Put those saved wine corks to good use and use them as a filler for a vase of flowers. It's a great centerpiece for a
Wine & Cheese Tasting, vineyard theme or cocktail party.
You will need: 1 larger clear glass vase, preferably round 1 smaller base or glass that will fit inside the larger base with enough room for corks between Loose wine corks (about 4 dozen, depending on the size of your vase) Unbleached parchment paper or Kraft colored tissue paper (optional)
Prepare the nested vases: Choose a large clear glass round vase for the project. Find a smaller vase or vessel that fits inside the larger vase with enough room to line the wine corks between the two vases. Use a drinking glass, rinsed out jelly jar or a glass bottle if you don't have a vase that's the right size. If the smaller vessel is much shorter than the larger vase, use an empty yogurt container to stand it on inside of the larger vase to make it almost as tall.
Fill the outer vase with corks: Either place handfuls of wine corks into the empty space between the vases or, if you want the lined up look of the vase filler pictured, line the wine corks up on their ends in a circle (optional: place all of the wine corks with the text on each cork facing the same direction). Squeeze as many as possible into the bottom circle so they have a little tension to hold themselves up. Depending on the size of your vases, you may need to remove the smaller inner vase to make the first few circles of wine corks at the bottom. Continue making circles with the wine corks, stacking each wine cork on top of the one below it. Fill the vase with the wine corks until about 1/2 inch from the top. Use any leftover wine corks to fill the gaps between the outer circles of corks and the smaller inner base. If you don't have any corks left, use unbleached parchment paper or Kraft colored tissue paper to fill the space if you see small gaps between the corks.
Add flowers to the inner vase: Carefully fill the inner vase with water, using a watering can if necessary. Arrange flowers in the water-filled inner vase, allowing some flowers to drape over the edge of the vase to hide the top of the last row of wine corks.
Read about all of the details for Stylish Spoon's
Wine & Cheese Tasting party, including a wine and cheese pairing menu,
free printable wine tasting notes template and other DIY projects.
