Tuesday, April 27, 2010

One Man's Trash

When it comes to cleaning out my fridge or kitchen cabinets I can toss trash and recycle without hesitation.  No matter how much I enjoyed whatever deliciousness used to occupy the packaging, I certainly don’t value the container itself.  This is true for most every example I can think of…with the exception of a few select wine bottles.  There are several factors that make me inclined to save a wine bottle…it could be that it’s somehow attached to a great memory or celebration, I may have found the wine to be really exceptional or it’s possible I just think the bottle or label is beautiful in and of itself.  At the end of the day I usually convince myself that saving the bottle is impractical and silly and end up throwing it out anyway.  Since I don’t drink a lot of wine I don’t run into this dilemma too often, but I got to thinking about how I could utilize the wine bottles I love (and their various appendages) as part of a design concept.  Here’s are some of the ideas I came across.

Wine Bottles as Vases



While you can certainly use a wine bottle as a traditional vase for your table, we went crazy over this idea from Purr Design.  We liked the concept of using clear matching bottles, but this design could be just as attractive and even more unique with your favorite bottle- even if you left the label on!  They’re surprisingly simple to make, all you need is a split ring hanger, rod, and a few other inexpensive pieces form your local hardware store.  The whole project costs costs just a few dollars, for full instructions go here
Wine Bottles as Candle Holders


Take a tip from your favorite Italian restaurant and adorn your favorite bottle of wine with a taper candle.  We think the dripping wax gives it a little something extra, but if you’re not on board with that idea than you can always use a dripless candle.  For a romantic dinner for two, one candlelit bottle will do...for a gorgeous dinner party centerpiece idea refer to the picture below.
                  

Quadruple your bottle’s capacity for candlelight by purchasing this candelabra from Napastyle.  It’s less than $40 and can stand on it’s own even if you don’t have a wine bottle to pair it with.


Napastyle also offers a different approach by using large 3-6 Liter bottles as a hurricane...each fits a pillar candle up to five inches in diameter.  Prices vary from $99-$249 depending on size, but with a little elbow grease and the right tool you could technically create one of these stunning pieces yourself.  A glass bottle cutter will run you about $40.  Keep in mind your wine bottles probably aren’t quite as big as the ones featured here, so your homemade creation might not create such a dramatic effect.  Nonetheless you’ll certainly save some money with this do-it-yourself option.



Frame the Label


If you’re not interested in utilizing the wine bottles themselves but still want to display the beautiful labels, than all you need is a
Label Lift Wine Label Remover.  The remover automatically laminates the labels as you lift it off and peel away the adhesive backing.  Each package contains 10 removers for $9.95.  After you’ve removed the labels they can easily be matted and framed to match any room you want to display them. 

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