After I hosted 11 people for Thanksgiving, several of them serious wine enthusiasts, I ended up with a lot of corks. I rubbed my hands together in glee. There’s nothing I like better than a wine cork for multi-purpose Rigging of Things. I already mentioned corks in a previous post, but wine corks’ size makes them ideal for a range of uses, to wit:
- Protecting things/people from sharp things (and vice versa). One of my favorite hacks was a pair of champagne corks I drilled out and slipped over the ends of hiking poles I was packing (and didn’t want to punch through my suitcase or adjacent items in transit). Works to keep your dogs from getting stabbed by ski pole tips in the car as well. And in a pinch you can slide one or two over the tip/blade of a paring knife in your camping kit.
- Shimming stuff. Wine corks are almost infinitely cuttable/squeezable for keeping a non-adjustable over-the-door bracket from banging around, plugging up a screw hole, leveling a wobbly table, or stopping a dog crate from rattling in the car.
- Making smaller corks. This seems like a “duh” thing, but you’d be surprised how many times I’ve shaved a wine cork down to stop up smaller holes and bottles–like I did when the cap for my chicken waterer broke.
- Making things float. If you need to suspend in water a bit of plant you’re trying to root or a fish-tank accessory, corks are your jam. You can also make nifty upcycled floating candleholders for your pool or pond if you’re willing to get out the glue gun.
- Padding things. Speaking of glue guns…. I’m sure you’ve seen the wine-cork trivets out there; it’s a great way to save corks from special anniversary bottles, etc. I also helped make a cork backboard for a dartboard once inspired by one at a local bar. Definitely helped protect the wall (and bystanders) from stray darts and kept them from getting blunted in return.
- Emergency (or lazy) cabinetry. Cork, being bark itself, matches a range of woods nicely enough that you can often get away with using wine-cork rounds to plug that hole in the kitchen cabinets that the previous owners decided inexplicably to drill in full view to run their janky under-cabinet lighting, or to cover a countersunk screw head, or even to make a temporary (or not so temporary) drawer or door handle.
The Rookery 