Bourbon. It is aged for years in barrels before it is bottled and sold. We know that happens to the bourbon after it is sold. But, what happens to the barrels?

Ben Schlipf, of Saegertown, knows exactly what to do with them. Ben takes used bourbon barrels and makes wonderful creations out of the entire barrel or parts of the barrel. Ben started his side business called Ben's Barrel Creations after he made a table and shelf combination for his household one year ago.

"I took the idea and kind of ran with it and wanted to start trying my hand at selling them after I kind of perfected it. At least what I think is perfected,” he says.

Ben now creates and sells things such as candle holders, bottle openers, and coat racks, all made with the staves from a bourbon barrel. He uses the barrel heads to engrave beautiful tokens of remembrance. He made a keepsake for a future wedding from a barrel head. He made a memorial to a deceased loved one from a barrel head. No part of the bourbon barrel is wasted. Ben uses the metal rings to accent certain sections of his creations. He also uses them to make holiday wreathes.

If there's any kind of gift or decoration that can possibly be made with a bourbon barrel, Ben will give it a try.

"The most common thing I do is cut a hole in the center part and I put a shelf in the middle. Then, I'll put a glass top on it if that's what the customer wants,” says Ben.

Halloween is not that far away. Ben will cut a jack o' lantern face on a bourbon barrel. He will wire it up with an orange flickering light and Voila!. You have a scary Halloween decoration.

"You can do a Halloween design on one side and I'm in the process of trying to perfect a Christmas theme on the other one. You just turn it around,” says Ben.

Ben's full-time job is human resources at Penn West University in Edinboro. His barrel creations business is in his garage. Oh yeah. Remember what I said about no piece of the barrel is wasted? Ben says his best selling items are bags of wooden barrel remnants. All the barrels have been used to age bourbon. Some of them are then used to age craft beer. Can you imagine the aroma you could create on your barbecue grill?

"Those can actually be used for smoking foods,” says Ben. “Between the bourbon and the craft beer, they smell amazing.”

You can order Ben’s craftwork by logging onto his Facebook page called “Ben’s Barrel Creations.” He also will be appearing at various craft shows in Northwestern Pennsylvania this fall.