16 Clever Ways To Reuse & Upcycle Empty Gin Bottles

Give your empty gin bottles a new lease of life with these clever ideas to reuse or upcycle them. From making lamps and light fittings to housing cleaning products or household essentials, the only limit is your imagination!

If you have some empty gin bottles, then don’t head straight to your nearest bottle bank. There’s a whole lot more that you can do with the empty bottles than just recycling them.

Why not consider giving them a new lease on life through upcycling? There’s a whole host of things you can do with an empty bottle – especially as so many gin bottles feel too beautiful to chuck into the bottle bank or your glass recycling bin.

Plus, recycling glass bottles is energy-intensive. In the hierarchy of waste, it’s always more environmentally friendly to reuse something rather than recycle it, where possible.

16 Ideas For Upcycling Empty Gin Bottles

Wondering where to ‘be-gin’? Worry not, I’ve got 16 clever ideas to help give your old bottles a new life:

Use It As A Water Jug

If you have a particularly pretty gin bottle that you can’t bear to part with, then one incredibly straightforward way to reuse it is to use it as a water jug for your table or bedside. There’s very little you need to do – perhaps just removing the label first so that no one thinks they are reaching for the gin!

I got this idea from the Isle of Raasay Distillery, which uses its beautiful gin bottles as water jugs all over its distillery, including in its on-site restaurant and hotel.

Make A Table Lamp

For an upcycle that’s a bit more involved, did you know you can turn your old gin bottle into a beautiful lamp?

The good news is that you don’t need to be an electrician to do this. You can easily buy fittings online at Etsy to turn bottles into lamps. There are two different fittings available:

• Bottle lamp kit – This fitting requires you to carefully drill a hole in the bottle to be able to feed through the power cable.
• Bottle lamp adaptor – This fitting doesn’t require any drilling. All you need to do is push it directly into the top of the bottle. You will need to drape the power cord down the back of the bottle, though, so it isn’t quite as neat.

Alternatively, you can buy one pre-made. Boozy Lights, which sells on Etsy, specialises in making stunning lamps, like the one pictured above, from used spirit bottles.

Turn It Into A Wireless Lamp

If you’re looking for an easier way to make a lamp from your old bottle, then you can easily buy LED bottle light kits that don’t require a plug socket. Waterstones, for example, sells a USB rechargeable bottle light.

Alternatively, try Hobbycraft for string LED lights like in the photo above, captured by Cat Lane Weddings. As you can see, this is a great way to make eco-friendly centrepieces for a sustainable wedding.

Use It As A Vase

These vases, featured on Whimsical Wonderland Weddings and captured by photographer Emma Wilder, are another quick and easy way to reuse gin bottles that are just too pretty to throw away.

As a table centrepiece, bottles from the same brand look great grouped together. But even just one bottle would add a pretty accent to your home.

Use It As A Soap Dispenser

It’s really easy to upcycle a gin bottle into a liquid soap dispenser – be it for hand soap, washing up liquid or bubble bath. All you need is a bottle soap conversion kit (£5 on Etsy). Just check your size as all bottles are different.

All you then need to do is cut the plastic tube to the length of your spirit bottle and fill the bottle with soap. Next, push the soap dispenser into the bottleneck, and you’re done.

You might want to remove the label so that visitors to your house don’t mistake your soap for gin! Alternatively, you could add a label or sign to the bottle to avoid any misunderstandings.

If you don’t want to DIY, then Tangled Vine on Etsy sells pre-made soap pumps made from reused spirit bottles, like the one pictured above.

Refill It With Your Own Homemade Gin

I’m a big fan of making my own infused gin. In fact, I try to make a batch of Cranberry & Orange Infused Gin every Christmas, both for myself and to give as gifts.

To save waste and money, I often reuse my old gin bottles to house my infused gin. All you need to do is sterilise the glass bottle before use and check the lid is still tight, and you’re good to go.

Use Your Gin Bottle As A Candle Holder

Another effective way to upcycle your old gin bottle is to use it as a candle holder. Shropshire Petals fill empty bottles with dried flowers, before adding a candle on top, for a stunning effect. However, even using the bottle without flowers still makes for a pretty and effective candle holder.

