6. Wine Bottle Lantern Strand
Empty wine bottles are one of the most overlooked DIY materials, and they make gorgeous light fixtures when paired with string lights or cork-topped fairy light strands. You can line them up along a patio ledge, group them on a console table, or hang them individually from a low beam.
Materials include four to eight empty wine bottles, cork-style fairy lights or individual LED cork inserts, and optionally some glass etching cream or frosted spray paint. If you’d rather not drill into the bottles, look for fairy lights designed specifically to fit into bottle necks.
Clean the bottles thoroughly and remove any labels using warm soapy water or a bit of rubbing oil. If you want a softer glow, lightly frost the outside of each bottle using spray paint or etching cream. Insert the fairy light cork or LED insert into the top of each bottle and let the lights cascade down inside. Arrange the bottles along a wall, table edge, or garden path, spacing them about a foot apart.
The project takes about an hour, including drying time for any paint. It’s a great way to use up bottles after a dinner party, and the result looks intentional and stylish rather than improvised. For a more colorful look, drop a few drops of food coloring into each bottle before inserting the lights.
Be cautious about glass placement if you have young kids or pets running around the patio. A small lip of wood along the edge of the table can help keep bottles from rolling.