I save empty wine bottles from restaurants on my travels.
Souvenir Corks
I have corks stuck onto a picture frame. You don't need a glass cover. You just let the corks project.
That reminds me. I have a picture frame which has no glass. (Somebody else broke the glass.) I was wondering what to do with. I'll use it to frame corks. I can create something new and personal and get rid of the clutter of a broken frame and lots of corks lying around.
The other thing you can do with corks is put them in a carafe or see-through empty bottle, the larger the better, or a goldfish bowl or clear vase. I've seen a display like this at The Wine Society.
Other uses for corks are suspended from an Australian style cowboy hat to ward off flies. Or as a joke hat for a fancy dress party, or hanging from a lamp shade.
Dozens more projects from table tops, coasters, pinboards, jewellery holders, drawer pulls, plant put holders, bottle and four glasses stand - see them on Pinterest. Just google what can I do with old corks and you'll find lots more.
https://uk.pinterest.com/ladyandhershoe/1001-uses-for-wine-bottle-corks/
Use corks as replacement handles for old knives.
http://yarnigras.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/ironcraft-28-and-recipe.html
If you don't have enough corks for a project, on eBay you can buy sets of 50 corks.
Labels
Souvenir labels can be floated off and stuck into a book, for example one with self-sticking transparent pages.
The supermarket size souvenir shops at wineries in California sell books designed for storing labels. If you are on a budget or having a lets clear clutter day, you can make a wine label book from any scrapbook. to make a suitable cover, you could photography one of the labels and print the copy for the front cover. Or use one of the labels for the front cover. Or print out a suitable label just using a fancy typeface and black ink and a word such as wines.
Alternatively label the cover with years and places where you travelled to drink the wines, whether it's within a mile of your home or all around the world.
Bottles
In the 1960s it was popular to save Mateus Rose Bottles to re-use as table lamps. You could buy a cheap kit to stick in the neck of the bottle. Just add a bulb and buy a cheap lamp from a budget store.
You could store bottles across the top of kitchen cupboards.
If you have a Corvavin to preserve wines, empty bottles are handy for decanting leftover wine and re-bottling. You can use half bottles to save half bottle leftovers in a bottle with less air so it lasts longer. Re-cork it with one of those cork stoppers with a horizontal hat.
Making Labels
Make a new label from your printer or simply stick on an address label with the name of the wine and the new date. Float the label off the old bottle and ra-apply it. Or get a photo of the wine from a wine catalogue from your nearest wine shop or a general supermarket such as Tesco or Marks or their weekly newspaper. Cut the picture of the bottle out of the magazine, with or without the text describing the wine.
These are on the cellar wall of The Sampler, in London.
Cases
Packing cases from prestigious or favourite houses. You can stick them on the wall unframed. Or frame them.
This one I saw at the Rose pub in Fulham, London.
People most likely to get wine boxes are pubs, bars and restaurants. Boxes can be used for decoration, for flower pots. You might be able to get somebody to give you one.
Collage
Wine labels could be used as a collage for a table top, for a home or business, for a wine bar or conservatory or cellar. Even to cover a suitcase or handbag.
Inspiring Sketching
A stored bottle is useful for inspiring a still life drawing or painting. You could even paint a mural in your kitchen or cellar, copying the bottles of the labels, the corks and the packing cases.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer,
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