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dlm2000

Don't need more stuff, but.....

5 years ago

What do you do - if anything - with pretty bottles that food products come in?

There's like a bell that goes off in my head when I have a pretty bottle from oil, vinegar, wine or jars from specialty type products - ding ding ding save this!!! And sometimes in summer I buy fizzy lemonades that come in the bottles with the attached stoppers that seem so quaint and certainly should have a second life. Sometimes the shape of the glass is attractive or occasionally the color but then what? I swear this is one more step over the slippery slope into becoming my grandmother - a bag filled with bags that have handles, a box filled with gift boxes because you never know, tissue paper smoothed out to re-use..... 🙄

Usually the bottles just sit on the kitchen counter for a while, then I get tired of cleaning around them, never come up with an idea to use them and toss into the recycling feeling like a creative failure. WDGWD? (What Do GardenWebbers Do?)


Comments (19)

  • 5 years ago

    I have saved a few to simply use as vases on the kitchen counter. My garden isn’t the most prolific, so I often have just a few flowers that look cute in a little glass jar.


    Last summer my DD went thru a phase of painting glass jars — she mostly did mason jars but could be any kind of jar. She just used regular acrylics. They were cute!


    If they have good lids/tops, they could be filled with homemade syrups (or infused vodka, mmm) for holiday gifts?

    DLM2000-GW thanked Sueb20
  • 5 years ago

    Those types of bottles are quick to be picked up if you are part of a “Buy Nothing” group for your neighborhood. Look on the Nextdoor app or Facebook for one. (I know people don’t like Facebook, but it really can be handy.)

    DLM2000-GW thanked maddielee
  • 5 years ago

    I use old bottles or single stem vases with a flower in each one sitting on my kitchen windowsill in the summer. One flower per bottle though.

    DLM2000-GW thanked Oakley
  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    We have local crafters who re-use glass to make Hummingbird feeders. I looked into a while back and found lots of DIY instructions.



    I’ve been wanting to do a mini bottle tree:



    Some could be fitted with a pump or whatever to keep liquid soap in. Or pour vinegar from an ugly jar into the pretty one. :D

    ETA: Just saw this neat idea. Could store rice, beans, pasta ...



    DLM2000-GW thanked Jilly
  • 5 years ago

    They are great for homemade vinegars, ginger and other sugar syrups for the fridge, quick-grab bottles for sugar, yeast, and salt for bread-making, small bottles of chia seed in both fridge and pantry. All in current use here.

    DLM2000-GW thanked smiling
  • 5 years ago

    Art teachers love this stuff!

    DLM2000-GW thanked Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
  • 5 years ago

    Creative ideas! Thank you.

    Don't know why I never considered a casual summer table or windowsill with bottle vases - that would be very cute. I have a meadow full of wildflowers but have always used either a regular vase or one of my many pitchers.

    I would love to do the hummingbird feeder but we are in bear country and that's a magnet - our neighbors battle them all summer with their bird and nectar feeders. So far they aren't drawn to us and I want to keep it that way! I wonder it those bottles on the bottle tree are colored in some way - that would be a spark of color down at our creek.

    Our Buy Nothing group is sad - nothing like the really active Freecycle group where I used to live. If I could join NextDoor I'd be happy to offer things up but we are in a one street no-man's land and can't get anyone at NextDoor to attach us to one of the existing neighborhoods that border us. It's the most infuriating thing.

    Great ideas and I certainly have time to make some fun syrups/vinegars/infusions considering the empty calendar!

  • 5 years ago

    WAIT. Did you keep your Ronco glass cutter? 😂

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhrHnhMGWEc

    Older and weirder bottle cutting commercial:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOlP6itt3gg

  • 5 years ago

    Those are very cool Tina Marie - beautiful collection.

    Jinx - gah! those commercials are weird! Let's just shatter glass on our walkway!

  • 5 years ago

    Home-made liqueurs.

    DLM2000-GW thanked l pinkmountain
  • 5 years ago

    A friend of mine makes lamps out of pretty glass bottles.

    DLM2000-GW thanked pricklypearcactus
  • 5 years ago

    Thrift stores are also a good place to pass on things like that. Maybe not so much during a pandemic, but I have thrifted all kinds of great craft supplies.


    DLM2000-GW thanked carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
  • 5 years ago

    From my grandson’s wedding reception.

    DLM2000-GW thanked Dolores Wilkes
  • 5 years ago

    I clean and save basic glass jars since they are becoming more scarce in the grocery store. Pre Covid when invited to a friend’s house, I cut flowers from the garden, add a ribbon and give to the hostess.

    DLM2000-GW thanked ratherbesewing
  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I have a variety of uses for them: vases, spices, home made dry rubs, refrigerated marinades., leftover soups or sauces that I give to the kids. I have a group of friends in this neighborhood who try to walk every day (we used to go to the gym before it closed) and we have mini birthday celebrations. Someone bakes brownies or cupcakes, another picks up a card and I usually supply the flowers and arrange them in one of my saved jars.

    DLM2000-GW thanked maire_cate
  • DLM2000-GW thanked carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
  • 5 years ago

    I have nothing to suggest in addition to those already offered, but I will say re buynothing and freecycle-- when we first moved here 2 years ago, there was no buynothing and the freecycle was pretty dead. Over time though thankfully --- buynothing was created as well as a few other facebook groups ( and nextdoor) and even the freecycle got more active. So my point is,if it's not in your way maybe hold them a bit and try again in a few months to offer ?


    i know I feel so great when someone wants what I am getting rid of----the best was that we had received a gift of honeybells- too many for us so I took a photo of them in the box and said I would split up batches of 4 or .6. Needless to say I got more interest than I could provide for but the BEST was someone asked if they could have the shredded paper as they needed it for a decoration and couldn't find that brown raw color. I was so thrilled!

    DLM2000-GW thanked salonva
  • 5 years ago

    I love those decorative bottles and always intend to put them on the local FB groups, I know they’d go. DH tosses them in the recycle bin. Oh well.

    I mentioned in another thread about the Bonne Maman Advent Calendar we had this year. The little jars were so sweet! Held about an ounce or two of jam. I was sure someone could use them. Then, off they went to the recycle bin.