Up-Cycled Wine Bottles And Tree

After the holidays you may have driven through your neighborhood and noticed the discarded Christmas tree sitting next to the recycle container full of empty bottles of holiday cheer.

For Farmer Mike, this sight didn’t mark the end of a season but became one of new beginnings.

This is what Farmer Mike wrote:

“Great blog guys!

I like your idea for the bottle tree with the 4by4. I have an idea for the bottle tree that worked out great! Use a real tree. After Christmas I drive around and collect them. Once I get home with a load of them I cut the branches off approx. 18″ from the base of the tree then I cut the limbs so they are about 6-8 inches long. Then I dig a hole and tamp the remaining dirt around the base. I just finished a tree with 2 cases of bottles. Here’s the final result.

Have a great day…Farmer Mike”

Here is the end result!

Up-Cycled-Bottle-Tree
Up-Cycled Bottle Tree

What better way to recycle both of these things that would otherwise be added to the landfill? With a renewed purpose even the Rooster will have something to crow about.

We would like to thank Farmer Mike for sharing his project with us. Be sure to leave a comment below to let him know what you think. :)


Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?

Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description and or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers. If you have a blog you can also include the web address and we will link back to you.

Bottle Art Wind Chimes By Lisa

Think Spring Bottle Art

With Spring on everyone’s mind, a lot of visitors have been searching our blog for pictures of wind chimes lately.

Perfect timing for Lisa to post her Bottle Art Wind Chimes and other finished DIY projects on our Bottle Crafts DIY Facebook page.  We have created this DIY Show Off page to share her wind chimes, mobiles, bottle keep sake and hummingbird feeder with you. Scroll down to see more.

Wine Glass Wind Chime
Wine Glass Wind Chime

These re-purposed wine glasses are perfect for anyone’s front porch.

Keepsake Bottle
Keepsake Bottle

How cool is this? The edges of this cut wine bottle have been given a decorative gold trim and the clasp adds a nice touch. Isn’t this a clever idea to hold special keepsakes? 

Think Spring Bottle Art
Think Spring Bottle Art

Thinking Spring? This one has it all! Four brightly colored bottles that all fit into one another finished off with a pretty wine glass on the bottom and decorated with beads and flowers.

Decorative Bottle Art
Decorative Bottle Art

The wire used to wrap these wine bottles together adds continuity. Both of these bottle art pieces are charmingly decorated with beads. 

Bottle Wine Glass Chime
Bottle Wine Glass Chime
Bottle Hummingbird Feeder
Bottle Hummingbird Feeder

This beautifully painted Hummingbird feeder will definitely stand out in your back yard.

Who knew you could make so many cool things out of recycled bottles, besides making bottle lamps? We would like to thank Lisa for sharing all these wonderful photos of her bottle art projects.

Be sure to leave a comment below to let her know what you think.


Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?

Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description and or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers. If you have a blog you can also include the web address and we will link back to you.

 

 

 

 

Centine Bottle Lamp By Patty

A Centine re-purposed bottle that offers both ambiance and a functional lamp is the latest project by Patty.

Patty was looking for just the right lamp shade to pull this bottle together and her perseverance paid off. She wrote:

I finally found a lamp shade for the 5 liter Centine bottle. It was no easy task, since I didn’t want it to be too big. Cork seemed like an appropriate choice, and since it was on clearance, so much the better!
My hubby wired the LED’s to a cord with a rocker switch, and we can turn on just the fill lights, or the fill lights and the lamp bulb. Since the bottle has been sitting for some time, while I tried to find a lamp shade, the fill lights have settled, and the hubs is going to add some more LED’s to the string.
It turned out as well as I imagined.
Centine Bottle Lamp
Centine Bottle Lamp

The lamp shade and tassel are the perfect combination! The cork lamp shade is perfect for on top of a wine bottle lamp. The lights inside the bottle will offer a nice feel to any room in your house.

