DIY Wine Bottle Cooler for Happy Hour at Home

This is one of those ideas of mine that *almost* doesn’t warrant a blog post because it’s so dang simple. BUT, I’ve learned that even when I have a simple project idea, I should always publish it here on the blog. So, here we go with an Igloo cooler that I found at Habitat ReStore. And my plan was to upcycle it into a wine bottle cooler.

It was neither vintage (i.e., valuable) or perfectly clean (slight ick), and the broken handle had been tucked inside. But, I loved the teal color and the tall-ish, narrow-ish shape just screamed wine bucket to me.

If I upcycled it into a wine bottle cooler, then the “ick” factor didn’t matter. As a wine bucket, nothing I drank would come in direct contact with it.  Plus, the broken handle was a moot point since I wouldn’t need it!

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Decorating an Igloo Beverage Cooler for Happy Hour

So, here’s the thing- The beverage cooler didn’t need ANYTHING DONE TO IT, other than a good scrubbing in the sink. I could have just as easily done that, popped a bottle of rosé inside and surrounded it with ice.

But OF COURSE, I needed to embellish it ever so slightly.

And how would I embellish it? Well, the phrase “It’s 5:00 somewhere!” kept bouncing around in my mind, no matter how hard I tried to come up with something else.

So, I decided to embrace that phrase but in my own dry-humor kind of way. I purchased a clock stencil, fixed it to the outside of the Igloo cooler with painter’s tape, and grabbed basic white paint and my favorite stencil brushes (from this online shop).

I knew going into this that my stenciling might be subpar. The ridges on the Igloo beverage cooler prevented the clock stencil from laying flat across the surface.

But I went about my stenciling business anyway, hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.

But, you know what? It wasn’t awful! Not perfectly crisp like I normally aim for, as the numerals had slightly fuzzy edges. But about as good as could be expected given the uneven surface.

Besides, it’s going to be a wine bottle cooler and wine makes me a little fuzzy, too. Fitting and appropriate!

Now to make my clock say 5:00 permanently!

The clock stencil didn’t come with hands, so I commandeered my arrows stencil, identified one of the smallest arrows, and carefully stippled paint until it read 5:00.

It worked like a charm! Now, I just needed to seal the stenciled paint with a couple of quick coats of a matte spray using my go-to trigger handle.

Wine Bottle Cooler from a Beverage Cooler for Happy Hour at Home

And that was it! Like I mentioned before, the stenciling was just a fun way to embellish it. But it’s certainly not a required step to repurpose an Igloo beverage cooler into a wine bottle cooler.

It’s perfect for those hot summer nights and hosting happy hour at home. And, because it’s a plastic beverage cooler, it’s not breakable, which is always a bonus on my book.

I’d love to hear how you’d personalize your own beverage-cooler-turned wine bottle cooler in the comments below.

And believe it or not, but this wine bottle cooler isn’t the only upcycling project that I’ve one with a drink cooler! Check out this one that I transformed into a Skotch cooler for vintage Christmas decor!

Craft on!

S

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