Use The Bottle To Hold Homemade Cleaning Products

Into making your own cleaning products? I like to reuse old glass bottles, including gin bottles, to house my homemade natural cleaning products. I find old gin bottles especially good for holding my homemade fabric conditioner.

Just make sure that the bottles are properly labelled and stored away from your spirit collection, so that no one gets a nasty surprise!

Use As A Home Decor Object

Gin bottles can also easily be upcycled in home décor objects. Whilst the sky’s the limit on what you can do with them, I love what The Wicker House has done. This super simple DIY takes just 5 minutes, and all it involves is simply winding some rope around your bottle and glueing it.

Whether you use it as a decorative object or as a pretty vase, it’s a great way to give something that would otherwise be discarded a new lease of life.

Use It To Hold Refill Condiments

If you have a refill shop near you, then be inspired by Sophie Tait at Trash Plastic. Sophie uses empty gin bottles to refill on olive oil and other cooking oils to avoid buying oils from the supermarket that come in plastic bottles. Not only does it help reduce your use of plastic, but it also looks pretty stylish too!

You can even buy an oil drizzler spout from Etsy for your bottle to make dispensing easier.

Turn It Into A Plant Pot

If you want to (safely) bust out the power tools, then you can upcycle your old gin bottles into beautiful plant pots, like the clever people at Rock Rose Gin. If you have the DIY know-how (this one is a bit too scary for me), then it’s a great way to create a sustainable herb garden for your kitchen windowsill.

Make A Terrarium

If you want to go further than making just plant pots, then I’ve found a handy tutorial from Worcester Terrarium to upcycle an old gin bottle into a terrarium. Yes, a terrarium!

Whilst it looks tricky to make, you just need a few key materials and a little creativity to create this beautiful planter. Adding the plants can be the trickiest stage, but Worcester Terrarium recommends using a chopstick or long tweezers to carefully place your chosen plant in the soil.

Make A Bird Feeder

Another option to reuse your old gin bottles is to make a bird feeder. If you have some woodworking skills, then the above video will talk you through all the steps you need to make one of these beautiful feeders. The video uses a wine bottle, but an old gin bottle will also do the trick.

If you don’t have access to woodworking machinery, then your local Community Shed would be the place to go. Here you can get access to tools and support from other members.

Use It To Make A Candle Jar

If you have a lot of DIY experience, then you can cut your bottle incredibly carefully to make a candle jar, which you then fill. I’ve linked to a YouTube video that shows you how to do it.

Always give your finished holder a trial run in a safe spot, checking for warmth (if you find the heat is concentrated around the rim you should discontinue using it) or hairline cracks before you place it anywhere in your home. You should also never leave a burning candle unattended.

If that sounds too scary (it’s not something I would feel comfortable trying), then worry not. You can buy candles in pre-cut gin bottle candles from places like Adhock Homeware.

Make Drinking Glasses

Again, if you have the DIY skills, you can turn your old gin bottles into beautiful glassware. Geneva Vanderzeil talks you through exactly how to do this safely and effectively, using minimal tools.

Use It As A Reed Diffuser Jar

Finally, if you have any small bottles of gin, then these can be upcycled as reed diffuser bottles. The narrow neck makes them ideal for this purpose.

I’m currently working my way responsibly through this small 20cl bottle of tasty Padstow Gin. It’s such a beautiful bottle, so it’s going to be ideal as a reed diffuser. Just make sure you either remove the label or add a label so that no one drinks it by mistake!

Other Top Gin Bottle Recycling Ideas

And of course, if you don’t have the energy, skill, or inclination to upcycle your old gin bottle, then remember that gin bottles are one of those things that you can recycle for cash. Depending on the brand, your empty gin bottle could be worth as much as £10. This is because they’re sought out by crafty people looking to upcycle the bottles into products they then sell.

If you’ve got other types of bottles, I can also help. Try my guide to recycling and upcycling perfume bottles for more top tips.