Wine Rack Archery Target

Picking a good bottle of wine isn’t always easy. But once you have, you don’t want to go around bragging to everyone and lose your cool. Show them you hit the bull's-eye with quiet confidence by displaying the bottle on this simple to make arrow target wine rack.

Step 1 – Take Aim

I purchased a paper arrow target at a sporting goods store and cut off any excess around it. Using the size as a template, I set the router circle cutting jig to cut a 16-inch radius circle from a sheet of ¾-inch plywood. This was slow and steady work. The key to this jig is to make sure the pivot is set securely in the wood. If it walks at all, the circle won’t be even.

Now that I had my wood circle, I laid the target on top and used a couple of empty wine bottles to create my layout. I know that three bottles isn’t a very impressive cellar, but this project is more about displaying a couple of key wines, rather than the entire collection.

I marked the spots for the bottles with a utility knife, creating a small hole in the paper and the wood. Using a power drill and a 1 1/4-inch Forstner bit I put clean holes through the wood at these three points.

Step 2 – Steady Your Shot

The bottles protruded about 2 inches from the back of the circle, so I knew I needed to create a structure to keep the target standing off the wall. This brace also serves as a means to hang the whole display.

The circular saw ripped 2 1/2-inch strips from some scrap MDF I had in the shop. I then cut these down to form the “T” brace on the back of the board. Pocket holes secured the brace to itself and then to the wood circle. The whole backside of the piece got a nice coat of spray paint.

Step 3 – Let it Fly

Once the paint was dry on the back, it was time to finalize the front. The foam brush was a good, even way to spread the decoupage glue across the plywood. Lining up the holes cut into the wood with the marks I made in the paper, I laid the target onto the circle. Once the paper was down, it got another coat of glue.

After the glue dried, I cut the paper out over the holes I’d drilled through the wood. Then the whole front got a spray down with a sealant.

Step 4 – Bull's-Eye

The display was complete and there was a clear space on the wall. Nothing left to do but mount the trophy. I screwed mirror hanging brackets on the back brace of the piece and punched threaded drywall anchors into the wall. Everything lined up level and I tightened the screws through the brackets and into the anchors.

I loaded it with three full bottles of wine and the display was complete. And now, from twenty-five paces or point blank, anyone can see that with a bottle of wine, my aim is true.

Photos by Nico Rosso

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