by James Johnson

Created on: April 09, 2010

Corks, they are everywhere these days.  Everybody seems to be serving wine or champagne and the corks keep coming.  this can be fantastic if you are interested in crafts and have limited budget, because corks have uses!  They can be used for making crafts of all sorts and most are very simple.

First, there are cork animals.  All you really need is a couple of corks and some tooth picks, plus a little paint and a lot of imagination.  One cork becomes the body and one cork becomes the head.  Toothpicks become legs, necks ears and tails.  If you use a sate stick for the neck you get a giraffe, so use the toothpicks to make short antlers!  Use some paint for the eyes and nose.  Get really creative and make a horse using cotton glued on foe the mane and tail, or go mythical and add a horn for a unicorn.  Corks can make some great crafts for animals.

Using the corks and toothpicks, you can also make spirals, cubes and a whole range of shapes, my son was making chemical shapes. They can also be made into boats and wheels for cars.

One can also make their on cork boards  This can be done several ways. One is to simple glue the corks on a piece of cardboard or board.  You can split them in half, make shapes or whatever.  Use your imagination.  You can also use a broken picture frame.  Remove the glass and then line up and insert the corks.  It will fill up quickly and give you an even shaped board from recycling, both corks and the picture frame.

Dart boards and pen holders can both be made using cork and either rope or vines.  Make a loop or wreath shape with the rope or vines, then fill in the center with corks.  Pack them tight.  if it is large, you can consider spraying with glue, add a rope hanger and a bull's eye to become a dart board.  A smaller version can sit of a desk and be used for pins or pens, pencils, tack or even scissors.  Things such as pins and thumbtacks can be either stuck directly into the corks and the pens and pencils between the corks.  These are very useful!

Corks, they are great for crafts.  Getting them can be an excuse for drinking more wine!

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