Put a cork in it
This bulletin board lets wine connoisseurs display their vintage bottle stoppers. The rest of us can reuse corks from $5 bottles aged locally at Big Red.
1. Collect memorable wine corks from used bottles or ask a fancy restaurant for discarded corks.
2. Buy a wooden picture frame from a thrift store or craft shop as the backing of the bulletin board.
3. Remove the backing so that only the glass and frame remain. Secure glass to frame.
4. Paint the frame if you’re feeling extra crafty. Otherwise, leave the flaws.
5. Using a hot glue gun, attach the wine corks to the glass of the frame. Let your artistic mind go to work on this part. The corks can be glued in rows or in a pattern.
6. For the push pins, grab regular thumbtacks (snag them from your roommate’s bulletin board). Find a handful of bottle caps, hot glue them to the top, and pin up those old concert tickets and napkin poems.
Bloomington party lights
We’ve all got stacks of Pizza Express cups skyscraping the kitchen counters. We show you how to put them to work as mood lights at your next basement show.
1. Find some old Christmas lights, or raid any store trying to unload its holiday decorations.
2. Puncture holes in the bottom of the plastic cups using a hammer and nail.
3. Push the bulbs through the cups enough so that the bulb doesn’t touch the plastic.
4. Poke a few ventilation holes on the sides to make sure the bulbs don’t get too hot.
5. Hang like vines from the ceiling or windows.
