How many times have you thrown away a perfectly good bottle or put it in the recycle bin? Wine bottles, beer bottles, soda bottles and any other kind of bottle are easy recycled into something useful or decorative in your home. Some walls are built with bottles or the bottoms are cut off make windows that look like stained glass. These projects take a great deal work and know how to do them adequately, but here are some ideas you can use to recycle your glass bottles into something you can use or enjoy every day.
In the Kitchen
Find pour spouts for both of these DIY ideas, that are found in kitchen supply stores or online. Pour spouts are metal or plastic that fit inside the lip of a bottle. The top is a long spout that makes it easy to pour but not so easy to spill. Put dish soap in a clear bottle with a pour spout. The colors of dish washing liquid are very pretty and looks much better in glass than having a plastic bottle sitting on the sink. Olive oil is a preferred oil to use in cooking and most come in clear bottles. Olive oil will last much longer in a dark colored bottle stored out of sunlight. Transfer olive oil to a dark bottle and put a pour spout on to make it look nice and last longer.
In the Closet
Slide an empty wine bottle into each boot when storing them in the closet. This keeps boots up in a vertical position so they won’t get permanent creases from flopping to the side.
In the Garden
Cut a bottle in half with a bottle cutter and sand down the edges on the end with the neck so it is not sharp. Insert the lip and neck of the bottle into a flower pot or into the ground near plants and pour water into the wide part. The water will trickle keeping plants hydrated for a few days and this will cut down on watering time. Dig a trench at the edge of your garden bed and stand bottles upside down in the trench. Back fill with soil to keep them upright burying them up to the first few inches of the bottle from the neck. This makes an interesting garden edging.
As a Beacon of Light
Remember the wine bottle candles you may have made in college to make your table look a little more romantic. Place tapers into the lip and neck of the bottle and light. The melted wax will drizzle down making interesting designs down the bottle and it will usually dry before it gets to your table. Another type of candle is easily made by removing the very bottom of the bottle. Place a lit pillar or votive candle on a fireproof surface like a cement stairway, metal tray or ceramic tile and place the bottle over top. These are great for outside events when you have to deal with wind because the wind can’t get to your candles. You can also fill an uncut bottle partway with lighting oil used in kerosene lamps and insert a wide wick into the bottle so that it comes up about ¼ to ½ inch above the lip. Light it and it will stay lit for hours
For Flowers
Bottles make wonderful vases for a single stem rose or other thin, long stemmed flowers. You can leave them as they are or paint the outside with spray paint that is made to cover glass. Paint the bottle with chalkboard paint and you can draw a “Message ON a Bottle” and put a flower in it. You can take a paint brush and paint just about anything you like in acrylic paints to enhance the look of the bottle. A different look is achieved by painting glue on the bottom few inches of the bottle and wrapping yarn round and round. Don’t let any of the glass show through. When you complete one section go to the next until you get to the very top of the bottle.
Instead of throwing your bottles away, make something useful and beautiful with them. Use them in your own home and as gifts for friends.