11 Creative Ways To Repurpose Empty Wine Bottles

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Whether you're a wine lover, an occasional drinker, or someone who has ever hosted a dinner party — it's likely you've ended up with an empty wine bottle or two in your lifetime. You may have plenty of ideas for using leftover wine, but the bottles can be just as useful. Rather than throwing them out or putting them in a recycling bin, there are countless things you can do with them instead. In this economy, being innovative and thrifty has become important, and you can creatively upcycle kitchenware, tin cans, and wine bottles. Wine bottles are great for numerous reasons. They're made of glass, so they're sturdy and durable and usually have a beautiful and functional shape, making them great candidates for storage and organization roles.

This is especially fun if you are a creative person who loves DIY projects or crafts, but it can be equally fulfilling for those who care about reducing waste. Instead of your bottles ending up in landfills across the country or using even more energy at recycling facilities, you can step in and do your part in any small way. Plus, you get to benefit from the experience of learning a new craft and the bonus of creating useful objects you can be proud of. Here are some innovative ways to repurpose empty wine bottles.

This one doesn't need you to cut, break, or stick anything in the bottle, so there is no need to grab your tools for the time being. Instead, you can use your wine bottle as is — it's the perfect shape and strength for use as a rolling pin. While there are affordable options, rolling pins aren't always the cheapest kitchen tool, so alternatives are always good to have on hand. Unless you're an avid baker or someone who bakes daily, it's unlikely that you'll need a rolling pin often enough to buy one. So, if you want to roll out dough without a rolling pin, just whip out your empty wine bottle.

If you're rolling out pastry, cookies, bread dough, or pie crust, the length and smoothness of a wine bottle will work great. To take your baking to the next level, place the empty wine bottle in the fridge before rolling out the dough. And this is where a wine bottle can surpass a regular rolling pin in terms of usefulness. Dough can warm up from the climate in your kitchen, the warmth of your hands, or even the rolling pin as you work it. Unlike a rolling pin (which is likely to be plastic or wood), glass can get cold, and therefore, your refrigerated wine bottle can also help keep the dough cold during this process. This will prevent the dough from warming up, allowing the gluten to settle and the fat to remain firm. Just make sure to give your wine bottle a good wash before using it since it's going to touch food.

Few things make a room quite as whimsical as fairy lights. They are perhaps the simplest way to instantly turn a space into a more aesthetically pleasing environment. The best thing about them is how easy and malleable they are to place in any kind of way, and this is where wine bottles come into play. Wine bottles can be the ideal holder for fairy lights, and all you have to do is fill them up with some strings.

For these, you'll need battery-powered fairy lights so the bottles don't have to be attached to a wall socket. Once upcycled, the wine bottles will be transformed from regular bottles into dreamy accessories. These twinkling bottles can be placed on tables, in room corners, along an outdoor path, on a staircase, or even hung from a ceiling. Of course, you'll need to completely remove the label for this.

While the look of green or dark-tinted wine bottles is extra pretty with fairy lights inside them, they also look great in clear bottles. Don't be afraid to mix and match to create a varied lighting effect. Remember to turn off all overhead lights to allow the room to transform into a romantic and moody space, perfect for date night, an outdoor dinner, or a fancy soirée with friends.

Another easy way to repurpose empty wine bottles is to use them as vases. If you don't want to cut the bottles in any way, they can simply be filled with water, and you can add your flowers in there. They're a good length for long-stem roses, for example. While you won't be able to fit a huge bouquet into the narrow neck, it will still look pretty with anything from a single rose to a handful.

If you don't mind getting some tools out, you can also cut off the neck of the bottle completely to make a wide-mouthed vase. This way, you can add bigger bouquets and even shorter-stemmed flowers, too. If you like things to look a little more lively and colorful, you can decorate your wine bottle vase in any way you see fit. Give them a coat of paint in a solid color for an easy fix. Or, let your creativity run wild and paint a more striking design on the bottle.

You can also stick on little jewels, pearls, or beads to give it a more bedazzled look. Embellish the bottle with embroidered flowers, or even tie on some braided rope for a granny-chic aesthetic. The possibilities are endless. By adding a little flair to the empty wine bottles, you transform them into décor pieces in their own right. Use these as decorative vases, whether full of flowers or empty.

Similar to fairy lights, candles can change the mood of a room. And while a standalone can look pretty, nothing beats the combination of a wax candle and glass. The reflection of the flame on the glass creates an alluring, glimmering effect. With empty wine bottles, there are ample opportunities to turn them into candle holders of some kind. You can place candlesticks into the neck of the bottle for a dramatic candelabra effect. But you can also cut the neck off and use the body of the bottle in various ways. If you fill it with water, you can drop in some floating candles and light them through the opening at the top.

Alternatively, cut the base of the bottle to make a tea light candle holder. This way, you can set a candle on a flat surface and place your wine bottle over it — the right way up. Since the neck is still intact (and the bottle has no cork), the candle will burn consistently.

Repurposing wine bottles is not only for the crafty but also an easy way to save money on containers to store homemade drinks. Just pour your homemade iced tea or a freshly squeezed lemonade into empty, clean wine bottles. It's a great way to cool down during the summer heat. They're better than using plastic for all sorts of reasons, but especially because they keep your drink nice and cold in the fridge. 