We want to thank Patty for sending us her latest bottle lamp project. Be sure to check out the other DIY projects that she has contributed on this site as well.

Leave a comment below to let her know what you think.


Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?

Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description and or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers. If you have a blog you can also include the web address and we will link back to you.

Cut Bottle Wind Chimes

We received the following inquiries from a Bottle-Lamp website visitor today and thought maybe you have been wondering about the same things?

Rick had been visiting our Bottle Cutter Review page. Take a look at his questions, then scroll down for Nick’s answers.

Where do you get your bottles? I do not drink fast enough.

Second, on the bottle wind chimes it was mentioned that you used a ring or washer to hang the ball. I am not sure how you used them. Are they wedged in the bottles throat or glued flat on the top.

Third, what size are they? Thanks, Rick

cut glass wind chime
Glass Bottle Wind Chime

Rick, All good questions.

1) The bottle question was one I was actually concerned about when I first started bottle crafting.

My intent was to sell them on-line. Long story short; once word got out that I was cutting and drilling bottles, everyone was soon enough setting them aside for me. Silke and I were officers at the Elks Lodge at this time as well and we requested that they set certain bottles ones aside (You can ask at any bar in your neighborhood and once you explain what you’re doing you’ll be amazed at the response).

2) The bottle wind chimes were put together using fishing line fed through the neck and a decent size washer was simply tied to the end. The bottle hung off the washer.

Gravity works with you this way as opposed to gluing them together.

3) The answer to the last question would be – big enough so the washer doesn’t fall through the neck.

Hope this helps.

Let us know how your glass bottle crafts turn out for you.

Nick

Kinkajou Bottle Cutter Review

bottle cutting tool

Review of the Kinkajou bottle cutter, finishing kit and the Jabiru bottle top stems.

Nick has been trying different ways to cut recycled glass bottles for a while now. I don’t even remember how many empty bottles of wine we broke trying the string, nail polish remover and a bucket of icy water method. The gal in the video made it look so easy! We used up about half a bottle of the stuff, plus we also used other flammables like lighter fluid and different types of string, before we finally gave up on it.

A few month later and Nick was at it again, he was determined to figure out how to get a clean cut bottle. This time he purchased the G2 bottle cutter. You read about it here: Bottle Cutting Demonstration Gone Wrong.

Let me just tell you, he had to replace the main part to even get it to work at all. Enter the Kinkajou bottle cutter! Now Nick was able to try out the newest and undoubtedly greatest bottle cutter of them yet. Thank you to Bottle Cutting Inc. for sending us this demo pack!

bottle cutting tools

I loved the colorful Jabiru bottle top stem set right away, but found the Kinkajou bottle cutter a bit complicated looking and a little intimidating. Well, you have to keep in mind I’m not the bottle crafter here. The nice folks from Bottle Cutting Inc. also sent us the Kinkajou Finishing Kit filled with the sand paper you will need to smooth the edges and believe it or not, 2 sets of fun stickers with clever sayings like “Hey Baby, let’s have a few drinks and I will show you my Kinkajou”. Did you know that Nick LOVES stickers?

Alright, that’s about enough from me. Let’s hear from Nick our bottle crafting expert.

Nick, what is your take on the Kinkajou Bottle Cutter?

I was really jazzed when this arrived. The whole idea of cutting bottles has seemed like the natural progression to go with all the bottle craft work that we’ve done over the years.

Trial and error. As with anything else in life, practice makes perfect. My first cut wasn’t perfect, but I could tell right away that it was a matter of making corrections on my part to get the Kinkajou bottle cutter  to work perfectly. After watching the ‘perfect score‘ video, I felt more confident in how to handle the device.

The second bottle was a success and with a little sanding it was usable as glass ware.

First Cut Bottle With The Kinkajou

The first time is always the hardest!

bottle cutting success with the Kinkajou

We also received a set of Jabiru Bottle Top Stems The Friday Night Fun Edition. This is an assortment of different colored holders that can be used for the ‘other half’, i.e. the top of the bottle.

