[DIY] Cork Magnets
Remember in my DIY Cork Board from Wine Corks post when I showed you how many wine corks I have? Well, unsurprisingly I didn’t use them all when I made the cork board. I’ve seen so many cork projects floating around (candle holders, hot plates, even a bath mat!) but the one that’s stuck in my mind has been cork magnets. Brilliant and useful!
Unfortunately, when I clicked the pin on Pinterest, it led me to the Etsy shop where someone was selling them. I wanted to make my own! I searched but I couldn’t find any really good instructions on how to make these little guys so I figured it out through trial and error and I thought I’d share it with all of you. 
Before I get started with the tutorial, I have to provide a disclaimer. Although I loved the way these looked at the end, my magnets kept curling up at the edges. This resulted in magnets that didn’t lie flat. I tried re-gluing the magnets two more times but with the same end results. I probably made close to 30 magnets and only 10 were usable. 
So why am I still sharing this project? 2 reasons:
- Like I mentioned, I couldn’t find any solid instructions so I thought I’d share what did and didn’t work for me.
- If anyone has any suggestions on how to resolve my issue, I’d love to hear it!
If you’re brave enough to still want to give this project a try, let me walk you through what I did…
Collect how ever many corks you want to work with. Keep in mind, you will get two magnets from each cork since we’ll be cutting the corks in half.
Tip: If possible, I would recommend using synthetic corks for this project. The benefit of synthetic corks is that they don’t crumble when you cut them like dried corks do. Less crumbling = less mess and a smoother surface for the magnet to adhere to.
Besides the corks, you will need a hot glue gun (or other strong glue), magnets, scissors, Xacto knife, and a cutting board.
Tip: For my magnets, I bought a coiled up magnetic strip. I think this was my downfall. If possible, look for magnetic dots or some form of magnet that isn’t rolled. Since mine came in a coil, it did not want to lie flat even when glued.
Place one of your corks on the cutting board horizontally and pierce the middle with the tip of your Xacto knife. If you have any big stressors in your life, here’s your chance to let out some aggression. 
Now we want to cut to the edge of the cork. Since I’m right handed, I cut towards the right side of the cork. Originally, I tried the typical sawing motion to cut but found it was too difficult. I recommend piercing the cork multiple times in a row. By piercing, I mean keep your Xacto knife perpendicular to the cork and continue carefully “stabbing” it until you reach the end.
Now that you’ve made it to the end, keep your Xacto knife in the cork. Next, pick up your cork and slide your knife through the side. This will allow you to flip the cork so you’re now looking at the uncut back side.
Continue cutting until you reach the far edge. This side should be much easier to cut since the other side has already been loosened.
Pull the two halves apart and place them flat-side up.
Next, take your magnet and place a strip of hot glue on the backside. Immediately attach the magnet to the flat-side of the cork and hold until hardened.
That’s it. Sounds easy enough, right? Mine looked great until I came back and looked at them a couple of hours later – That was when the magnet edges started curling. I’m sure you’ll be smarter than me though. Good luck and please please please share your experience/expertise with me!
[DIY] Cork Magnets
Inspired by Wine Cork Magnets
Materials:
- synthetic corks
- magnets
- hot glue gun (or other strong glue)
- scissors
- Xacto knife
- cutting board/surface
What to Do:
- Place one of your corks on the cutting board horizontally and pierce the middle with the tip of your Xacto knife.
- Keep your Xacto knife perpendicular to the cork and continue piercing until you reach the end.
- Keep your Xacto knife in the cork and pick up your cork and slide your knife through the side. This will allow you to flip the cork so you’re now looking at the uncut back side.
- Continue cutting until you reach the far edge. This side should be much easier to cut since the other side has already been loosened.
- Pull the two halves apart and place them flat-side up.
- Take your magnet and place a strip of hot glue on the backside. Immediately attach the magnet to the flat-side of the cork and hold until hardened.
- Repeat Steps #1-#6 with all corks.
