13 Things to Do with Corks
Updated: Oct. 04, 2018You may be unable to turn water into wine, but you can turn the corks from your empty wine bottles into 13 useful things. Read on to find out how.
1. Use corks to create fishing bobbers
It’s an idea that’s as old as Tom Sawyer, but worth remembering: you can use corks as substitute fishing bobbers. Drive a staple into the top of the cork, then pull the staple out just a bit so you can slide your fishing line through it.
2. Use corks to make impromptu pincushions
Need a painless place to store pins while you sew? Save corks from wine bottles—they make great pincushions!
3. Use corks to prevent pottery scratches
Your beautiful pottery can make ugly scratches on furniture. To save your tabletops, cut thin slices of cork and glue them to the bottom of your ceramic objects.
4. Use corks to replace soda bottle caps
Lost the cap to your soda bottle and need a replacement? Cork it! Most wine corks fit most soda bottles perfectly.
5. Use corks to make pour spouts
Don’t have one of those fancy metal pour spouts to control the flow from your oil or vinegar bottle? You don’t need one. Make your own spout by cutting out a wedge of the cork along its length. Use a utility or craft knife. Stick the cork in the bottle and pour away. When you’re through, cover the hole with a tab of masking tape.
6. Use corks as Halloween face paint
Kids love to dress up as a hobo for Halloween. To create the scruffy look, char the end of a piece of cork by holding it over a candle. Let it cool a little, then rub it on the kid’s face.
7. Use corks to block sun glare
In the good old days of football and baseball, players would burn cork and rub it under their eyes to reduce glare from the sun and stadium lights. These days, they use commercial products to do the same, but you can still use cork to get the job done.
8. Use corks to prevent chair scratches
The sound of a chair scraping across your beautiful floor can make your skin crawl. Solve the problem by cutting cork into thin slices and attaching them to the bottom of the chair legs with a spot of wood glue.
9. Use corks to create personalized stamps
Carve the end of a cork into any shape or design you want. Use it with ink from a stamp pad to decorate note cards. Or let the kids dip carved corks in paint to create artwork.
10. Use corks to create cool bead curtains
Want a creative, stylish beaded curtain for a child’s or teen’s room? Drill a hole through corks and string them onto a cord along with beads and other decorations. Make as many strings as you need and tie them onto a curtain road.
12. Use corks to straighten picture frames
If you’re always straightening picture frames on the wall, cut some flat, pieces of cork, all the same thickness, and glue them to the back of the frame. The cork will grip the wall and stop it from sliding. It will also prevent the frame from marring the wall.
13. Use corks to mass-produce sowing holes
Here’s a neat trick for quickly getting your seeds sown in straight rows of evenly spaced holes. Mark out the spacing you need on a board. Drill drywall screws through the holes, using screws that will protrude about 3/4 inch (2 centimetres) through the board. Now twist the wine corks onto the screws. Just press the board, corks down, into your garden bed and voila—instant seed holes.