E3 Creations: DIY: Recycle Your Corks and Wine Bottles

Don't throw away your old wine bottles and corks! Recycle them into something new to be used or displayed.

This post was inspired after drinking a truly horrible bottle of wine over the weekend. I partially blame myself for not chilling it first, but it was so bad that my friends and I cut it with ginger ale and it was STILL awful. After choking some of it down I said "The only thing this bottle is good for is I get to put the cork on display". Hence, today's post.

Here is a pic of a wine bottle by my kitchen sink. I just added a spout and keep my dish detergent in it. This way I have it convenient for use and it's not an eyesore to keep out on the counter!

Or you can soak off the labels and turn them into planters:

Source: Design Sponge

Or use a glass cutter to cut them down and stick a candle in them to be a candle holder, or cut them down to cover tea lights:

Source: The Green Head

Don't forget that bottles come in all colors so you could collect different sizes and shapes of blue glass bottles for display. You could paint the bottles and/or dip them in glitter or anything you want for your own special purpose! Spray painting would be easiest.

Another random idea I just had. Get different furniture knobs and glue them into the tops of the bottles. Put them back on your wine rack for a fun display.

Here's some more great ideas for bottles:

Source: Taste of Home

Perfect for the season

Souce: Nap Time Crafts blog

Mix wine with twine!

Source: Crave/Create blog

On to the Corks....

Do a cork collection! I've been collecting corks for about a year now and have filled a vase on one of my shelves with them. I have some friends that have a wide-mouthed basket on their coffee table they keep theirs in for display as well.

Bonus: Instead of stacking just books for display, try old cigar boxes. I got the ones pictured here at a flea market for just $4!

Now that this vase is full, I'm going to start collecting to do some art projects with my leftovers. There is so much to do with them! You can paint them, you could soak them in water with some food coloring and they'll absorb the color so that they are tinted. You can glue them to cardboard, mdf or wood and make your own corkboard. Here are some cute cork ideas: