Upcykling: How to make cat toys out of wine corks

You don’t have to buy expensive cat toys, because your cat will love these easy homemade cat toys made from materials that you already have at home! All you need is a couple of wine corks, a few feathers or threads! These DIY cat toys are fantastic for your cat and for the environment too!

I have prepared for you a detailed step-by-step instruction on how to make these eco-friendly cat toys out of wine corks. It’s really effortless!

What is upcycling?

Before you start, I would like to briefly explain what upcycling is and how it differs from recycling.

Upcycling

In upcycling, we use waste and create something new from it – we give it new life (e.g. handmade garden furniture from pallets).

Recykling

Recycling involves the mechanical or chemical recovery of raw materials from waste, which can later be used to produce new products (e.g., newspapers recover cellulose fibers that are used to make toilet paper).

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Bill of Materials

All you need to make these toys:

  • Wine corks,
  • Scissors,
  • Strong glue,
  • Ornaments e.g. feathers, wool, mulina, jute etc.

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Inspiration

You don’t know what decorations to choose? Here you can find two versions of toys and the materials from which I made them.

Natural version

Tip: You can use the feathers that you found in the yard (after disinfecting them).

Materials:

Toy:

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Colorful version

Tip: You can use colored feathers that have fallen off from your cat’s other toys.

Materials:

Toy:

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Step by step instructions

The process of creating these cat toys is very simple, but requires the use of sharp scisors and hot water. If you are a minor, ask an adult for help.

Step 1: Soak

Start by soaking corks in hot water until they are soft. If they are very hard, try boiling them for a few minutes.

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Step 2: Holes

After removing from the water, use scissors and drill holes in one or two ends of the cork – turn the scissors like a screwdriver.

After drilling the holes, set aside the corks until completely cool and dry.

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Step 3: Feathers

Gather the feathers and other decorations together and twist them at the base so that they form a thin skewer.

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Step 4: Glue

Pour some glue into the hole in the cork and insert the decorations prepared in the previous step.

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Step 5: Time

Set the toy aside until the glue has completely solidified.

Ready! It was pleasant and simple, right?

Self-made toys have something special in them, and they are one of a kind! It depends only on you and your imagination what the final product will look like. More instructions for cat toys can be found in the DIY section of our blog.

Don’t forget to show off your toys on Facebook or Instargam! Use the hashtag #CraftWithApolloand mark us with @apollofluffycat

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What do You think?

I would love to see your thought, suggestions and questions in the comments below!

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Join my community of mindful cat parents!

Don’t forget to follow Apollo Fluffy Cat on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
For you, it is less than a minute, and for me it is a sign that what I am doing makes sense ❤️

Other ECO-topics
Take a look at the ECO? section, where you will find articles on eco-lifestyle and reviews of organic products for cats.

Joanna z Apollo Fluffy Cat

I am Joanna and together with my cat Apollo, I create the Apollo Fluffy Cat blog, where I share my experiences and knowledge about cats and ecology so that you can learn how to become a better and more mindful cat parent! You can found more about me, Apollo and our blog's mission on the "About Us" page.

2 thoughts on “Upcykling: How to make cat toys out of wine corks

  1. Ive read a few good stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much effort you put to make such a excellent informative web site.

    1. Thank you for your benevolent words. I put a lot of effort into creating intelligible and educational content for my website. I am committed to teaching others how to be a good cat parent, because I would love to see that their lives and their cats’ lives improve 🙂

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