Wine cork bath mat, Patron tequilla lamp

Just flipped through the summer 2011 issue of FreshHOME, a mag that is a cross between Real Simple and Better Homes & Gardens. Unlike some magazines (ahem, Dwell), the projects in FreshHOME seem doable. I summarized two easy home redecorating projects that caught my eye.

Wine cork bath mat

Start collecting wine corks or head to your a nearby wine bar, restaurant, or vineyard to ask if they have extras. Once you have about

500, pick up a shadow box from a craft or frame store and snuggle in the corks tightly. If the shadow box is too deep, line the box with layers of cork shelf liner so that the tops of the corks meet the top of the box.

Patron tequila oil lantern

Tequila lovers no doubt have a bottle of Patron in their liquor cabinet. When finished boozing it up, turn the bottle into an outdoor oil lantern by threading a 3/4-inch fiberglass wick through the top until it rests on the bottom of the bottle. Fit a 1.5-inch metal washer over the wick so the washer rests on the bottle’s top. Trim wick to 1/2-inch, remove and fill bottle with lamp oil. Replace wick with washer and light once wick has soaked up oil. Keep wick about 1/2-inch above the washer for safety.

For more projects like this, put “UpCycling,” by Danny Seo, on your wishlist. His book comes out in September.