If you wanted to make a matching set of cut bottle glasses, they also sell complete color packages of black and white bases. The Jabiru bottle top stems are easy to use and really make use of the whole bottle. Nothing will go to waste!

Jabiru Bottle Top Stems

The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter Kit is available in many different colors and includes the following:

  • 1 Kinkajou bottle cutter
  • 2 silicone separation rings (fits all bottle sizes)
  • 1 glass finishing tool
  • 3 pieces of silicon carbide sandpaper (80 grit)

Kinkajou Bottle Cutters

The Kinkajou bottle cutter is available in 14 different colors!

Review Results – I was extremely impressed with the Kinkajou bottle cutter. My main objective was to find some consistency in the cuts, as well as a bottle cutter that actually worked. The nail polish string trick simply didn’t work at all, and if you wanted to make a whole set of glasses that were all similar in size, was almost impossible to do with the other cutter.

The Kinkajou was easy to work with and offered the consistent bottle cuts that I was looking for. The Jabiru bottle sets worked very easily and they add a nice finishing touch. The rubber neck allows a variance in the bottle sizes so these should work with any bottle neck. With a working bottle glass cutter in tow I’m going to try and make a glass set of Corona bottles. Getting all six glasses to be the same height should be relatively easy by making the score lines consistent. I’ll post those at a later time. Watch my How to cut glass rings instructional video.

Special thanks to Bottle Cutting Inc. for sending us the Kinkajou bottle cutter, finishing kit and Jabiru bottle top stems.

Buy A Kinkajou

Do you have questions or used the Kinkajou bottle cutter before? Leave us a comment below.

Santa Fest Bottle Light by Patty

Patty has sent us her latest bottle lamp project that offers a nice red glow for the season.

This Santa Fest bottle from the Black Mesa Winery has the perfect label on it for the holidays. The Black Mesa Winery has an interesting line of wines and history. From the Winery’s website:

Black Mesa Winery began producing wines in 1992 as the result of a long time dream of Dr. Gerhard and Connie Anderson.  In 2000, Jerry and Lynda Burd purchased the winery and have carried on and expanded that dream to produce over 25 wines from grapes grown in northern and southern New Mexico.  All wines produced are from New Mexico grapes.  When asked about the large choice in wines in the Tasting Room, Jerry says, “I can’t make up my mind.  I have a palate that enjoys many different wines and styles of wines and so do our customers.”

1-Santa Fest_02

Patty’s bottle is made up of red LED lights and red tinsel. The Santa head figurine used as a wine stopper is perfectly paired with the bottle.

We would like to thank Patty for sending us her bottle lamp project. Be sure to let her know what you think about it in the comment section below!


Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?

Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description and or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers. If you have a blog you can also include the web address and we will link back to you.

Bottle Lamps by Stephen

Three new bottle lamp creations from Stephen offer a variety of styles and flavors for everyone.

Each one of these bottles has it’s own unique design. The Corona bottle lamp offers a liquid fill that resembles the bottles actual contents. The Patron bottle lamp has sand and sea shells for a filler and the Pinch bottle lamp has a very distinct shape with a brightly colored lamp shade. Plus, each one of these unique lamps has a beautiful base to provide extra stability.

photo 3

Corona Lamp

Bottle Lamp by Stephen

Stephen wrote to us in an e-mail:

I was doing some of the craft fairs for awhile but setting up the racks, lamps, displays got to be taxing physically so I’m just displaying at a consignment shop in Old Hickory at the present.

We would like to thank Stephen for sending us these pictures. If your in the Old Hickory, Tennessee area stop by and check his lamps out first hand.


Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?
Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description and or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers. If you have a blog you can also include the web address and we will link back to you.

Upcycled Bottle Art By Michelle K.

