Reusing wine corks to make useful objects is not a new concept. You can create bulletin boards, placemats, trivets, or furniture with them! Thankfully it takes a long time to accumulate enough of them, giving you time to conjure your ideas! But if you are still scratching your head while staring at a heaping bucketful of semi-porous plugs, then we have a simple yet stunning DIY project for you to try!
Creating a cork plant pot cover is easy, fun, and relaxing and lets you get your crafty juices percolating.
Materials
- Wine Corks - To make a plant pot cover for a 5” diameter cylinder cover pot; you will need approximately 60 wine corks (start entertaining!)
- 18 Gauge Wire – for stringing the corks together
- 28 Gauge Wire – for tying the sections together
- Electric Drill
- 3/32 Drill Bit
- Pliers
- Safety Glass
Directions
*Put on your Safety Glasses – working with wire can be tricky, and sometimes the wire can bounce around, so protect your eyes!*
- Drill a hole through all the corks lengthwise, ensuring you drill each cork hole in the exact location. This will ensure that your corks will line up evenly once strung together with the wire!
- Use the 18-gauge wire to thread the corks together. Use pliers to help pull the wire through the corks and trim the end of the wire anytime it bends out of shape to make it easier to thread the cork! You will end up with a long chain of 60 corks, much like a garland! (You might even stop at this point and use the cork chain to decorate for the winter holidays!)
- Leave about 2 feet of extra wire at each end of your cork chain.
- Take the first three corks and push them together so the flat ends are flush.
- Holding the three corks together, bend the wire, so it is flattened at the top of the third cork.
- Take the 4th cork and place it next to the 3rd cork; bend the wire to be flush with the top of the 4th cork.
- Add two more corks to create your second section of three corks. At this point, you have two sections of three corks.
- Lay the two sections of corks on a table, line them up, so they are even, and use the 28-gauge wire to tie the sections together. Remember to choose a front side, as the back side will be where you are hiding the wire knots.
- Repeat this process until you have created a long rectangular mat (Here is another point at which you may stop and say, “I think I need a cork mat, I’m done”)
- If you are still in it for the long haul, then at this point, you will trim the tag ends of the 18-gauge wire, leaving about ¾ of an inch on both sides of the mat.
- Bend the tag ends into the neighboring cork using the pliers to push the wire into the existing holes.
- Create a cylinder with the cork mat and use the 28-gauge wire to tie the cylinder together from the inside of the cylinder.
- No need to create a bottom for your plant cover since you are placing it on a pot with a water-retentive base.
- Slip the cork cover onto a 5” diameter cylinder pot, and voila, you have created a festive plant pot cover! Cheers!
If wire and pliers are not your cups of tea, then you can use a hot glue gun to adhere corks to any surface, but the beauty of using wire is that you can remove the cork cylinder at any time, remove wire ties, and use it as a heat mat, tray, or bulletin board!
Last but not least is to have fun, relax and enjoy the process of making new beautiful things from old, discarded, or unused things. Be proud to give things a new life while keeping them out of landfills or recycling plants.