Monday, April 23, 2012

Earth Day DIY

Posted by Amy Baranski

On a much smaller scale than Melissa's AWESOME tufted headboard DIY project I just made a cork snake.

What's that you say? A cork snake--a toy snake made out of old wine corks. It'd make a great homemade gift for a 4-year old child or older. It's not too hard to make either!

Cork is such a wonderful material it feels wrong to throw away all those wine bottle stoppers. Trivets, cork boards, and other fun doodads can be made from this lovely reused material. I happened upon this sweet up-cycled DIY toy on Domestic Candy--a cute blog out of Germany.

Simple instructions to make your own cork snake:

  1. Cut 10 corks into quarters.
  2. Drill holes through the cork pieces.
  3. Thread thick string through a needle and string the cork.
  4. Tie a knot between each cork piece.
  5. Take a cork for the head and shave it into a desired shape; cut out a mouth.
  6. Take the longest needle you have and pull the string through the drilled hole.
  7. Tie a final knot; leave a little string hanging out of the mouth as the tongue.
  8. Draw eyes on with a sharpie.
Notes: Make sure you have a small bit for your drill. You could hand drill each cork piece with an awl but a power drill will shorten the process. When drilling you'll create a bit of cork dust so make sure you working over a designated work space.

7 comments:

Mwilliams said...

Wow what a neat idea! I have a ton of wine corks left over I am planning to do a DIY home decor project for the house. HOWEVER, my son might be interested in making one of these! Way to go!

Unknown said...

The DIY Wine Cork Snake is so cool. Featured you on Homemade Wine Cork Crafts

Gerry Moore said...

How do you cut the cork?

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking I might make one for my cat! Not sure if he would chew thru the corks?

Anonymous said...

Gerry Moore, here's some info on cutting corks:

Before cutting corks boil them in water for around 10 minutes. This will stop them from crumbling or cracking when you cut or carve into them.

For a better grip when cutting the cork, hold it down with a binder clip.

All sorts of info on Pinterest!

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