We got an e-mail from Michelle with a photo of just one of her many projects that she’s been working on. Here’s what she had to say:

My name is Michelle K and I decided to get into the art of glass bottle up cycling  this last June of 2013. 
I’m hoping to sell some of my art in our local farmers markets & on Craigslist. I live in a very green city, and I think a lot of folks here could really appreciate my artwork. 
 
I’ve created about 2 dozen pieces over the last month ranging from lamps, plant holders, hanging planters, bird feeders, hummingbird feeders, candle holders (sticks & blocks), hurricane covers (for tealights) & decorative pieces. I’m working on wind chimes, and a handful of other ideas. 
 

Upcycled Art
Upcycled Art

I am 100% customizable and open to suggestions and ideas. 
 
I use a G2 glass scorer and slowly drip hot/cold water on the score to break the glass then sandpaper and use a dremmel tool with a glass attachment to sand the glass & create holes for cords, and hangers. 
I had the dremmel tool already – and bought the glass kit for $16 on amazon, and the g2 scorer kit for $12 on amazon. 
 
My bottles (wine, champagne, soda, beer, and spirits) were all donated to me to be upcycled (they were going to be trashed, and I saved them from the landfills!) 
 
Here is a link to my photos on my imgur page which is an album of my work: 
http://imgur.com/a/M1CKN
 
If people want to learn more about my projects then can email me at:
 
luckiest_13@hotmail.com
 
Thanks! 
 
Michelle K
 
We followed the link that Michelle provided and we’re absolutely amazed at the pieces she’s put together. Fun, decorative lamps and garden items that are sure to be a hit at her farmers market.

Thank you for sharing your craft work with us.

 
Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?
Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description and or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers. If you have a blog you can also include the web address and we will link back to you.

The Beer Bottle Chandelier Project

Once I had learned how to cut glass bottles, the first thing I wanted to do was put my new found skills to the test and show you how to make a chandelier.

A bottle chandelier seemed like the perfect pairing for not only using the glass cutter but also in the natural progression of all the bottle craft projects that I’ve tried. With different pictures culled from DIY magazines as well as the internet, I had a pretty good idea of what the look and feel the chandelier should have.

Beer Bottle Chandelier
Beer Bottle Chandelier

Nothing ever turns out exactly as you envision it. No, not at all in this case. The base structure of the lamp itself was something that was needed before I could even begin. Why pay full price for something that you’re literally going to modify into something completely different? A few trips to different garage sales and warehouse outlets turned up the perfect lighting structure. It was marked for $20.00 because the huge glass bowl that sat in the ring had broken in transit. Someone else’s loss was our gain.

Now that I had the basic mechanics for the chandelier I found myself pouring through the pictures once again to try to figure out how they had attached the bottles. The pictures didn’t provide any real answers and the DIY magazines only seemed to show case how cool they looked in these different houses.

The Original chandelier. Making way for our new Bottle Chandelier
The Original chandelier. Making way for something new.

The old chandelier came with the house and although it was still fully functioning, we didn’t like the heavy feel it had. Once it was taken down we realized exactly how heavy it really was. ;)

Our new chandelier is much lighter and less obtrusive. It has  three arms  for the light bulbs that come off the main stem. I cut three bottles and placed them over each light bulb. It was a little subdued but seemed to work just fine. I asked Silke what she thought and she commented on it being too dark. A couple of minutes later I reached up to take the bottle off the bulb and was amazed at how hot they had already gotten. Placing the cut bottles on or around the bulbs was not an option.

There had to be some way off attaching the bottles to the chandelier and I wasn’t finding it sitting around the house. Off to the hardware store Silke and I went. The answer laid in the plumbing department. Steel bands that were shaped to adhere pipes to walls were the perfect fit. Silke wanted to keep in line with the metal band that the bottles would be attached to, so we found bronze plated screws to attach them with. We had some black spray paint at home so I could at least get the attachments close to the same color as the fixture.

The hardest part of doing all of this was drilling the holes for the screws. I mounted the brackets in place and used a black marker to show where to drill. It took forever!

