My das boot had filled up with corks again, so I knew it was time to find a new cork craft to make!  With supper club coming up fast I decided to make place card holders so we could label all of the items for the grilled cheese bar we were putting out.  I found a great tutorial, and was off to the races..

Wine Cork Place Card Holder

What you’ll need:

• Wine corks
• Exacto knife
• Hot glue gun
• Pennies

Luckily I had everything I needed around the house, so I was able to finish the project in less than 45 minutes after I decided to make them.  To start, get your Exacto knife and the corks you want to cut and find a good surface, like a cutting board.

Use your knife and cut a slit into the cork, along the long side.  I started at one end, and worked my way to the other.
Some of the corks were easier to cut than others, but overall the Exacto knife was way easier to use than another tool.  Also, some of my cuts ended up more like slits, where others were more wedged, but as long as paper can go in there, it doesn’t matter.

Note: The last time I cut some wine corks for a craft, I boiled the corks beforehand, but decided against it this time around since I didn’t want them to expand any.

Once all your corks have cuts in them, you’ll want to add some stability to the bottom of the corks so they won’t roll over.  The easiest choice: hot gluing a penny to the bottom.  Use a touch of hot glue,  and attach the penny to the bottom of the cork, so the slit is facing up.

Now all of your place card holders will sit upright, and the place cards will be easy to read!

Finally, use a credit card (or old college student ID) to swipe through the slits and clear out any loose cork remnants.  This also helps the place cards easily slide in place.

Then just write out your cards, and slide them in!  I used these to label the different items at our supper club dinner, but these would be great for place cards at a seated dinner too.  Oh, the options!