Recycled Craft #1: Dyed Cork Coasters

Not sure if I'm the only one but I found myself with a collection of wine bottle corks and no idea what in the world to make with them.  After some super quick and easy experimenting, I realized that Rit Dye works quite well on cork.  Sliced into thin discs, the cork pieces can be arrange into a ton of stylish geometric patterns. Then they're glued to black felt fabric and simply trimmed to size to make these cool hip coasters.  Easy-peasy and eco-chic to boot!

Here's the whole how-to to make them yourself! 

Materials Used (set of 4):

• 11 Wine Corks
• Rit Dye - Petal Pink, Sunshine Orange, Evening Blue & Kelly Green
• 12"x12" Black Felt Fabric
• Pint-size Plastic Container 
• Plastic Fork
• Utility Knife
• Tacky Glue
• Clear Acrylic Spray (optional)
• Rubber Gloves
• Plastic Table Cover

First off, carefully slice the cork into ¼" discs using a utility knife. Each cork yielded about 7 discs and with my pattern, you'll need 19 discs per coaster. It's good to cut extras because they're not all exactly the same. 

Then get ready to dye. Cover your work surface and grab the rubber gloves. Mix 1 Tablespoon of dye with 1 cup of very hot water. Immerse the cork discs for about 5-10 minutes. The funny thing about dyeing cork is that it floats. Using a plastic fork, continuously push the cork down to keep it submerged as much as possible. Repeat with other dye colors as desired. Rinse well until water runs clear and lay out to dry.

Lay out the cork discs into the pattern that you like. Dab a dot of glue on each disc and glue to a 3"x4" rectangle of felt. 

When the glue is dry, just trim the felt with scissors. Basically you're done!  I also gave each coaster a light coat of clear acrylic spray to seal the cork but that's optional to help prevent coffee rings.