We enjoy wine regularly at our home—white, red, rosé, and sometimes champagne—often poured into our DIY etched wine glasses. There are dinners, celebrations, and even small moments like National Drink Wine Day that call for a lovely glass. Unsurprisingly, this means we’ve accumulated a large collection of wine corks over the years.
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Over time we’ve kept corks simply because they look nice in a bowl or vase, and because they carry memories of evenings shared with friends and family. Recently I decided to turn that collection into something beautiful and useful—several easy wine cork DIY projects that require no special tools and can be completed quickly.
Whether you have a handful of corks or a whole stash, there’s a project for you. These simple crafts are attractive, functional, and can be made with items you probably already have around the house.
Wine cork tabletop
This project works for any flat surface: a small side table, the top of a wine rack, or a piece of plywood. I rescued a neglected board that had sat on our wine rack for years and transformed it into a whimsical tabletop that fits the wine theme perfectly.
All you need is a surface and a hot glue gun. Arrange the corks in a pleasing pattern and glue them in place. Hot glue sets quickly, so you can use the tabletop almost immediately. It’s an easy way to add character and a personal touch to a spot where you store or display wine.
Wine cork trivet
Instead of dull, thin store-bought trivets, make a decorative trivet from wine corks. It’s practical and much more attractive. I chose a mix of dark-stained cork ends and lighter clean sides to create a random, textured look, but you can form patterns, shapes, or even letters.
Start from the center and work outward, applying a little hot glue to join corks side by side. For extra stability, add hot glue into the gaps on the underside so the piece becomes a solid platform. The glue dries fast—my trivet took about 20 minutes to assemble.
Wine cork key ring
This is the quickest craft of the bunch. You only need one cork, a small screw eye, a key ring, and a hot glue gun. Put a dab of hot glue on the screw eye, screw it into one end of the cork, attach the key ring, and you’re finished. The result is a lightweight key fob that will float—handy for boaters—although flotation depends on the weight of attached keys, so test it in a sink before relying on it out on the water.
These three projects are simple, quick, and versatile—perfect for using up corks and creating something useful and beautiful. Which wine cork craft will you try first?