I’m sure you’ve heard me mention it countless times, but glass recycling is no longer available where I live. While we’ve adjusted our shopping habits to accommodate this, it’s not always easy to avoid glass bottles and jars. Which means I am ALWAYS looking thinking up glass bottle crafts and ideas to upcycle the glass in our recycling bin.
Wine bottle crafts have become far more common in my project arsenal as a result. For instance, you may remember these painted wine bottles for coastal decor:
Or these decorative glass bottles that resemble pumpkins and gourds that I made from empty bourbon bottles.
And that’s just a couple of my glass bottle crafts! As time goes on, I’m quite certain that I’ll be looking for new ways to upcycle glass bottles and jars that would otherwise end up in our trash.
Or should I say, glass bottles and jars and vases! Because clear glass vases seem to add up quickly, too.
There is ALWAYS a plethora of clear glassware at thrift stores, isn’t there? Glasses, bottles, and vases- oh, my! Thank goodness for easy upcycling ideas, like these cozy candles from a pair of clear vases.
I’ve also heard from many of my readers that glass recycling has disappeared from their hometowns, as well. It’s a growing problem across the United States; per this article, only 33% of waste glass gets recycled in the US.
With so many of us facing this issue, I decided it was high time I put together a collection of upcycling ideas for your empty wine bottles (or whatever glass bottles and jars you have on hand).
Upcycling Ideas for Glass Bottle Crafts
Moral of the story? There are a LOT of upcycling ideas for glass bottle crafts out there! Whether you paint them or cut them or just display them in new and exciting ways.
And, of course, if you see some glass bottle ideas that you love but you’re more of a jar or vase person? They’re almost ALWAYS interchangeable- and like the glass vase project below, VERY plentiful at thrift stores.
Whether your eye goes to painted wine bottles or to decorative glass jars, you can create a lot of home decor pieces straight from your recycling bin.
Or, unfortunately, your garbage can if the glass recycling problem has come to your locale, too.
Either way, I hope this collection of glass bottle ideas has inspired you. Whether it’s a wine bottle, a tomato sauce jar, or something more exciting altogether. There are a LOT of amazing glass bottle craft ideas out there. Such as these “stained glass” pumpkins…
Even just finding unusual or vintage glass bottles at a thrift store can make a huge difference in your home decor. For instance, check out these Lego flowers in my thrifted glass bottles!
And if you enjoyed these glass bottle crafts and ideas, then you may also be interested in this idea inspired by a Hudson Bay Blanket!
Craft on!
S
Want to be notified when I publish my next upcycling project tutorial?
Join me on Social Media:
PIN ME!
Sarah Ramberg is the owner of Sadie Seasongoods, a website that celebrates all things secondhand. From upcycling ideas and thrifted decor to vintage-centric travel itineraries, Sadie Seasongoods is a one-stop shop for anyone who loves thrifting and approachable repurposing ideas. Sarah is also the author of “Crafting with Flannel” and has been featured in numerous media outlets and magazines.
There are so many great ideas here! I have been on the lookout for a spice rack like the one you used for the same purpose for awhile now but surprisingly I haven’t found one yet… I used to see them all the time! Fortunately we still have glass recycling… for now.
Tania
I hope your glass recycling never disappears!!
Hello Sadie, I love your ideas, just need that clear space to try them out on:-)
I’m surprised (horrified really) that you can’t recycle glass in your area – and, that it is a growing problem. In the UK where I live, there are more, not fewer recycling places. That’s not to say we are brilliant at it, we aren’t, but the idea of more landfill is awful – apart from which we live on a crowded little island, so land use has to be more thoughtful. I wonder why some enterprising person hasn’t come up with a super efficient glass recycling unit – jobs, kudos and profits to be made:-)
Very best wishes for 2020.
Ruth in Brum (THE original Birmingham in England.)
Thank you so much, Ruth – and YES, it is absolutely awful about the glass. The best thing I can do is shop more mindfully – looking for local and/or limited packaging whenever possible!
I am alarmed that glass is not allowed to be recycled in so many areas! Glass turns back into sand whereas the replacement for glass (I assume is plastic) NEVER biodegrades. It will turn into our soil and become part of our water, air and food sources. I wonder if getting a rock polisher, you could keep buying things in glass, smash when you are done, and then polish the glass shards to look like sea glass. You could sell by the bag for crafts? It just seems so horrible that we are forced to contribute to our own destruction. I feel like we are being forced to eat microdots of poison that will one day kill us.
It’s so awful, Deborah! But it’s a matter of economics – cheaper to create new glass than recycle the old. (Which doesn’t make me feel any better, but it’s just how it is.). The best thing I can do is be a mindful consumer and just look for products with as little packaging as possible!
I’ve used several of your ideas and was glad to see them “all in one place.” Our transfer station (I still call it the dump!) now recycles glass again; I have been using a lot of my bottles for small craft supply storage, i.e., beads, wiggle eyes, etc. At least I can see what I have in the container! They also now take egg cartons and #5 plastic (in addition to #2), etc. which is encouraging to see! Al hates to take me with him–I’ve come home with too many treasures!
That’s great news about your transfer station, Kathy!!
Hi Sarah! What a fun round-up, and so timely as you explained. I appreciate you including two of my bottle posts (collecting amber bottles and how to clean antique ones) in your round-up 🙂 Happy New Year friend!
Thank you, Diana- I was so excited to find those posts of yours to include. I hope the clicks sent your way resulted in some new long-term readers! 🙂
🙂
They still accept glass at the recycling center in Dacusville (Pickens County) where my daughter lives, so if you happen to know anyone there, maybe they can help you recycle yours too? Just a thought. I hate that Greenville Co. stopped taking glass.
Hi, Bev! I have gone to the Pickens one a few times with some glass (secretly). It’s quite a drive for me, so I worry that I’m doing more environmental damage by driving 45 minutes one way to recycle the glass. BUT I’m sure I’ll do it again as long as I have a lot of glass saved up and it make sense to go. Thank you for letting me know that they still accept it!
You have lots of great ideas for repurposing glass bottles and jars here. We can still recycle glass here, but I still repurpose what I can.
It ou have so many beautiful bottle ideas love recycling bottles and jars ! I have accumulated so many my husband has no room for his tools in the garage. My latest one is using Starbucks bottles for vintage stile vases .