DIY Lighted Wine Bottles
I love wine, I love wine bottles, I love fairy lights. Boom! Enough said. However, it’s my job to say more. Have you ever thought about the endless ways you can upcycle your empty wine bottles? There are so many DIY lighted wine bottles, painted wine bottles, wine bottles made into lamps, wine bottles made into light fixtures. You’re getting the picture.
I just got back from a weekend in Napa, and I have to tell you that I love everything about that region of my home state. I have been there many times, but there’s always a new thing to do or see, and there are always new wines to taste, plus you can’t beat the landscapes there.
Our weekend was more work than play this time, so, sadly, I took very few photos. It’s early in the season so the grapevines are still bare. But to see the vines all lined up so perfectly in the fields and through the hills is really something to behold.
If you don’t drink or don’t like wine, Napa is still a gorgeous place to visit. Do you like to eat? OK, well, then there’s your purpose for a trip to Napa County! The restaurants are amazing. A lot of very famous chefs have restaurants there.
Not sure if you know who Michael Chiarello is (I might be dating myself, here), but he had a few shows on Food Network and has a great restaurant there called Botega. One time, my husband and I were there for lunch, and he was walking through saying hello to people. I, of course, couldn’t just say hello. I asked him some questions about one of the “specials” that I was eating, and he talked to us for a bit. Oh, and one time we saw Jason Priestly trying to ride a Segway around in a parking lot at a winery. That’s it. No other brushes with the famous in Napa.
We bought our current house over four years ago, and there were about 120 grape vines on our property in a small vineyard. The grapes are half Zinfandel and half Barbera. This is the first year we’ve seriously tried to make anything with the grapes. My husband, brother-in-law, son and family friend harvested them, pressed them, fermented them, added things to them, and, finally bottled it. I think it was a lot of fun for them. I’m definitely NOT a wine connoisseur, but I did taste it. I think the word we’ve been using most to describe it is “drinkable”, but that’s not for nothing, on a first real try!
I love the look of bottles. Old and new, colored and clear, frosted and shiny. So I have often saved corks and bottles through the years, knowing that someday I’d make something with them.
I’m going to show you a few decorative ideas that I’ve used with them. If you saw my Instagram Reel, https://www.instagram.com/celebration_elevation/ you saw examples of two of the lighted wine bottles I made. They were easy, fun and very pretty.
The first step is always to take off the labels and/or stickers and wash them thoroughly. This means really make sure that you get any remaining adhesive residue off of the outside. If you don’t, when you paint your bottle, you will definitely have the residue showing up.
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Bottle #1 Supplies Needed:
This first decoration is actually made from a cognac bottle, and it came with this green, frosted glass. If you don’t have one that is already frosted, you can buy spray paint that actually makes your glass look frosted. (See link above.) I took silver and copper-colored Sharpie pens and, basically, just doodled on the glass. I did write “cheers” on the front and “congrats” on the back. Then, of course, I added the fairy lights. You could also use a paint pen. Another fun idea would be to give the actual bottle of cognac (or another full bottle of wine or drink) and write on the outside of the bottle.
Bottle #2 Supplies Needed:
This is a beer bottle. I loved the amber-colored glass, and I knew what I wanted to do with this one, immediately. I added a dot of hot glue at the very top of the neck and started wrapping twine around it very tightly. I decided that I wanted to add the lights to this bottle, also, so I didn’t want to cover the entire bottle with twine. I stopped at the bottom of the neck and then I restarted at the very bottom of the bottle with another dot of hot glue and I stopped after a couple of inches, so there would be enough plain glass for the lights to shine through. At the end, I just embellished with a little bit of lace ribbon and a small wooden heart (from a pack of wooden confetti) and glued it in the center, to cover up the glued area on the lace.
Bottle #3 Supplies Needed:
To give it a look of confetti, dip the end of the eraser into an acrylic paint of your choice. Paint the dots closer together and more concentrated at the bottom, and move up the bottle, making the dots fewer as you go. Use 2-5 colors, any that you like.
After painting this one, put the room temperature, painted bottle into your oven. Turn the oven on to 300 degrees F, letting the glass heat up with your oven, and keep it in there for 30 minutes. Then, turn off the oven and let the glass cool down in the oven. This process adheres the paint to the glass. You still should NOT put this in a dishwasher, but you can now wash it by hand, gently.
Bottle #4 Supplies Needed:
This little round beauty originally had raspberry liquor in it (Chambord). I took all the stickers off of it and dried it really well. Then, I applied Mod Podge in a fairly thick coat to the center of the bottle. I sprinkled Epsom Salts all over the Mod Podge and set it to dry, completely. After it dries, make sure you paint over the Epsom Salts. If you don’t, the moisture in the salts will evaporate, leaving you with a chalky, white mess. Then, you can paint the rest of the bottle or leave it plain.
I hope you will give decorating bottles a try. To DIY lighted wine bottles is easy, and they make such a pretty decoration, especially around your dinner table at night or in your home in the evening. They give off such a beautiful glow.
Thanks for stopping by my website and for reading my blog. You can also get a full video tutorial for these bottles on my YouTube channel, so take a look at that. Subscribe to my YouTube channel by hitting the “Subscribe” button below my videos, and you will automatically receive notice when a new video is available. If you liked this blog, please share to your social media by clicking any of the social media buttons below.
Have a great week, and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th! Wear some green, even if you’re just an honorary Irish person for the day.
Xoxo Teresa
