Because another wine food and travel blog was way too long.
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Recycle your used corksIf your house is anything like ours, you are buried under mountains of wine corks. They look cool in clear vases, we have a big glass bowl on our coffee table that is full of them. Amy has made trivets, wreaths, and trays. She finds them in her purse, and I find them in pockets. They turn up behind the coffee maker, on the stairs, and even under the bed. They seem to multiply like wet gremlins having a midnight snack. Something must be done. I don’t know what it is about corks, but they seem like miniature little works of art to me, and I just can’t bring myself to throw them away. That being the case, I have to look for uses for them or else the little bastards will end up taking over. This was my latest attempt at controlling the surplus population. I hope the use of extremely sharp and dangerous knives keeps this from venturing into Sandra ****ing Lee-ish territory. My idea was to use corks as either card holders or (Lord, have mercy on my soul) place cards for a dinner party or family gathering. I grabbed my knife and attacked the first cork that I tripped over. This was the result of my first attempt, I’m sure that you can do better, as I hope that I will in the future as well.
Here is a step-by-step guide to how I made them. It is actually very simple, but very sharp knives are recommended, as is sobriety and knowledge of where both your fingers and the blade are located at all times.. An x-acto knife would probably be better (and safer) than the Shun paring knife shown here. Step One: Figure out what part of the cork that you want to be the front of the cardholder. Carefully, unlike the doofus shown here, slice off the bottom of the cork. Again, unlike the doofus, try and get as straight and flat of a cut as possible. This is the step where the most care needs to be taken as the cork is going to want to roll on the cutting board. After scoring it with a sharp knife, I switched to a serrated knife.
Step Two: Using the edge of the cutting board as a guide, slice a straight cut into the top of your cork. I then used a combination of guided and freehand cuts to make small v-shaped groove in the top. The finishing cut was just a deeper slice at the bottom of the groove.
Other than a little trial and error to get the cut deep enough to hold the card(s) well, that was all there is to it. If the aforementioned doofus can do it, how hard can it be? Speaking of the doofus, I can’t say for sure, but I suspect he may have been drinking, so I’m sure that yours will come out much better. Here is the finished product.
View Comments to “Recycle your used corks”
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May 31st, 2009 at 8:18 am
Assuming you really do have a lot of corks saved up, you can always send them to Yemm & Hart, the country's only cork recycling facility. They are making corks into cork tiles.
http://www.yemmhart.com/news+/winecorkrecycling...
May 31st, 2009 at 8:25 am
Wow, that is very cool. Thanks, Jessica!
May 31st, 2009 at 9:21 am
That's a really creative idea!
May 31st, 2009 at 10:14 am
Fantastic idea. I also use the corks to hold my little corn holders — the ones that come in cute pairs of people, etc. I push one half in one end and the other in the opposite.
May 31st, 2009 at 10:27 am
I like it! I would love to see a picture of the tray your wife made as well!
My sister, who is full grown, still continues to make me cork trivets, and on the back she writes “Heidi's trivet” in her horrible writing with a sharpie. It always makes me smile
May 31st, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Love this idea! Very clever!
May 31st, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Stay tuned for pictures of the serving tray
June 1st, 2009 at 4:56 am
I love it!
Also, a cork tied to the end of a few feet of butcher's twine makes a fabulous cat toy. (Oh, TMI! Hehehehe…)
+Jessie
June 1st, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Environment friendly, very nice idea, useful and wine lovers, will adore it
Cheers!
Gera
June 7th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Very creative
June 24th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Nice idea! anyone got more ways to deal with the corks?
June 24th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Nice idea! anyone got more ways to deal with the corks?
July 15th, 2009 at 7:00 am
Excellent idea. You could also use this as a way to decorate tables with name tags etc. (think weddings).
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:21 am
[...] a champagne cork and stuff it with catnip. Attach a string to the cork and taunt your cat with it!Business Card/ Place Card Holder: This has an elegant touch at dinner parties and is an ingenious way to present a business card in [...]
November 11th, 2009 at 4:45 am
Great post. I do have a lot of corks but I always throw them out lol. Now I'll start saving them…
November 11th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Great post. I do have a lot of corks but I always throw them out lol. Now I'll start saving them…
March 18th, 2010 at 6:00 am
it is very innovative…
May 27th, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Glue a cork in your ashtray to tap your pipe out.
May 28th, 2010 at 12:47 am
Glue a cork in your ashtray to tap your pipe out.
July 24th, 2010 at 1:05 am
[...] A perfect touch for your next wine dinner. The wine cork place card holder photograph is from Another Wine Blog. The Champagne cork place card holder is from A Darling Day. The instructions seem simple [...]