One of my favorite things to do in the summer and early fall is sit outside on our deck and enjoy a glass of wine. We spend a lot of time out there, so of course I want it to look nice and be bug-free! I discovered this DIY project a few years ago and it has never let me down! I have three of my own and have made many for friends and family for gifts. These are so easy to make and if you have been keeping up with my weekly Pairing of the Week, you should have plenty of wine bottles laying around to get started!
As for the other “ingredients” for this recipe, I found Amazon Prime to be an absolute life saver! I was out the other day running around looking for all my materials and started to cut into Harper’s nap time… that means a meltdown could happen any second. So I rush into Home Depot where I usually would find a few pretty important pieces and of course…. all out of stock.
I promised some wine bottle torches this week…how could I do that with out these parts!? I was panicking.
With a fussy baby there was a was no way about to drive across town to another Home Depot. So I load my Amazon app and sure enough, there they are! Free two day shipping AND I even found something better for the torches to share with you. Why didn’t I look there in the first place?! It’s hard enough getting out of the house with a baby, let alone going into three different stores! I did some more digging and found everything you need for these torches on Amazon. So instead of running around town to Michaels or Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Walmart etc just to find all the pieces, you can order them from your phone and get them in two days!
If you aren’t wanting to use Amazon Prime and actually like enjoy driving to five different stores for one project and enjoy getting lost in the ridiculous aisles of Home Depot, I will share those ‘ingredients’ as well! I also am going to share something new that I found on Amazon Prime that will take about 3 steps out of this DIY process!! They had pre-made wick kits specifically for wine bottle torches! Who knew?! So I will share those AND the tools you would need to make them on your own. Have fun!
Wine Bottle Torches From Scratch
Ingredients:
- Wine bottle- you should have at least one from last weeks Pairing of the Week 😉
- Pre-Made Wick Kit
- Small River Rocks
- Tiki Torch Fluid– I like the one with Citronella to keep mosquitos away
- Hot Glue & Hot Glue Gun
- Decor of choice- I like to use burlap, rope, twine, lace, tulle, and these cute burlap flowers. You can find lots of options at your local craft store
If you choose to not order the pre-made wick kits you will need:
If you do choose to go into Home Depot, I suggest looking at the Amazon Prime picture before heading in there! You will go to the plumbing department and basically look for a huge wall of small boxes with colorful stickers on them. Then you’ll need to begin the hunt to find the small box that says “1/2 x 3/8.” I suggest asking someone, or really, order them on Amazon Prime. I have done both ways and am so mad at myself for not thinking of it sooner 😂
Directions:
1. Soak your wine bottle in hot, soapy water overnight
2. Peal off the sticker, for extra sticky spots use a razor blade or old gift card to scrape. Don’t forget the label on the top of the bottle
3. Fill bottle about 1/3 full with river rocks– insert your wick as you go to just tp see how many more you need- I usually fill the rocks until they almost touching the base of the wick
4. Decorate your bottle. Using hot glue, I like to use twine or rope to wrap around the top of the bottle (be careful to not go all the way to the top where the flame is!). Then I use burlap or rope around the center, then lace or tulle and a flower- this part you get to be creative and really personalize it!
5. Use a funnel to fill the bottom of the bottle with water (cover the rocks)- the oil will rise and stay above the water. This way you aren’t wasting oil in the rocks because it will never be touched by the wick!
6. Use a funnel to fill the remainder of the bottle with Tiki Torch Fluid
7. Insert your pre-made wick kit-pictured to the left. The Amazon wicks I linked are pretty long! I cut mine so they would fit (*see below for instructions on making own wick kit)
8. Light and enjoy!
If you did not order a pre-made wick kit you have a few extra steps:
1. Using your plumbers tape, wrap the larger end of the copper coupling just until it fits snug into the top of the bottle- the small end is what will stick out of the top
2. Insert wick into copper coupling
3. Insert into bottle
While exploring on Amazon I found some other really cool options for your wine torches!!! For example, a wall kit so you can actually hang the torch outside. I am definitely getting a few of these for myself! We have a fence lining the out side of our deck that would be perfect for some hanging torches. I am linking some more fun options below, feel free to explore to create the perfect touch for your summer or fall barbecues!