This is a subject I’ve been struggling with for a long time. During college I kept every one of the bottles I drank, putting them above the cabinets, eventually taking up the entire kitchen. I was determined to do SOMETHING with the bottles, corks, and beautiful labels. I tried making drinking glasses (see below) but my limited budget didn’t allow for me to utilize a more professional wine cutter, so they never materialized (I suggest you try it, though!). I ended up tossing out hundreds of bottles when I graduated. It was a sad day.

Having yet to give in to a desire to give up on recycling my bottles, I have compiled a few ideas from creative types that allow for the average oenophile to create works of art, or useful household items, from your spent bottles. Enjoy!

Bottles:

 - Reuse Them! Planet Green has compiled 5 nifty ways to re-utilize those bottles into unique, personal items to use around the home such as a Soap Dispenser, Wall Sconce/Hanging Light, Oil Lamp, and Candle!

 - Create Drinking Glasses! This is my all time favorite. Hint: DO NOT get a cheap little glass cutter. Find/borrow/buy a good one to use. This is a great project to create some one-of-a-kind drinking ware! Definitely on the “moderate” to “hard” scale of craft difficulty, but… try it!

Corks:

 - 10 Simple Things! Gomestic has put together a list of very simple, and quick, ideas for utilizing your old corks!

 - 10 Hard Things! Dr. Vino presents very difficult, but very cool, things to do with your wine bottle corks! (Hint: iPod, Furniture, Model, Car, Modern Art. Intrigued yet?)

Labels:

 - Make Art! The good folks at wikiHow have given us a step-by-step on how to use wine labels to create simple, yet classy, art with your favorite wine labels.

 - Remove and Collect! Wine.com teaches us how to take off the labels, but you’ll have to use your imagination from there. Maybe good for scrap-booking? Paper mache? I think it would be neat to use wine labels to paper mache cabinet doors. Talk about a cool kitchen…