9 Creative Ways To Repurpose Glass Bottle Stoppers Around Your Home And Garden

Once you're done using your glass bottles, they can be transformed into an illuminating kitchen statement piece, providing a creative way to repurpose them in your home. However, you may be left wondering what to do with the glass bottle stoppers, as they are smaller and don't seem to have much use. These glass pieces come in various shapes, patterns, colors, and sizes, used to be placed on the tops of bottles to keep dust from getting inside. Before you throw them out, though, you might consider some creative ways to repurpose those glass stoppers around your home and garden, such as using them to display plant cuttings, DIY your own jewelry, or create decorative garden stakes.

Glass bottle stoppers are not the same as metal or aluminum bottle caps (which have amazing ways to reuse them, by the way). Glass stoppers were used before corks and caps on bottles such as perfumes, apothecary medicines, and alcohol or liquid decanters. Each stopper typically consists of two to three parts: The shank that fits into your container, sometimes a thin piece of cork or plastic to help create a tighter seal, and the topper itself. All in all, these stoppers are typically eye-catching, so here are creative ways to utilize that beauty and repurpose them around your home and garden.

You can repurpose your bottle stoppers into mini vases by cutting the shank part off to open up the top, but you won't need to do this if your stopper is already hollow. In some cases, it may be easy to glue the stopper to a flat base so it can stand better. Turn it upside down, add water, and display some pretty mini blooms, plants, or even fake flowers. You can glue or tie multiple stoppers together to use as a centerpiece, or hang them in the garden using metal wires and these metal wreath forms.

One creative way to repurpose a glass bottle stopper is by making a necklace to wear, or another piece of jewelry like earrings or a bracelet. The easiest way to do this is by drilling a tiny hole carefully through the glass where you can loop in a necklace chain, like this Jewlpire Solid 18k Gold Sterling Silver Necklace. Alternatively, incorporate macrame skills to hang it from a thin twine. If you want to take it a step further, you can paint it or add in some more jeweled elements, like decorative wire or beading.

If you're a collector, you might have made a hobby out of collecting many glass bottle stoppers. They come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. There are even differing materials, from sea glass to vulcanite. You can create a decorative centerpiece with a large glass vase, such as the Royal Imports Flower Glass Vase. Simply fill it up with all of your glass bottle stopper finds and collections in a cool, creative pattern (by color or by type) to display within your home.

Some glass bottle stoppers have unique tops that are chiseled, have indents, or flattened spots. You can easily turn that into a fun little spinning top fidget toy. It can be more enjoyable if the bottle stoppers are made with uranium glass. Uranium glass glows in the dark, emitting a bright yellow and greenish hue. Before you freak out, this glass has a very low level of radioactivity that's even safer than household electronics. But you can always err on the side of reason and opt for normal glass stoppers to be safe.

You can turn glass bottle stoppers into beautiful plant decorations that could catch the light in your space. Simply place them strategically within your plants or flower arrangements, either in a vase where they can be seen, or out in the garden. You can even use them as a border to separate plant or flower species. Since the stoppers come in different colors, shapes, and sizes, you'll have plenty of opportunity to get creative with how you display them. Many older glass bottle stoppers can make the perfect addition to your vintage style vibe.

Paperweights are simple, and if your bottle topper is flat, it can work perfectly to just hold down your papers and books. Creating a DIY tablecloth weight is another good way to keep your cloths in place outdoors with glass bottle stoppers, too. Simply take a strong twine or string, such as the SMART&CASUAL 800 Ft Natural Jute Twine, and tie it around or glue it to the shank of the stopper. Then you simply tie the twine to a clip you'll attach to your tablecloths, like these SUMAJU Metal Hinge Clips. 

You can create art in your garden with unique glass bottle stoppers. Glue or wire the glass piece to the top of a garden stake and decorate it. You can also paint the stopper, add some colorful glass beads or other charms to the stake as you please, before placing it in your garden. You can put several stopper stakes together or spread them out to create a neat enclosure around the perimeter of your garden, adding repurposed wine bottles to the mix. You can also just use them as decorative elements.

Use your glass stopper as part of a project to create a beautiful bird feeder in your garden or yard. The stopper can either be utilized at the top or as an "in-between" part with some glass plates, vases, and maybe a candlestick holder or two. You simply glue all of the parts together with a plate at the bottom to put the bird food. If your stopper is hollow, you can fill it with some colorful glass beads, or if it is colored, you can match your other glass pieces to that color to make it uniform.

Finally, you can find a practical use in your home for your glass stoppers: Create some knobs to mount on wood for hanging your jewelry, coats, or other items. To use your bottle stopper, you may need to cut it down to a smaller, flat or round top, and then screw or glue it to the piece of wood. You can put this hanging DIY project in your bathroom or kitchen, or display your jewelry and more next to your vanity or desk. It will give your decor an elegant and vintage vibe.