Two things that I’m certain of: I drink wine and I forget to water my windowsill herbs, I’m sure the two are not related. This little project brings both those certainties together – recycling of those empty bottles into self watering planters that actually look good!
MATERIALS
– Wine bottles (or any sort of bottle really)
– Glass cutter ($20 from your craft store)
– A scrap of landscape fabric or mesh screen
– Cotton wick or cording
– Sandpaper
– Pot of just under boiling and ice cold water
STEPS
Empty a few wine bottles and take off the label. If you need help, enlist a friend. Zachary Knighton from Happy Endings and Weird Loners gave me a hand.
Set your glass cutter to make a cut about 2″ below the shoulder of your bottle. Following the directions on the cutter, place the top pivot point into the neck opening, press the little scoring blade into the bottle and make a fine scratch along the entire circumference of the bottle. The key here is even consistent pressure. When you have to release the bottle to re-grip it to turn it again, I go back half an inch to make sure there is no gap in the line.
Dip the scratched bottle into the pot of hot water, let it soak for about 30 seconds, move it immediately into the ice water, wait 30 seconds, back to the hot water, so on and so forth until you hear a ping and the bottom drops off. Pretty nifty huh. Use your sandpaper to sand down the edges so they are no longer sharp.
Cut a 2″ square of landscape fabric or mesh and an 8″ length of cord. Make a small hole in the fabric and feed the cord through, tying a knot to hold it in place. Take this and feed the cord through the neck of the bottle so that the fabric covers the hole.
Plant your herb over the fabric, fill the bottom half of the bottle with water, and set your herb in making sure that the cord reaches the water.
Now wouldn’t these make great gifts….go drink some more wine!