DIY Wine Cork Board

Cork is a versatile, sustainable, and quirky material, popping up on everything from ottomans to flooring, and of course, wine corks. My friend is going with a bit of a vino theme at her wedding this Summer, and decided to repurpose wine corks as a cork board and use it to pin place cards onto at the event. This clever memo board would look equally cute in the kitchen or bar in your home.

Supplies:

• Wine corks
• Skill (or craft) saw
• X-acto knife
• Frame
• Hot glue gun with glue sticks
• Cork sheet
• Foam board
• Hammer (optional)
• Small nails (optional)

To learn the steps, read more.

Here's how:

1. Using the skill saw, carefully cut the wine corks in half lengthwise. This nearly 24-by-28-inch frame required 60 wine corks (120 halves).
2. With the X-acto knife, cut the cork sheet and the foam board to fit snugly into the back of the frame (the same size the glass would be) and glue them together.
3. If your frame has bendable metal clamps that keep the backing in place, skip this step. But if you're dealing with a thrifted frame with no clamps, use a hammer and nails to secure the cork/foam board into the back of the frame, cork side out.
4. If necessary, group the corks into piles according to size. Then — and this is important — lay out all the halved corks, flat side down, into the frame to make sure they fit. Create a pattern alternating two horizontal corks with two vertical.
5. Using the hot glue gun, glue all the corks inside the frame with a small line on the flat side of each. Fini!

Total project time: approximately two hours.

Although you can buy the wine corks in bulk online, collecting your own recycled stoppers will give the finished piece much more character. Stop by a local restaurant or wine bar and ask if they have corks to spare; they may be able to give you a bag. Or, ask your wine-loving friends to share their collection with you.