DIY Life

Summer is a social season. By its very nature, it lends itself to impromptu gatherings, potlucks, and evening deck parties. With more guests in your home, the more likelihood that glasses will get placed on unprotected surfaces.

To make sure you're not dealing with surprise 'rings' on your furniture today where a cocktail rested last night, how about whipping up these stylish, practical and eco-friendly cork coasters? Just make sure you make enough to equal the number of guests!

DIY Double Take: The editors here at DIY Life also love the thought of extending this idea to fridge magnets. Reduce size to 2" squares, stencil on the alphabet, apply magnetic backing, and either place on the lower half of your fridge for the kids to play with. Or, situate them on the upper half for you and your spouse/roommate/partner to create clever messages with.

Made from sliced wine corks, the trivet and coasters are the perfect way to recycle and reuse an item that you may otherwise just toss in the garbage. To make the trivet and coasters, you'll need about 10 or 12 corks which you will cut into slices so that each cork gives you about 8 to 10 slices. Stitch each cork together with two stitches and arrange the corks into your desired geometrical pattern.

Getting a needle through cork is a little difficult. Abigail's instructions don't really tell you how to get the needle and thread through the cork without getting frustrated, so check out these more detailed directions on making wine cork trivets from Still Dottie.