Creative use for colourful wine bottles

Do you like stained glass? I adore their vibrant shades against sunlight! One of the things that I always look out for when visiting old cathedrals during my Europe travel is their stained glass windows. Sainte Chapelle chapel in Paris certainly possesses an outstanding collection of it. But if you prefer a more contemporary look, Zurich's Grossmünster offers delightful works materialized in 2006 by German artist Sigmar Polke.

Back to the subject of this post, once I noticed that empty wine bottles have beautiful shades too, I realized that I could have a stained glass window in my own house! (a more simplistic version of course, but aesthetically pleasant enough to make me happy with the results). It is a great way to re-purpose old bottles, I must say.

Here's how you can do it:

1. Remove wine labels

• This process takes time, although it does not require anything special other than plunging the bottles into a bucket with enough water to completely soak the labels.

           Tip: Fill the bottles to at least 2/3 full so that they will sink to the bottom of the bucket.

• After 2 full weeks, most labels can come off easily with a gentle peel.
• Labels that were glued with a tougher adhesive may take another 1-2 weeks but eventually they will detach. If you are impatient, get a hard brush and start scrubbing, but it can be messy to do so.
• I don't like to use soap since water alone is enough to detach the labels anyway.

2. Once labels are removed, wash and dry the bottles.

3. Use craft wires to tie the neck and base of the bottles to a support structure or in my case, a window grid.

You can also hang the bottles from the ceiling if you have better equipments.

Enjoy the lovely view when that bright sunlight shines through the bottles!

From Hanging Bottles