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easy to clean? is there a special brush or something?

i have collected some unusual wine bottles with a wish to reuse or remake them. yet, never got to it as i can't figure out the way to cut the bottle's neck for example. i know there is some sort of string can be used, but have no knowledge beyond that. Could be fun to have chunky tumbles, or vases made out of them. Anyone had done it before?

I had the honor of illustrating a really cool DIY gardening book a few years ago called You Grow Girl. The author included a lot of great crafty projects, one of which involved using wine bottle empties to create a path in the garden by turning the bottles upside down and burying them in the soil, so only the glass bottoms are showing. It looked pretty cool in the book, and if I ever have a yard, I'll try it.

I seem to recall hearing about some kind of kit you can buy to chop the necks off of bottles and turn them into vases or tumblers. Can't remember exactly, though!

i taper the bottoms of tall candles with a knife, and use bottles with fantastic labels as candlesticks. perhaps a little too "cheap italian resturant" for many people, but i use dripless candles, so that the label art can really shine.

There's something on Instructables about cutting wine bottles. http://tinyurl.com/382am6

There's also another entry about cutting them with a tile saw; you could search the site.

I got some of the pour spouts used for liquor bottles and I use an old bottle for olive oil. I use another one for dish soap, and I use some old bottles to put homemade sour mix and simple syrup in when I throw a party.

As far as cleaning goes, put some vinegar, a little water, and some rice (or crushed egg shells) in the bottle, plug the hole and shake like mad. It works like a charm.

This post from design*sponge turns wine bottles into vases, and recommends some glass cutting kits.

I love collecting Orangina bottles to put a single flower bud in. I remove the labels and use fingernail polish remover to clean off the adhesive. Leaving the labels on would look good in the appropriate setting. A really full flower like a hydrangea looks good with the bulbous shape of the bottle.

empty wine bottles make perfect bracelet holders!

I decorate them with Pebeo Vitrea relief outliner, fill them with homemade hypocras or guignolet, then give them as prezzies :-)