As you prepare to dress your home for the holidays, get festive by creating winter wonderland themed decorations, by re-purposing your leftover wine bottles. I love these snowman & snowflake holiday decorations, they’re just creative & fun! For winter wonderland designs, I like to use the blue wine bottles for colorful contrast to create sparkly designs on top of.
Remove the Wine Bottle Label
The first step is the hardest part! If you can get through cleaning the wine bottles, removing the sticky labels and glue residue – then the rest is just fun! Some wine bottle labels can be really tricky to remove.
I start by running the bottle under warm water and scrape using a handled dish-washing brush with a scraper. If that doesn’t work, I try soaking the bottles in hot soapy water until the water turns cold. The labels should separate and lift off easily.
If not, I mix 3 parts baking soda to 1 part vegetable oil (or whatever cheap cooking oil you are willing to sacrifice from the kitchen) to create a thick paste, about the consistency of Elmer’s glue. This mixture should dissolve any stubborn glue or label. I slather this mixture onto the label or leftover glue residue and leave it over night.
Then, I return to the sink to scrub off the stickiness. A final wash with dish-washing soap is needed to remove the oil & baking soda mixture. You’ll want a clean, residue-free wine bottle before spraying, painting, or gluing anything on it.
Festive Winter Wonderland Designs
One crafty idea is to use Krylon’s Glitter Blast spray paint to create fun and colorful “snow” background on the wine bottles. You can find many colors of this glitter spray at craft stores, big box stores, home improvement stores and their corresponding online sites. I find it’s often cheapest online through Amazon, around $6 a bottle.
I always spray outside in the lawn with cardboard down on the grass for protection. I wear a mask and safety eye glasses, as this spray is strong and comes out in a solid stream and glitter does get everywhere. This glitter spray is something to adapt to working with – but easier once you get a hang of it.
Definitely shake the can well for at least two minuets and spray from at least 3 feet away for an even consistency. If you spray too close the spray gets wet and runs.
I let this layer dry for overnight before starting on the decorative elements. Make sure to clean out the spray nozzle before the glitter dries and clogs the nozzle .
For a simple, easy to create design, you can create a fun holiday design with gemstone embellishments from the craft store. Below are links to the stickers I’ve used in the past. They already have adhesive on the back, but you can add a bit of clear glue if you’re finding they won’t stick to the bottle. Here are the snowman stickers & stems I used from Michael’s Craft Store:
Here’s another winter wonderland design idea using a 1.5L Magnum clear glass wine bottle and a sangria glass jug. Here are the snowflake stickers I used from Michael’s Craft Store & Amazon :
