Corking idea!

Bring the outside in with these tiny planters that you can stick on your fridge. It’s the easy way to go green!

Make miniature planters from corks

INFORMATION Materials

* Wine corks

* 10mm x 2mm strong magnets * Pen knife

* Cuttings soil

* Succulent plant cuttings

* Metallic thread, thick gauge silver

florist wire or paint to decorate * Paint brush

* Strong glue

Size: 20mm x 40mm Skill level: Easy Time to make: 30mins

Cork planters attached to magnets are a novel way of bringing a bit of the outdoors into your kitchen. As succulent plants survive on very little soil, they’re perfect because they’re hardy, but you could also experiment with air plants or fake flowers. We’ve decorated our corks with metallic paint, thread and wire, but you could decorate to suit your kitchen.

How to make the cork magnets

1 Use a sharp penknife to cut into one end of the cork to create a well for the soil. You’ll need to dig until you’re halfway down the cork. This can take some time but it’s worth making sure you cut deep enough so that the plant sits securely inside the cork. Once the cork well is done you can start to decorate it. We’ve done three different versions, but the decorating options are only limited by your imagination!

Wire cork

1 Cut a 40mm length of wire. Starting at the back and the bottom of the pot, push the wire into the cork. Wind the wire around the cork a few times leaving a 5mm gap between each round.

2 When you reach the top of the cork, trim off the remaining wire, leaving enough to push back into the cork. Put a small dab of extra-strong glue at the two places the wire is pushed into the cork to hold it in place.

3 Make a space between the wire at the back. Apply a blob of strong glue to add the magnet and hold it in place until secure.

Painted cork

1 Cut strips of masking tape 10mm wide and wrap around the cork. Paint the cork in gold paint (we used Rust-oleum Painters Touch multi-purpose paint).

2 Once dry, remove the masking tape and glue the magnet to the back of the pot.

Metallic thread cork

1 Use a blob of glue on the middle-back of the cork and place the end of the thread into it. Once it’s set, start to wind the thread around the cork a few times to create a central band. Pull the thread fairly tightly.

2 When you’re happy with the amount of thread on the cork, cut it and apply more glue to the end and stick in place, making sure it’s at the back of the cork. Once that’s dry, stick the magnet to the back.