Bottle Trees

13 years ago

The friend I visited yesterday always takes my blue wine bottles. She has a bottle tree.

Is anyone familiar with bottle trees?

Well, My favorite wine is Mozel or the Riesling wine made in the region of Mozel in the Saar valley which used to be France and used to be Germany....they fought over it a lot.

But it is now mostly called a RIESLING wine. I like it because it is light and fruity, and tastes like fresh fruit.

The first time I drank it, many many years ago, the brand was Zellerschwartzenkatz....which means BLACK CAT IN THE RAT CELLAR. Nowadays, it is made by Schmittsohn which sounds pretty German to me, and is imported and is always in nice blue bottles. It helps to find it on the shelf.

I don't drink much anymore, but when I do it is usually this light white wine.

Now I'm thinking I might try to use some of the blue bottles when we salvage the garage. Embedding the round bottoms of bottle glass in cement could give a stained glass effect, right? I would not have to hang my bottles on strings or dowels, which could present a safety problem during hurricanes with high winds.

If you don't like wine, they also bottle olive oil in glorious bottles. Too pretty to throw out. I'm a sucker for pretty bottles. Back in the old days...meaning when everything was made for love....they'd stick candles in the neck of bottles and flower children would have wax all over every piece of furniture. I think I'm talking to some folks here who have an inkling of what I'm saying....may have done some candles in old Chianti bottles too?

Anyway, does anyone else have ideas on how to do something with good bottles too nice to throw in the trash?

I saw a chandelier (for sale at Pottery Barn) which cut the bottoms out of green wine bottles, and inserted bulbs into them. In fact, I have that ad taped to the wall in front of me. The green wine bottle chandelier hangs above a table constructed just like Enigmaquandry's new table.

I'll post a photo of it tomorrow.

Comments (7)

FlowerLady6
13 years ago
I made a 'blue bottle bouquet'. Using a terra cotta pipe section, and bendable cable stuff we found. I love it. I have another pipe section and some green bottles I want to make another bouquet with.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

FlowerLady
User
Original Author
13 years ago
FlowerLady, you have some bottles just like mine! How neat the way you use them too. And the wrought iron panel you have centered on your house window and the arched window above it. What a neat vignette you created.

I was just coming back to upload a photo for Shades and Steph, since I think they'll enjoy this unique bottle chandelier I clipped from Pottery Barn's catalog. I think the dark green will give less of a colored glow than blue bottles, but I'd be happier to use the clear or pale green glass personally. But the idea is very creative. Just cut out the bottoms and suspend them between two concentric rings of wood or metal, seems pretty straightforward to me.

Any more bottle stuff out there? I will have to find the shot of my Damiana liqueur bottle...it is a pregnant fat woman.

But here's the bottle chandelier for now:
Related Professionals
Asbury Park Architects & Building Designers · Cloverly Architects & Building Designers · Johnson City Architects & Building Designers · Los Alamitos Architects & Building Designers · Pedley Architects & Building Designers · Town and Country Architects & Building Designers · Newington Home Builders · Casa de Oro-Mount Helix Home Builders · Duarte Home Builders · Ellicott City Home Builders · Homestead Home Builders · New River Home Builders · Saint Peters Home Builders · Wilmington Home Builders · Rockland Interior Designers & Decorators
desertsteph
13 years ago
I certainly remember the wine bottles with candle wax dripped down them - lol! I love the chandelier - is it wired with lights? how neat that is - good way to keep your pretty bottles around and put them to use!

I also think the idea of cutting off bottoms of your blue ones and embedding in stone/cement for the floor of the garage is a great idea. you could make some garden stepping stones yourself and embed them. you could also use blocks like that as a hearth for an outdoor stove in it. carry it up the wall behind the stove/heater.
User
Original Author
13 years ago
steph, I think the chandelier is wired down through the bottles, which have their bottoms cut off.

They could then use the round bottoms to embed in a cement wall somehow, I suppose.
flgargoyle
13 years ago
Remember the bottle cutters that were all the rage in the 60's/70's? I learned a great trick for cutting bottle. Score the bottle with the bottle cutter. Fill it with motor oil to the score line. Heat a poker red hot (literally) and plunge it into the oil. You will hear a faint 'click', and the bottle will lift of, leaving a perfectly clean cut. I remember my sister making food dishes for her cats that way.
Shades_of_idaho
13 years ago
OH Forgot to come back and check this bottle thread.

Thanks for the ideas ML/ Got my head a swirling for sure.

I had a few little bottle trees at the last house we had, Have not done it again here. YET. One tree I did was done with those small white vases. I really need to get these put out next year. Wold make much more room in my studio room and I would enjoy them much more on a tree than in a cupboard.

Chris
Nancy in Mich
13 years ago
These are beautiful and creative ideas! Here, the recycling center won't take anything but clear glass. I will have to start saving the colored ones for projects like these. A string of LED lights could be used to go put 2 or 3 lights into each bottle and would really make a nighttime display of your bottle tree, flowerlady! They have battery and solar powered ones now that would not even need a plug.

Here is a link that might be useful: Battery-powered lights