Today I have a super quick little tutorial for you.  The end product isn’t the biggest, most exciting thing you have ever seen, but sometimes these little hacks are the best tricks!

If you are anything like me, you probably have a bunch of extension cords lying around your house or garage.  Maybe they are neatly wrapped up neatly hanging on a hook, or maybe they are thrown in a box, or maybe you are even organized enough to keep them neat by tying them up with zip ties (which is actually what I have always done when I am planning to store them long term.)

But what I didn’t like about the Zip Tie method is that you need to cut off the tie to remove it, they aren’t reusable.

Then one day I was reading my subscription to Family Handyman (hey, some girls like Vogue, I like FH!) and I saw a reader had submitted this cork cord tie in the ‘hacks and tricks’ column.  I was immediately intrigued.  So I ran out and bought all the supplies to make my own.



The actual 'device' couldn't be simpler.  A bungee cord through a wine cork.

I probably don't have to tell you where to get wine corks. (This project is a good excuse for that glass of Merlot.)  Keep in mind YOU NEED TO USE THE SYNTHETIC RUBBER CORKS.  Real corks will crack and break when you put tension on them. So if you are your palate is too snobby too sophisticated to drink fake-o wine cork wine.. call me.  I can definitely hook you up.

When I made my version I used mini-bungee cords since they were cheaper than buying a roll of the cording itself.  If you were going to make a lot of these, or if you wanted the ties to be longer,  you could alway buy the actual cording.

Because I bought the cords I needed to remove the hooks so I cut the knot off one end..
..and slid the hooks off (I left the knot on the other end, since I could reuse it. 
Next I drilled holes in the wine corks.  
You want the holes pretty close to the center, since you need to ends free to wrap the cord around.

Next I pushed the cording through the holes forming a loop on one side. 
I tied the end of the cord that I had cut. 
And to prevent fraying I singed the end. 
Burning the tip of the cord melts the plastic and keeps the outer wrapping from unraveling.

And here is the finished product.  
To use them, you wrap the loop of bungee around whatever you need to secure (in this case the extension cord) and use the cork to secure it. It works just like zip tie but you can take it off and on.And the fact you aren’t cutting off a zip tie every time you need to use the extension cord is wonderful. 
So there it is!  One of the easiest ideas I’ve shared on the blog.. but really helpful.