Two drill bits later and I was ready to attach the bottles. We wanted bottles that would match the fixture so we went with a darker brown bottle that had a dual lip on the neck. The bottles fit perfectly into the bands and I was able to securely attach each bottle. Anxious to see the result, I quickly hung it up. It was anything but spectacular. It didn’t look as cool as the pictures in the magazines and if you walked around it, you were actually blinded by the light that came through the areas between the bottles. I was ready to hang the original chandelier back up.

Bottle ChandelierThe chandelier hangs above our dining room table.

Long story short: I couldn’t ignore it. Which is exactly what I was trying to do. The sight of it was enough to make me want to leave the room. It hung there in it’s incomplete state for a day or two. Finally I was ready to finish it or throw it away. The light bulbs needed to be changed. The original ones were too much for this level of lighting. There are three chains that come off the main ring so that the chandelier can hang. This left three gaps in between the bottles that would need to be filled. Lastly, all the screws that I had used to secure each bottle could be seen on the inside of the ring. I couldn’t doing anything with them but hide them.

With a much softer bulb, we were able to tone down the amount of light that was coming through. Second, we added three more bottles to fill in the gaps. 12 bottles hang on the outside of the ring and three on the inside.

This was accomplished by simply adding three more bottle holders and using the same screws that were already coming through. The last thing was to add a decorative trim to the top. This concealed the screws coming out of the back and actually used them to help fasten it on.

Silke and I stepped back and had our awe moment. It had turned out better then what we had seen in any of the magazines or pictures on the internet. It was more than just functional, it was also reflective of our own personal taste. I’m talking about more than just the beer here. The colors worked with the dining room table and we must have shot a dozen pictures of it by now.

Sometimes it’s hard to leave well enough alone. There was one chandelier that had these really cool ‘Edison light bulbs‘. Silke liked the look that they gave and they seemed to match the look we had with the brown bottles. I ordered them online and we anxiously awaited for them to arrive. When they came the first thing I noticed was how small they actually are. Once they were inside the chandelier it felt like they were on a dimmer switch.

Great for mood lighting but not very functional for day to day use. I’ve since put the other bulbs back in. If it’s not broke . . .

Our New Bottle Chandelier
Our New Bottle Chandelier

The final bottle chandelier. None of the bottles hanging on the lamp are cut in any way shape or form. I did consume my fair share of the liquid contents it took to make the lamp but in no way shape or form did I consume all of it. I had help! Hey, it’s for arts sake and somebody had to get the ball rolling.

A quick trip to our local art and crafts store for some wired decorations and viola!  We’re happy with the end result and any thoughts of taking it down are now long forgotten.

If you want to try to make a Beer Bottle Chandelier yourself and have any questions,  let us know in the comment section below.

Caleb’s Lighted Wine Bottles

We have received a submission from Caleb Harper who has been busy putting bottles together for awhile now. Caleb writes:

Hey Good evening. I wanted to say you TAUGHT me to drill bottles and my Work has TOOK off. I would to show you some of my work at: https://www.facebook.com/Calebdwinebottlelights

Well I started drilling with just a Battery drill and now I’ve bought a Drill Press I really Enjoy doing this. But Where did you get your Diamond Cut bit on your video it seem like it went through REAL easy and quick. I feel I break more than I should. I feel like I’m putting to much pressure on them and My bit seems to RUST very quick after I applied water a day or so later. But I bought my bit at LOWES and I seem to get around 20 bottles drilled  Again thanks for taking to time to read my email and Getting back to me Thanks again I look forward to talking to you

Caleb Harper

Caleb Harper Bottle Craft

We’ve corresponded with Caleb and gotten all his questions answered. The link to his Facebook page also show cases some of the other bottle crafts that he has put together.

We want to thank Caleb for sharing his pictures as well as his enthusiasm for bottle crafting.

Nick and Silke


Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?
Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description and or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers. If you have a blog you can also include the web address and we will link back to you.