5 Creative Things You Can Make with an Empty Wine Bottle
Before you toss your empty wine bottles into the recycling bin, you might want to consider giving them new life with a few creative ideas. Wine bottles are often made with beautiful glass formed into great shapes and colors on their own, making them perfect for an upcycling project.
If you’re already reusing the wine corks around the house, it’s time to put the bottles to work, too. Most of these are easy, using the bottle in its natural form, while a couple might require a few basic tools.
Ready to get crafty? Take a look at these projects, and pick one that inspires you!
Make Your Own Candles
If you lop off the top of your wine bottle, you have a great base for a number of craft projects, including these candles made by Katies Crafted Corner.
Don’t be intimidated by the cutting part of this project. You can actually find simple kits online for bottle cutting ($48.97, Amazon). Otherwise, take your wine bottles to a local craft, hardware, or glass store. They will often offer a glass-cutting service to customers for free or at a very affordable price.
You’ll want to file or sand down the edges to avoid any sharp spots (which should come in a kit). Then you’re all set to make your candle. The wine bottle makes a great base, and you can make it as tall or as short as you want. Click here for some easy instructions for making a basic soy candle.
Create a Crafty Holder or Vase
Wine bottles often have great labels, so leave them intact for this next project. Start by lopping off the tops of the bottles using the instructions described in candle making. Then, go ahead and sand or file down those edges to avoid any cuts.
Right away, you have a great piece that you can use for so many things. Perhaps you need a vase for a table. (Many brides use these for centerpieces, too.) Or you can just use it as a simple pen or knick-knack holder — there are so many options.
This is a great project to make for someone who has a favorite wine because you’re turning something they already love into something they can still use. Flamma Candles shows off this one on their Instagram. They are a women-owned business that creates lots of candles and projects from wine bottles.
Light Up Your Space
If your goal is to keep the project as simple as possible, then this one is perfect. You really don’t need to do anything to the bottle except clean it out well. Once you do, you can drop down those little fairy lights that are so popular and easy to find ($7.99, Amazon).
Be sure to leave the button for turning the lights on and off outside of the bottle before you put the cork back in. These lights are such an easy way to turn your simple bottle into a magical light-up lantern. Tilly from Instagram shares her finished project here. They look great in the rich blue color, lining her fence outside, but you could create this as an indoor project, too. What a great (and inexpensive) way to make a beautiful impact in a small space.
Use a Bottle as a Palette
This is another project where all you need is an empty wine bottle. Just take the bottle and paint directly on it like Nivetha Mohanraj of Instagram did here. For paint, you have lots of options like acrylic, chalk paint, and even spray paint. (The only one that doesn’t work well is watercolor.)
Once you have your bottle painted, you can leave it as is or you can turn it into a tall vase, which would be perfect for long-stemmed flowers like roses or daisies.
One other idea is to use it for aromatherapy. If you need ideas for scents to use for things like anxiety or energy, click here. Then just add a few drops, and use a wine cork to seal the top so you can release the fragrance as you want.
Shape It Into Something New
This project will take a little more time and patience, but it’s such a cool result. Check out this one from Fused Glass by Sophie on Instagram, which was created to make a great cheese and crackers serving dish.
If you have access to a kiln, this is the easiest way to make this by essentially slowly melting the glass. Not sure where to get access to a kiln? Call al local pottery or art shop near you to ask if they take on small projects like this for a fee. Some people suggest you can also do it at home by turning your oven on really low for a couple of hours or by putting the bottle in a campfire.
If you do try either of these approaches, definitely do a little research before you dive in because you can learn a lot from others who have done it.
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