When Suzanne Dwyer looks at an empty wine or liquor bottle, she doesn’t see something ready for the recycle bin. Instead, she sees a one-of-a-kind cheese tray.

“I have a good following of friends who like to contribute to my business supplies!” said Dwyer. “The specialty bottles, like the Buffalo Trace [bourbon whiskey] bottle I did, turn out so cool.”

She decided to call her home-based business Cheers to Art.

What the business does: Cheers to Art takes empty wine or liquor bottles and turns them into cheese trays or divided serving trays, by melting them in a kiln.

“I also specialize in specialty liquor bottles,” said Dwyer. “I can remove and then replace original labels onto the final product.”

For $25 (standard wine bottle), a customer will get the tray (to which Dwyer adds some decorative wire), choice of a spreader and a pack of fun conversation napkins. Specialty bottles, with the label, start at $30.

How the business started: Dwyer was attending a friend’s Pampered Chef party when the hostess brought out a really unique looking serving tray. “I thought it was the coolest thing,” said Dwyer. When Dwyer asked her friend where she got it, her friend said a family member from South Carolina had made it and that they were really popular in the south.

“I told my friend that I had to learn how to make them so she put me in touch with her family member,” said Dwyer.

The fact that a kiln is required might have brought a swift end to the dream for most. However, Dwyer teaches pottery classes at the Countryside YMCA in Lebanon on Saturdays, so she has access to a very nice kiln.

The start of her business involved a lot of trial and error.

“The process [of melting down the bottles] is very tricky and I broke quite a few,” said Dwyer. “Now, I can easily remove and reattach original bottle labels and I have even placed wedding invitations on the finished tray as well.”

Recent developments: “I hope to have a website eventually,” said Dwyer. “You need a decent amount of inventory to showcase on a website though, and I can’t keep the trays in stock!”

For the time being, she’ll continue to promote the business through word of mouth, showcasing her designs at parties and through her Facebook community page.

Contact: Email: suzannedwyer419@gmail.com. Or go to: www.facebook.com/pages/Cheers-to-Art/126131754207441.