Make a Recycled Wine Bottle Incense Burner
Recycle Used Glass Bottles into Functional Art
Sep 17, 2009
Most wines come in beautiful glass bottles. Some of these bottles are clear in color and are readily able to be recycled in most communities. However, colored glass bottles can be more difficult to recycle. Rather than breaking them down into raw materials for reuse, there are many other ways to recycle glass bottles into new things.
One functional use for old wine bottles is crafting them into incense burners. As the incense burns, the smoke fills and rolls out of the top of the bottle. Turning a wine bottle into an incense burner is fairly easy, but does require a few tools. These tools are fairly basic, so ask around to see if any friends or relatives have them available to borrow before heading to the hardware store to purchase them!
Supplies:
- An empty wine bottle, thoroughly washed
- Power drill
- Diamond-tip masonry drill bit
- Vice
- Towel
- Masking tape
- Split keyring
Instructions:
- A vent hole must be drilled in the bottle to allow the incense oxygen to burn inside of the bottle. Before drilling, decide where the vent hole should be located and place a piece of masking tape over this point. The tape will keep the edges of the hole from chipping as it is drilled.
- Wrap a towel around the bottle to prevent the vice from damaging it. Place the wrapped bottle in the vice so that the masking tape is facing upward and is exposed.
- Very carefully drill a hole in the bottle, using the drill at a lower speed. Be careful not to apply too much pressure to the drill, which may cause the bottle to break. Press the drill bit gently into the bottle, gradually applying more pressure until the hole begins to form. Continue using this amount of pressure through the remainder of the drilling.
- When finished drilling the hole, remove the bottle from the vice and peel off the masking tape.
- Light a stick of incense and tuck the end of the stick into a split keyring. Feed the incense into the bottle; the keyring will stop at the mouth of the bottle and hold the incense suspended in place.
Some wine bottles have incredible labels which can be left on the bottles for decoration. When cleaning a bottle whose label is intended to be left intact, wrap the outside of the bottle in kitchen film wrap to avoid water damage.
Wine bottle incense burners may also be painted, decoupaged, sand blasted, etched, or even left plain. There are limitless possibilities for personalizing this recycled craft, making it an ideal choice for gift giving. Or make one to keep!
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