your corks can provide a range of uses. Think of table or wall decorations, which you have probably seen already because they are simple to make, even for the less crafty of us! A cork board is always a useful item for tackiing up notes. Tabletops can also be a creative addition to your living room. Using a homemade cork serving tray or trivet on your dinner table can help bring back memories of travels. And, for super functionality, try creating a cork bathmat.

Accessories for your next cheese board

Wine corks can act both as decorations and practical tools to up your cheese board game. Use your corks to make place card holders for the names of your cheeses. Or check out these adorable cork cheese knives.

Vases and candleholders

Another craft idea well-suited to beginner crafters is a vase or candleholder where you can use a plain glass vase or candleholder as your guide, building your wine corks around it.

Birdhouse

While visiting a Christmas market outside the French city of Colmar, this wine cork house sat cozily at a stand for warm vin chaud (mulled wine). I’d like to think it could be a little birdhouse, but it could work as an indoor decoration too.

Wine cork house at a Christmas market outside Colmar, France.

Wreath

Right outside the Slovenian city of Bled, we visited a charming wine bar and this wine cork wreath appropriately welcomed us in. While you could create one for all or any of the seasons, here is a Christmas themed wreath.

Wine cork wreath at Vinoteka Sodček in Radovljica, Slovenia.

This list is short compared to all the ideas out there, but hopefully this will at least inspire you to tackle one of these creative projects. And don’t forget, if you don’t have enough of your own corks for a more ambitious project, you can always order more online. For more ideas, as well as information on how to prepare your wine corks for crafting, do a quick search on Pinterest or check out blogger FabulesslyFrugal.

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