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A Crafty Reason To Drink Wine...



wine bottles repurposed into herb pots and candle holders

*Forewarning note: this is from years ago when I had drive and ambition to be crafty, but it's kind of a pain in the ass to do, and the herbs will die, and the candles won't sit straight if there's a punt (bump) in the bottom of the bottle. Do I sound depressed and exhausted years later? I'll save that for another post...*


Let's cut straight to the chase here, I love wine. All of it, most of it, mostly all of it. I even got married at a winery. My decision on what to buy relies largely on how cool the label is, then price, $20 is the current sweet spot, then availability. I used to have this brilliant theory that I would pick the 'most popular' wine on the shelf. And by popular I mean the one that only had one or two bottles left all the way in the back. With stock running low like that, it must be good, right? Yeah, until my food and beverage expert husband suggested that it could just be low because they're trying to get rid of rubbish wine and have chosen not to restock it. Formula blown, back to the 'how cool is the label' method. Molly Dooker is my hands down favourite (and not just for the label, their reds are divine) and I aspire to visit their winery one day. It is my wine mecca.


This article has nothing to do with buying wine, but everything to do with drinking it, and more importantly justifying it. I'm typically more ashamed about the number of bottles in the recycle bin under the sink than I am about how much I drank, and I have finally solved that problem. With a bottle cutter.


What is a bottle cutter you ask? Well, friends, it happens to be a little contraption that I not so subtly asked my husband for my birthday two years ago. He obliged, Yay! And then I didn't touch the thing for two years.


Until now. And let me tell you it is easy, and fun, and crafty as all hell. It's so easy I even think you could get away with drinking wine while doing it. But don't, because broken glass is a bitch to clean up in any state.


"How do it do?" is what you're asking yourself right now. And here's the simpleness of it:

1. Empty wine bottle, check!

2. Wine cutter, check!

3. Spin the bottle (not like that) on top of the cutter thingy a few times to score the glass.

4. Pour a stream of boiling water over the scored line until you get bored.

5. Pour a stream of ice cold water, or ice, over the line until you get bored.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have half of a bottle in each hand!


The bottle cutter kit came with sandpaper and grainy glass sanding stuff to un-sharp (most might say "dull") the edges, so I'd just suggest following the instructions at that point. Ah yes, and removing the label, soak them in warm water, and a sponge with cleanser seems to do the trick every time. And apparently mayonnaise, but I haven't gone there yet.


AND HERE'S WHERE WE GET CRAFTY! Move over, Martha!


Do what you like with them; candle votives, water glasses, wine glasses?


Or. Do what I did with them. Visit Bunnings; herbs, gravel, soil, copper labels. Genius.

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