Design Happens

I hate to date myself, but do you remember the TV show MacGyver? For all you youngsters out there, MacGyver was a secret agent who refused to carry a gun, instead solving problems and escaping trouble by employing whatever materials were handy at the time, along with his trusty roll of duct tape and a Swiss Army knife. (You may also be familiar with the SNL spoof, MacGruber.)

ANYWAY, I fully believe that MacGyver was on to something by making the most of whatever he had on hand. To that end, allow me to present some crafts you can make with all of those leftover wine corks you have kicking around, like this bath mat spotted by our own Lili Zarghami. (If you do not have wine corks handy, refer to the someecard below. But please, drink and craft responsibly.)

Photo: Jillian West/Little Bat Photography

These cute wine cork placeholders greeted guests at a friend’s recent wedding. Not only are they easy to make, they fit the theme perfectly (the couple was married in Wine Country). You don’t have to be getting married to steal the look — these would also be perfect for wine and cheese tasting parties at home.

I have a black thumb, but if you’re the gardening type, you can repurpose corks as garden markers with little more than Sharpies and skewers, as seen on My Chic Life.

Wine cork keychains = quite possibly the simplest, yet most useful party favors ever. You can make them yourself with the instructions on Cleverly Inspired or buy them on Etsy, if you’d like someone else to MacGyver for you. (No judgment!)

This wine cork creation from Life as a Thrifter takes the term “cork board” to the next (literal) level! And I must say, I love how it looks over this home bar.

Last, but certainly not least, I dig the idea of using corks as homemade stamps, like this example from Creative Jewish Mom. The apple here is for a Rosh Hashanah card, but I can imagine this being a totally adorable end-of-year card for a schoolteacher, too.