Cork Decor

Anthropologie

Anthropologie Gets Creative With Corks For Earth Day

If you've been shopping at Anthropologie lately, you might have noticed a jar on the checkout counter soliciting wine corks.

If you've been shopping at Anthropologie lately, you might have noticed a jar on the checkout counter soliciting wine corks. As it turns out, the store clerks aren't hoarders, but they've been collecting those bottle stoppers for a special window display project to celebrate Earth Day (April 22). The bohemian retailer has teamed up with the Cork Forest Conservation Alliance (CFCA) to promote the use of natural corks and educate shoppers about the sustainable resource. To spark the dialogue, it'll be using more than two million corks in its famously creative window displays this month, and each display will be unique to the store, created by its in-house, visual artists. In addition to staff and shoppers, Whole Foods has also hopped on the bandwagon and agreed to donate corks.

But what, you ask, is to come of these millions of corks when it's time for Anthroplogie to wow us with another jaw-dropping display? The installations will actually be available for "adoption" after Earth Day, in exchange for a contribution to CFCA. Remaining corks will be returned to the organization and recycled through its Cork ReHarvest program.

Want to get creative yourself with all those spare wine corks you have laying around? Anthropologie will be hosting a free workshop series at more than 60 locations during Earth Week, where kids and adults can learn to make cork animals, craft recycled cork planters, and more. Just head to the shop's Facebook page to learn more details.

Come along and check out some of the outstanding cork window displays Anthroplogie's artist have crafted!

community

DIY: Fabric Corkboards

Here's a post from CasaSugar Community member srnewell from the Su Casa group: I recently made a couple of fabric-covered corkboards for my office re-do.

Here's a post from CasaSugar Community member srnewell from the Su Casa group:

I recently made a couple of fabric-covered corkboards for my office re-do.  I started with some beautiful terra cotta geometric fabric.  I measured and lined up the fabric. I cut it to size and stapled the fabric tightly over the boards. After completing the fabric portion, I placed nail heads approximately one inch apart for the finish. You can see more of this project on my blog.

Have you been doing any DIY projects lately? Be sure to post your photos and tutorials in the Su Casa group! Has anyone ever tried this project?

Love It or Hate It

Love It or Hate It? Cork Lampshade

Do you have to tie a string around your pinky when a lightbulb goes off in your head?

Do you have to tie a string around your pinky when a lightbulb goes off in your head? If I don't write my ideas down immediately, they are gone like the wind. Post-it notes are my saving grace and while I certainly stick them in odd places from time to time, this Cork Pendant Lampshade ($250) gives new meaning to a "lightbulb moment." The cork drum is intriguing, but I'm thinking it would be more charming on its own than with photos or random postcards adorning it. What do you think of the quirky use of cork?

DIY

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.

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

Bathrooms

Before and After: A Bare Bathroom Goes Modern

Su Casa group member Rvarunnergal recently remodeled her bathroom, which as you can see, had simple builder-grade tiles beforehand.

Su Casa group member Rvarunnergal recently remodeled her bathroom, which as you can see, had simple builder-grade tiles beforehand. She says they wanted to make it more modern, so they added glass tiles to the shower and penny-size cork tiles on the floor. Want to see her bathroom in its updated form?

knives

Casa Quickie: Let Wine Lend a Hand

If you need a reason to justify all the glasses of wine you're consuming, consider the benefits a used up wine cork can offer.

If you need a reason to justify all the glasses of wine you're consuming, consider the benefits a used up wine cork can offer. Instead of tossing the porous stopper into the recycling bin, reuse it in your own home. It turns out corks make fine knife cleaners. Next time your blades need a cleaning, send a cork in to do the job rather than a rough-sided sponge. Just run the edge of the knife across the cork. It'll leave the steel utensil with a mirror image instead of a scratched and dull surface! Who knew?

decorating advice

Ask Casa: Rugs For My New Cork Floors

Hi Casa, My husband and I just finished installing Algonquin Cork Flooring in our foyer, living room, and dining room on the first floor of our house.

Hi Casa,
My husband and I just finished installing Algonquin Cork Flooring in our foyer, living room, and dining room on the first floor of our house. When he first brought it home, I didn't like the style, but now that it's down, it's so great! The problem is our rugs. We have one for each room, and I'm not concerned about the dining room rug because it's one neutral color. But the living room rug is a multicolor block that doesn't look right over the pattern of the cork. Can you recommend something that is modern but not plain?
Thanks for your help,
Lynne

To hear my suggestions for Lynne, read more

Furniture

Casa Quickie: Steady Your Wobbly Table

Are you guilty of tossing wine corks when you open a bottle?

Are you guilty of tossing wine corks when you open a bottle? Instead of adding them to the waste stream, save those corks for something that won't give you dark circles under your eyes, deathly hangovers, or liver problems. Slice your wine corks into thin circles and use them to steady any wobbly legs of your dinner table. You can use a little wood glue to secure them to the leg itself. Make sure you're adhering it to the correct leg; sometimes that's tricky. If the table is still a little wobbly, try and try again until your cork slice is the correct height. Interested in another easy reuse for your corks? Check out this Casa Quickie.

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Holiday

Casa Quickie: Wine Cork Place Card Holder

If you're anything like me, there are already a plethora of wine corks laying around your home this season.

If you're anything like me, there are already a plethora of wine corks laying around your home this season. So, if you'll be hosting a holiday dinner party this week, why not put them to good use and turn them into place card holders? Use a standard dinner knife to slice a shallow slit into the length of a wine cork or the width (top) of a champagne cork. Then, write your guests' names on pieces of decorative paper or place cards, and slide them paper into the slot. Voilà! A festive, recycled place card holder that you can reuse at your next dinner party!

Wine

Casa Verde: From Bottle to Building

I like my Sancerre, my Sauvignon Blanc, and my Beaujolais Nouveau, and I have been known to drink wine from a box.

I like my Sancerre, my Sauvignon Blanc, and my Beaujolais Nouveau, and I have been known to drink wine from a box. Heck, I'll try any kind of wine you pour. When all of these bottles are finished, and I toss them into my recycling bin, their corks don't land in the trash; I've been saving my corks for a few months now to make a wine cork mirror. But if cork décor isn't your style, you can still recycle natural cork, thanks to ReCork America.ReCork America takes already used and overstock corks from the wine business, and then recycles them into flooring tiles, insulation, and other products. There are several locations in California and the Pacific Northwest that are collecting used cork in their day-to-day business operations, and hopefully in the future there will be locations for public collection. Do you know of any cork collection programs in your neighborhood?
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