DIY // Wine Bottle Centerpiece

I’m really excited to share this DIY project that will bring a little glamour to the table (…literally!), and cost you almost nothing! Over the weekend, I, along with several other bridesmaids hosted a bridal shower for my Godsister who is getting married in September. We went with a classic vintage theme of black and white, with pops of silver and pink hues. Because we were working with a tight budget, we opted for decor that we could do ourselves and this is one of my favorites of the day. I love it because you can customize it for any occasion, and supplement any color or theme. Plus, you can use this as an opportunity to utilize the empty wine bottles you have sitting around (and potentially an excuse to buy some more wine as if you need a reason! You’re welcome.) You won’t believe how easy it is!

What you’ll need

• Wine bottles -OR- empty glass bottles of any size
• Large bin
• 1 Box of Baking soda
• Cardboard to use as a barrier for spray painting
• Latex gloves (optional)
• Face mask (optional, but recommended)
• Spray Paint (color(s) of your choice)
• Flowers (optional)

Step 1: First thing you need to do, is remove the labels and adhesive. We had about 34 bottles, so I put them all in a large clean trash bin with warm water and baking soda. I used the entire box, but if you are working with a smaller number use 3-5 tablespoons per bottle (trust me, the next steps are waaayyyyy easier if the labels just peel right off, rather than having to scrape the adhesive off- not to mention, way less messy.) Depending on the look you are going for, I would recommend using bottles of different sizes. It adds dimension and variation to the tablescape when you have some bottles that are smaller and some that are larger. I soaked the bottles overnight, but really just soaking them for an hour or so, should do the trick.

Step 2: Next, you will need to peel off the labels and dry the bottles. The baking soda makes it so that the labels just come right off…usually. You might come across a few that need to be scrubbed a little. You will want them to look like this once you’ve finished the process.

Step 3: Here comes the fun part- the spray painting. I used a metallic silver spray paint, that had surprisingly substantial coverage. I was able to cover the entire bottle adequately with one coat. I ended up using 2 coats to camouflage some of the stubborn adhesive residue that wouldn’t come off, and a few of the metal labels on the neck of the wine bottle (as shown in above image, far right). I set up a cardboard “barricade” to protect my mother-in-laws grass from turning silver, and wore gloves to rotate the bottles as I sprayed them. I would recommend wearing a face mask for this step, because those paint fumes are NO JOKE. After completing 30 bottles….lightheaded is an understatement.

At the end of the process, you should have bottles that look like this!

This is the brand of spray paint I used, and am recommending 100%! It offered the perfect amount of coverage, and was inexpensive. It also dried quickly which was a huge plus when trying to transport these.

Speaking of transport- I should note that I did not think this all the way through when it came to the bottles coming in contact with each other in my car. I noticed that some of the paint was being rubbed off just from the movement of the bottles while my car was in motion (even though I neatly placed them in a box). With that being said, I do feel like I could have just done one more coat of spray paint once I arrived to the party and it would have been sufficient enough coverage to mask the flawed paint job- however, we decided that the distressed look fit our vintage theme, so we just went with it! But just throwing it out there as something to be aware of if you do try this at home. Be careful how you store and transport these!

Step 4: Now that the bottles have been painted to match your decor, you can start dressing up the space with them. We filled them with roses and baby’s breath and set them atop black and white table runners. We also chose to intermix strands of pearls to drive home the classic theme. Like I mentioned before, I feel like you can elevate the look by including bottles of different sizes for dimension. Here is the final look! 

I would love to hear about other DIY projects you’ve tried!