9 Wine Cork DIYs: Decorations, Projects, and Everyday Use

wine corks in a vaseDo you collect your wine corks? Have you thought about doing something more with them? 

Whether you collect for sentimental reasons or just love a wine cork aesthetic, there are a ton of DIY projects they can be used for!

We’ve put together some of our favorite ways to turn wine corks into functional and fun projects.

1. Wine Cork Game Pieces

Wine corks can make cute, unique additions to any game board. Wine cork Tic-Tac-Toe is a fun, easy game to incorporate in your next game night. 

Paint 10 corks, split into 2 groups, different colors. Use these to play 3D Tic-Tac-Toe, instead of using pen and paper. 

Looking to play chess instead? Simply carve your corks and paint!

2. Wine Cork Corkboard

Why buy a corkboard when you can buy wine?! Using a simple piece of plywood and a hot glue gun, glue wine corks to the board. Let it dry for 30 minutes, and start pinning your favorite photos.

3. Wine Cork Planters

These miniature wine cork planters make for a delightful accent to any desk, table, window sill. Drill a hole into your wine cork and plant your new little friend. 

*This can be tedious, but don’t get discouraged! You’ll have the most unique decor pieces.

wine corks used for planting

Image from Pinterest

4. Wine Cork Wreath DIY

Get started early this holiday season by making your own wine cork wreaths. 

Take a circular base, such as a cardboard or styrofoam cut out, and hot glue the wine corks onto it. Stack them on top of each other until it covers the entire base. 

Once dried, it’s time to decorate! Try incorporating plastic grapes and leaves to give it some holiday flare. 

5. Wine Cork Ornaments DIY

Transform wine corks into mini christmas tree ornaments! Use the cork as the base of the tree, drill a tiny hole, and insert a mini pine piece. 

You could also use the corks to build mini reindeers, or angels. There is a variety of ornaments you can make and hook on your Christmas tree. 

6. Wine Cork Tray DIY

Why buy a tray when you can make them with your wine corks! 

Simply slice your corks into thin pieces, and hot glue them together side by side. You can make them as big or as small as you want and in whatever pattern you want. 

Feeling extra creative? Paint a few (or all) of the corks fun colors and/or add decorations to them!

7. DIY Wine Cork Coasters

Similar to wine cork trays, just smaller. Slice wine corks into thin pieces and create your own designs for your wine cork coasters.

8. Jewelry Organizer

Have you been looking for a jewelry organizer? Look no further than your kitchen!

First, screw a tiny hook into the bottom of your wine corks. Then, hot glue them together in a row. Finally, add a string that connects at both ends so you can hang on the wall. 

If you’re not looking to hang it, try hot glueing it to your corkboard you just made!

9. Wine Cork Keychains

Wine cork keychains are simple to make, cute, and pretty handy.

Drill a hole into the bottom and add a hook. Loop the keyring in the hook and voila! 

wine corks used as keychains

Image from Pinterest

Congrats on making your wine cork DIY project!

Wine corks are super easy to repurpose and incorporate into your everyday life instead tossing in the trash can. 

If you feel like you might not have enough wine corks for your creation, don’t worry, you can buy a bag of wine corks here.

Happy DIYing! 

Natural vs. Synthetic Corks

When you think of breaking out a bottle of wine, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Many think of the traditional cork ‘pop’ as a signal of a freshly cracked bottle of wine. But would your wine be just as enjoyable without this symbolic introduction? Today, synthetic wine corks are becoming a popular option over the traditional form of natural corks. There is a great debate over the pros and cons of synthetic and natural corks. For the home wine maker, this can be an important decision. While the home wine making process develops integral flavor profiles, bottling and aging are also primary considerations for developing and maintaining flavor. Before pulling out the wine making kits, read five things you need to know when deciding between a synthetic or natural cork for your homemade wine.

1. Cork Taint. Cork taint occurs in natural corks due to a chemical compound called trichloroanisole (TCA). Cork taint can be very disappointing, as it can spoil wine that has been aging for years. Cork taint occurs in approximately 3-15 percent of all bottled wine.

2. Sealing. One of the primary concerns with bottled wine is consistency in keeping the cork snug. Glass bottles naturally expand and contract based on temperature and environment, and natural corks will expand and contract along with the bottle. Synthetic corks don’t offer this benefit, and can easily become too loose, letting in too much air, or too tight, rendering bottles unable to be opened.

3. Air. While corks need to remain snug, a little bit of natural oxygen is necessary for the wine to age properly. Oxygen allows the natural chemical reactions in wine to occur, producing the aging flavors that are developed over time. Synthetic corks prevent oxygen from reaching the wine, meaning synthetically corked wine technically doesn’t experience the aging process. However, the benefit of synthetic corks is that it does prevent wine from over-oxidation, another primary concern during the aging process.

4. Environmentally friendly bottling.  Natural cork is derived from the bark of cork trees, which is actually a very environmentally friendly process. The bark is a renewable resource that grows back over time. Cork bark is striped every ten years, and each individual tree can produce bark for up to 200 years. Cork trees also provide lots of environmental benefits, such as trapping harmful carbon dioxide and lessening pollution.

5. Cost. The cost of synthetic corks is substantially lower, one of the reasons that many commercial bottles are now adopting this trend. Today, approximately 9% of all bottles of commercially packed wine use a synthetic cork, and these numbers continue to quickly rise.

As you may see, there are pros and cons for using each type of cork. There are many debates over which cork type is best suited for a specific wine type, and as we divulge here, it is hard to come to a conclusive answer. Being aware of the pros and cons will allow you to make an informative decision on how you want to approach your next bottling process. Making careful choices, from the type of wine making equipment used to the appropriate type of cork, will allow you to successfully create the wine of your dreams.