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Lovely! Those are so cute. I should actually make those and start keeping my recipes on the fridge instead of leaving them all over the counter/in cupboards/etc! And props for the disclaimer–I’ve totally had those projects that went kind of wrong but I still felt like they were worth posting. You justified it really well! I will def let you know if I end up trying these with a different type of magnet…I just need some corks
Thanks, Erika! Haha, I hope to put these magnets to good use. I’m guilty of keeping recipes all over the place too but lately I’ve tried to keep them in one binder. Oh, just a random tip: I find it really helpful to keep whatever recipe I’m following in a plastic sleeve protector so I can throw it around the counters when cooking and it doesn’t get gross!
I’m glad you agree with my logic for posting this. I definitely hesitated since they didn’t turn out as perfectly as I had hoped but hopefully others can learn from my experience.
Hi Leah, like this a lot, well at least you can still use them and thank you for posting this. I just tried a new DIY project too and it went wrong, took the pictures but it didn’t work, I then told my self, I should add a new category to my blog “DIY DON’T's” ha!ha! . At least you gave us good advice of not using this type of magnet, thanks! by the way, it’s me Ingrid from nowathomemom, don’t know why I can’t leave any comments with my acc.
Thanks for your positive feedback, Ingrid! Your “DIY DON’TS” category made me laugh. I guess that comes with the territory of all DIY projects – you’re bound to hit some challenges. At least they’re learning experiences.
Great idea. My Mother has a small collection of ‘sentimental” corks. I will ask her if she would like to look at them on her fridge.
Awesome! Please let me know how this DIY project works out for you. I’d love to hear what kind of magnets and/or glue you use! Good luck.
Super cute, I love the way they came out!!
Thanks, Liz – me too! I was hoping to have more of the “good ones” to give as Christmas presents but oh well. Hopefully someone will give some suggestions on types of magnets/glue to use in the future!
Oh, Leah, I LOVE them! This is definitely on my “to do” list to make! So many great DIY ideas, lovely! Thank you for sharing =)
Thank you! I’m excited that you’re going to make these. I can’t wait to see/hear how they turn out. Please let me know what kind of magnets and/or glue you use. Hopefully you don’t run into the issue that I did with the curling magnets!
These are AWESOME Leah! I love thus idea…so genious and cool looking! I need to make these!
Thanks, Brandi! Definitely let me know if you do. I’d love to hear about your experience.
Leah, these are outstanding! How creative. I am going to start saving my corks again! I love this.
Thanks, Judy! There are so many little wine cork projects that I think I’ll be forever saving my wine corks.
this is a pretty cute idea actually. i’m not crafty but i want to make some.
Thanks for stopping by. You don’t need to be super crafty to create these – your hot glue gun will be doing all the work.
These are cute! It’s too bad it didn’t work for you.
I do have a couple ideas if you want to give them a try.
Hot glue, I’ve found, doesn’t work with a lot of materials. I’ve had a lot of problems with it peeling or not holding the weight of a project. It’s possible that it just didn’t adhere well to one of the materials (though I don’t know why). Other options that MIGHT work are super glue or a silicone adhesive. …I’d personally go with the super glue. It’s easier.
OR
It could be the magnet. Since they were curled up in that neat little roll before you hot glued them, they may have just needed to be unrolled, stretched out, and given time to settle before being glued. If that doesn’t work, using a different kind of magnet that isn’t rolled up might.
But this was SUCH an awesome idea! I hope you find a solution that works!
Thank you so much for your feedback, Chelsey! I love your suggestions. It’s really great to get someone elses perspective. I definitely think you’re right about using super glue… That’ll be my go-to glue next time. Maybe I can even salvage the ones that didn’t turn out so well. Andddd, I’m not going to buy the curled up roll of magnets again!
Haha! Well, hopefully I helped a little bit. Good luck with the salvaging!
Hot glue, superglue or sticky magnets and ANYTHING! I am a magnet maker and I LOVE the wone cork ones here! Good job, Leah; really cute!
Thanks, Tonette! I appreciate your feedback. I think I should explore more into magnet-making as it seems like you could turn ANYTHING into a magnet and display it!
That was supposed to be ” wine”, of course!
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