They're also great for alcoholic brews, whether you like to make homemade wine or any fruit wine. Grab a cork to close your bottle until it's time to drink. Even if you're not a beverage alchemist, wine bottles can be filled with water. Save money on a Stanley Cup and keep your water nice and cold, ready to be poured at any time. You can even purchase a wine bottle stopper if you want to close it properly without a cork.

Lamp shades are not as popular as they once were, and all sorts of funky light fixtures are in. This is great because wine bottles make for pretty interesting-looking light pendants if you use them correctly. Make sure to remove the label for a clear and clean glass all around. You'll certainly need to cut the bottle with a glass cutter for it to serve this new purpose. Thread a single light bulb through the open base and out of the neck. With the wine bottle set the right way up and the bulb hanging upside down, hang the cord on the ceiling, and you've got cool-looking lights dangling in your home.

Cut only a small area of the bottom of the wine bottle for a long light fixture, and slightly higher for shorter ones. You could even create a wine bottle chandelier of sorts by attaching a few strings of wine bottle-covered lights to a wooden base and hanging them from the ceiling. This takes some skill and finesse, but could produce a really rewarding result.

If you've been to the South, you might have seen "bottle trees" in people's gardens. While striking and beautiful, these are not just decorations. Bottle trees are an old Southern tradition steeped in legend, believed to trap and ward off evil spirits. If that's not reason enough for you to make one, perhaps the idea of a fun, creative project that even kids can get involved in will convince you. Start by collecting empty wine bottles whenever you have them. They don't need to be uniform in shape and color because a mismatched tree bottle can be super fun, too.

Now, if you already have a suitable tree in your garden, with branches that will allow you to adorn it with wine bottles, then your job is going to be much simpler. However, for the DIY route, you'll need to create the standing piece with branches sticking out of it. For this, you can use a fence post and bury it in the ground until it's sturdy enough to stand on its own. Then, drill some holes to insert metal rods or wire prongs into it, slanting upward to create the branch effects. From here, slide each empty bottle onto a branch, and you'll have a gorgeous wine-bottle tree in your garden.

Wine bottles can also be used as planters or "pots" for mini-plants, such as small succulents. For this, you'll need a glass cutter to cut the bottle in the middle area. It's important to leave enough room for the potting soil, but not so much that you'll need a lot to fill it all the way up. If you're confident with your glass-cutting technique, you can even cut a piece out of the side of the wine bottle to be used horizontally instead of vertically. 

Once you've cut the wine bottle, scoop soil into it until it is almost full. Then, insert the succulent plant and cover it with more soil until it's stable in the bottle. Voila, you've created a cute little succulent planter that can decorate your space or even be given as a homemade gift to friends or family. You can use a single succulent or mix and match some if they're on the smaller side.

Summer comes with outdoor activities, and as the sun sets, there's nothing like a tiki torch to light up a garden, beach, or whatever outdoor space you may be in. Tiki torches are more than cool-looking garden torches; they're also great at repelling mosquitoes. So, if the wrath of a swarm of mosquitoes is making you reluctant to have an evening outside, this is going to be a real treat for you. The best news is that empty wine bottles are perfect for making tiki torches. Thankfully, you don't need a glass cutter to make tiki torches, but you will need a couple of other things from the hardware store before you can throw the ultimate tiki party.

You'll need to get a wick to light the flame and fuel to keep it lit. Then, you'll need something to keep the wick in place and block the fuel from coming out, like a copper coupling and nylon tape, for example. This can all sound a little overwhelming if you're not a skilled DIYer. Luckily, you can also buy an all-in-one tiki torch kit if you want a shortcut and don't want to get all the individual parts. However you go about it, exercise caution and attention since you'll be working with fire, fuel, and glass. Follow all the safety precautions required when working with these elements.

One very rewarding way to repurpose empty wine bottles is to use them for mosaic art. Mosaics never go out of style, and making them can be incredibly fun and a gratifying creative outlet. All you have to do is safely break bottles to get started. Since you'll be working with broken glass, there's always a chance of getting cut by a sharp piece, so wearing gloves, protective shoes, and taking the utmost care is recommended.

To break the bottles, wrap them in a towel and use a hammer to shatter them. Bash them until they're no longer bottles, but not until the glass has turned to powder. For a dynamic mosaic, you want a mix of different sizes. Transfer the shards of glass into a bag or onto a newspaper for ease of use. Then, using glue, start sticking your glass shards onto the surface of the piece you're adding the decoration to. This works best with different-colored glass, so it may take some time to collect varied wine bottles. But, of course, you can make it work with what you've got, and you can use non-wine bottles or colorful pieces of glass to complement the mosaic.

Perhaps you are not good with your hands in any way and would rather do anything else than creative projects. Don't despair; before throwing away an empty wine bottle, consider repurposing it. Wine bottles can be useful for food-related items, too, and make good decanters for oils, vinegar, and vinaigrettes. Instead of offering guests olive oil, balsamic vinegar, or your favorite vinaigrette in their original packaging, serve with style by pouring them into clean, empty wine bottles instead. This helps to save money on glass decanters, and with little to no effort, you can have fancy bottles for your salad dressing needs. This is especially advantageous if you've bought olive oil in a plastic bottle. 

By decanting your oil in a glass bottle, you're extending its shelf life. According to a 2014 study published in the Journal of Food Science and Technology, plastic can reduce the beneficial nutrients in olive oil. There's also the risk of consuming microplastics when oil is in a plastic bottle. Instead, olive oil is best kept in dark-tinted glass bottles.