Mix It Up Monday: Wine Bottle Projects

Greetings Peeps,

It's that time again! How are you all? Hope this post finds you well.

In my recent attempts to find projects on Pinterest to experiment with for Pinstrosity, I have come up with a big fat zero. Certainly not for a lack of material, though. Actually, quite the opposite: too many choices. Should I do a recipe? Home decor? Life hack? What to choose, what to choose... this has resulted in either 1. Overwhelmed Rachel throwing in the towel after twenty minutes of pindow shopping, or 2. Adding 25 pins to my "Likes" section in a matter of minutes.

This was until Rob threatened my wine bottle stash.

Whatever do I mean by "wine bottle stash"? Well. Since I joined Pinterest a couple of years ago, I keep finding posts about up-cycling wine bottles. I certainly love a good Moscato, and sometimes even a Merlot, so over the past two years, I've kept most of our wine bottles. We don't drink too often, so the collection is small. That being said, the top of our fridge was the place that the bottles congregated.

The fridge in our rental is an older model; nothing stainless steel or fancy. It doesn't have an ice maker, or a water dispenser. But, it does the job without complaint. It does creak and groan periodically, and the motor is "loud" by fridge standards.

What this has meant for the wine bottle stash is that, gradually, the motor would shake and shimmy enough that the bottles would move on top of the fridge until they touched. Then, each time the motor ran, the bottles would rattle. For some reason, I'm able to tune it out, but Rob HATES it.

He'd finally had it (after a year of them living there) and affectionately threatened to throw them out the other night. Ah! No! Not the my darling wine bottles! I promptly scrounged up a box for them, and now they're living on a corner of the counter, awaiting a project.

Now, peeps, my sharing the following photo with you falls under the sacred order and bonds of Pinstrosity-hood, as I'm hoping you don't judge the min-strositeer too harshly.

Look at how filthy these wine bottles are! I am ashamed. I can only assume that my living in dusty Arizona combined with my hatred of dusting accounts for this mess.

In all honesty, I think just cleaning these bottles off could be considered a Pin Win!

So, this box leads me to my Monday post for this week: What on earth shall I do with them? Here are a few ideas that I am considering. Of course, if you have attempted any of these/would like to see any of them, please let me know!

We all know this Pinterest staple: cutting the bottle with some combination of string, alcohol, and a flame. Seems like this idea has been floating around Pinterest for as long as I can remember, but I'm gonna call it an oldie but a goodie. Anything with a fire hazard catches my interest!

http://www.coffeelightandsweet.com/2012/02/diy-glass-cups-or-recycling-glass.html#.UtYmRmRDtJM

Um, hello, can we talk about how adorable these gold dipped bottles are? Not wine bottles, but I am loving the rose gold color with the clear bottle/the plants. This is a serious contender. Want to read more? Head over here!

Featured on: http://ashflynn.blogspot.com.au/

How about something practical? Do we think this wine bottle planter works? I'm desperate to try an indoor garden, but my green thumb is lacking, to say the least. I wonder how easily these are to knock over. Hmm. It still may be worth a try. Fresh cilantro, here I come!

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/58/a8/d2/58a8d25eed535801301614577a49c8eb.jpg

Remember what I said about fire hazards? *drool* These wine bottle tiki torches seem like just the ticket! This may be my favorite project so far!

http://www.designsponge.com/2009/08/diy-project-eriks-recycled-wine-bottle-torch.html

A wine bottle hummingbird feeder?! Gasp! I just-- ermehgoodness. I can't stand it. This is awesome.

http://www.thechillydog.com/2013/10/wine-bottle-hummingbird-feeder.html

A wine bottle wind chime. Do we think I have the creative wherewithal to pull this off? It's a gorgeous photo that was featured in an Etsy store...but has no accompanying D.I.Y. instruction. Make it up as I go? Don't mind if I do!

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/66/0d/8b/660d8babf6a0189ababea8c48fbf191c.jpg

I'll have to do some more research to see what I'm getting myself into here. Perhaps I'll even consult Rob, since he does, in fact, share this residence with me. Though I suspect he won't much mind one way or the other, so long as I don't burn the place to the ground.

Wish me luck!
Wine-ingly yours (ha, see what I did there?)
Smoochies,
Rachel

PS: Find me on Pinterest! Click here!