Wine Themed Party: Wine Bottle Centerpiece

For the centerpiece the vision was clean and simple.  We decided we wanted to incorporate wine bottles since it was, ya know, wine themed.  Also, if you are a wine drinker or know anyone who does, this is a fairly reasonable project because all the bottles are free!  After considering our options of using bottles with green colored glass vs. white glass vs. both we decided that the white glasses would create the most simplistic centerpiece with the greatest visual flow.  Here is what you need for the project:

·        Empty wine bottles – we used 12

·        Taper candles – the same number as your wine bottles

·        An old cutting knife

·        Saran wrap

First you need to wash out your wine bottles and take the labels completely off.  When picking your wine bottles it is important that you have different sizes and shapes.

Next you need to cut your candles.  It is very important that you have different candle heights.  When you put them in the bottles you want to make sure that there are a variety of heights for visual interest and all your candles are not at the same level.  If you have a lot of bottles that are the same size and shape creating different candle heights will make them look diverse.  

I used an old bread knife (which is now my craftin’ knife) to cut the tapers to different lengths. 

Now all bottle openings are pretty much the same circumference and you will have to account for the different sizes in the bottoms of your candles.  The shorter candles will  be cut towards the top where the circumference is smaller and the taller candles will have a larger circumference.  Due to a little fire hazard issue (more on that later) we had to cut all the candles fairly short.  Surprise, surprise, when you try to shove those babies into the holes of the bottles….they fall in.  Wop, wop, wop.  A nice little bit of saran wrap around the bottoms will help those candles stay in!  I used the press and seal kind, because it is my fav and more sticky.  The saran wrap is clear so it is virtually undetectable to guests.   

Light your candles and you are done.  I swear this is the easiest and most minimal centerpiece I have ever created.  I like the simplicity and the neutral colors, and of course the ambiance of the candle light! 

No onto the fire hazard bit.  Remember the hanging puff ball décor we made here?  Well that happened to be sitting only slightly below the original candle centerpieces.  Just envision that each candle has….oh about 1-2 inches more on it.  My sister and law and I were hacking away on the candles and shoving them in bottles and the boys (my hubby and hers) came up, took one look at it and said “oh hell no”.  Who knew that the candles had a high potential to engulf the hanging décor in flames?  Now for a while there the boys were not problem solvers….and we did not have time for that.  No.  We were on a tight schedule.  Eventually they reached the agreement and we hacked the candles down.  With the smaller candles there was less drama for the height, but I think all things considered it turned out great.  And my house didn’t burn down so that was a bonus!