You love them, you hate them, and you just know there’s a craft they’ll be perfect for – eventually.
We all love to save our newly emptied wine bottles. After all, who knows when these multicolored vessels will come in handy for decoration or project? We have the best of future intentions when we line our kitchen with stack upon stack of empty bottles, but sometimes it feels like the glass backlog will thoroughly choke out the remainder of our garage space.
Even worse, we feel just a little guilty for putting such a nice bottle right back into the recycling bin, as opposed to the cosy wooden cabinet it previously slept aged in. We let our bottles sit around for months or even years, hoping that one day a burst of creative inspiration will come along to repurpose our beautiful glass into something meaningful, fun, and practical.
Nothing says ‘whimsically beautiful’ like a wine bottle, and your backyard may be the perfect place to show it off. Your garden space is a powerful expression of personal style and taste, so maybe it’s time you gave it a winey touch all your own.
Spruce up your garden with these 5 adorable crafts and repurpose your wine bottles into something truly yours.
1. Plant Sipper System
One of the most practical wine bottle makeovers, creating an irrigation system for your garden adds a fashionable and useful touch to planting areas of any size.
Once you choose your bottle and planting area, simply fill the glass with cool tap water from the sink. Quickly turn the mouth of the bottle two or more inches into the dirt around your plant. Depending on your soil quality and type, the slow irrigation can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
Customize your plant sipper with spray-paint, stickers, glass beads, chalk labels, or anything else that shows off your garden beds. No need to hold back, let your imagination soar!
2. Raised Bed Glamor
This unique idea is perfect for the wine aficionado with a large selection of wine bottles and a green thumb to boot.
Using a drivel tool, create marking points in the soil you would like your raised bed to be, about three-inch-deep holes. Your space can be as small or as large as you have bottles for. Just be sure you set your holes evenly apart!
Place a piece of wood over the top of the bottles to prevent the glass from breaking while you secure it. With a hammer, gently tap the bottle into place. Make sure the entire neck is underground, leaving only the chunky reservoir peeking out.
You’ve done it! All that’s left to do is fill your space with soil, mulch, and plants that show off your landscape. With proper care and consideration, this raised bed fencing can last for years on end. Just be careful where you turn the mower!
3. Let’s Get Musical
Sometimes a glass structure in the yard is exactly what the garden ordered.
A structure can be anything you feel compliments your yard the most, but these sweetly tinkling wind-chimes add a quirky flavor to any garden.
Use a drill bit or a glass cutter to remove the bottom quarter of your wine bottle. Attach a spare jewelry chain to the lip of the bottle, adding a wooden wheel to the very middle to strike the sides. Add a heavier decorative pendant to the tail of the chain to catch the wind, then sit back and listen to the magical chimes you’ve been waiting for.
4. Scent-Sational Citronella Candles
Mosquito hordes got you down? This clever and cutesy trick will send blood-sucking bugs packing and help secure your garden from pests all year round.
Slide rocks, marbles, or other decorative stones into the bottom of the bottle. Slip a thick wick through a copper coupling, securing it to the top of the bottle with Teflon tape. Simply fill the bottle two-thirds full of citronella fluid to finish the project. Enjoy your buzz-less yard with a simple light of the candle!
5. Bird Feeder Bliss
A garden is made even better when we can attract and spot our feathered friends enjoying the scenery too! Why not lure them in closer with a sweet and simple bird feeder hung anywhere in the yard?
Using a half-inch drill bit (or a glass bottle cutter), submerge the bottle in a bucket of water and cut off the bottom one inch. Forgetting to keep the bottle wet while drilling can cause several safety issues. Don’t forget to wear safety goggles and use heavy-duty work gloves!
Once your holes are drilled, attach a small plate to the bottom with a little space for the seed to leak out. For a touch of added interest, attach some small perches with hot glue. With hanging wire, mount the bottle to any structure.
Voila, you’ve done it! Don’t forget to use the corked wine bottle top to replace eaten seed.
The Final Word
Every glass craft you make is a colorful expression of you, your hobbies, and of course your favorite wine. No bones about it, letting yourself be creative is a wonderful way to relax at the end of the day, along with a nice glass of Chardonnay and a seat in the garden to watch the butterflies flit around your newest glass creation.
Is there something we missed? Let us know below!
Author’s BIO: Lori Wade is a journalist from Louisville. She is a content writer for who have experience in small editions, Lori is now engaged in news and conceptual articles on the topic of home decor. If you are interested in gardening or lifestyle, you can find her on Twitter & LinkedIn. She has good experience and knowledge in the field.