How to Make Wine Cork Coasters

Wine corks can make attractive coasters.

Looking for an alternative coaster? Have a few wine corks available? Recycle the corks from bottles of wine by crafting these attractive wine cork coasters. Not only will they give you a trendy accent to your tabletops, they will protect it well from condensation damage and scratches.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Wine corks
• Felt fabric
• Sharp craft knife
• Hot glue gun
• Glue sticks

1. Save all the corks from the bottles. You can also purchase corks from crafts stores. The corks you use should be cylindrical and knocked those with a thick. Wash the corks thoroughly in a solution of hot soapy water. Be sure to dry them completely before use in this craft. You will need approximately six corks for each coaster you wish to make.

2. Use a very sharp craft knife to cut each cork in half so that you have two equal disks of cork. Take care to make the cut perfectly even so the cork pieces are the same height and not uneven. Using a ruler to ensure they are all the same height is a good idea.

3. Arrange the cut pieces of cork on a flat surface. The simplest wine cork and coasters consists of three rows of four pieces of cork. You can make them larger by adding another row, or make them smaller by only using three corks in each row. You can also arrange them in a flower pattern with one piece of cork in the center and other pieces of cork ringed around it. The design you make depends upon your personal tastes and your home decor.

4. Use your hot glue gun and glue sticks, or a strong clear-drying craft glue, to glue the pieces of cork together at the sides. A hot glue gun is ideal for this craft. Put glue on the side of one wine cork and press it securely to the side of the next one. Be sure that the tops of the corks are even with each other. This will make a smooth topped coaster for your drinks. Continue gluing all the pieces together until the coaster design is complete.

5. Cut out a piece of felt fabric that just fits on the bottom side of the wine cork coaster. Glue this piece of fabric onto the coaster to protect your furniture from scrapes. It also helps to make the cork coaster more stable and less likely to fall apart. Your wine cork coaster is now ready to use.

Tips & Warnings

• Be careful of hot glue gun use. It is extremely hot and can cause burns.