Removing Bottle Labels

I am on a real tear in my house this week.  I am trying desperately to do 'summer' cleaning.  You know, the kind of cleaning that hurts...both physically and emotionally.  We live in small space.  There are 5 of us sharing approximately 1000 square feet and between my milking equipment, my craft stash and my homeschooling books, there is very little room for my kids!  And, tomorrow we are heading south to my mother's home for the very last time....ever.  My mother passed away a little over two years ago and we finally got it together to sell her house and move forward.  I will post about that over the weekend, as I am sure it will be an emotional trip, which I would be happy to share with you.  But, for today I thought I would share something fun and simple.  Matter of fact, I had no idea how simple it really was.   I am a sucker for western themed wine bottles and jump at the chance to try them, even if they are a robust red wine that makes me gag as I swallow it...it's all about the label, Baby.  Feel free to share the names of any and I will be happy to rush out and make the bottle disappear in order to attain the bless-ed label!  So, I have had these two bottles, one being the Purple Cowboy, which I will have you know that my hubby actually sampled!  Doesn't matter if he immediately gagged, choked and spit it at me.  It was a VERY strong red wine which forced me to commit wine tasting sins of great magnitudes...I put ice in it to choke it down.  I am of a frugal sort, so pouring it down the drain and wasting $11 wasn't happening.  In hind site, perhaps cooking with it would have been less traumatic.  Hind site is always 20/20.  Back to the bottles which had been moving from place to place in my kitchen.  Once they lived on the little shelf over my stove, another time the lived on top of the refrigerator and most recently they sat on my antique dresser next to the coffee pots.  I think I knew at that point that they were doomed.  They, in no way, were necessary.  So, today, during spring cleaning I looked at them...then, they looked at me....then I looked at them and immediately googled on my phone how to remove wine labels.  Who knew there were so many websites dedicated to this sort of thing.  Easy peasy....watch this.

Place your bottle (or bottles for those lushes out there) on your oven rack label side up.  Turn your oven on and set your timer for 5-7 minutes.  Of course, more is better is the motto in our family, so I let 'em go to 9 minutes.  I am such a rebel.   Then, remove a bottle with a pot holder and place it standing up on a dish towel.  Take a razor blade or exacto knife and gently lift the edge of one corner of the label.  When you have lifted enough, use your fingers to gently peel it the rest of the way off. 

The glue will be very tacky so try not to lean over and inspect your

accomplishment.   Your hair will fall over your shoulder, get stuck and leave you spinning in circles like a dog chasing it's tail trying to get the blasted thing out.  Finally, you will sit on the floor and ask your 4 year old to rescue you and you might end up with a bald spot.  To prevent all this, just turn the little label right side down and place on your counter or a cookie sheet and move on to the next step. 

At this point you can either adhere the little goody directly onto paper (for you crafters out there, some other trinket that you wish to decopage with wine labels) or you can dust with a light coat of baby powder.  This is the route I went as I have no immediate plans for them, but given time, I will.... 

On a final note, the strangest thing happened to me today.  Being that I blogged about the Fisher & Paykel Wonder Washer yesterday, I received an email today that 'Fisher Paykel' requested to follow me on Twitter.  I was intrigued so I accepted their request.  Immediately, it took me to their home page where I found this Tweet...

"Kerri from Texas, wrote this awesome blog post!  Her encompassing story to find the washer of her dreams." 

.....with a link to my blog!  Oh, my stars, am I famous?  I mean they have 729 followers!  And, how in tarnation did these folks find my blog post....so quickly to boot.  Whatever computer program they have scouring the internet needs to be acquired by the US government to monitor all illegal activites.  Maybe Fisher & Paykel could contract it out to them....the next movement in National Security?

Lubya,

Prairie Kerri