Handmade lanterns are all the rage. With adhesive stencils and paints made just for glass, creating fun designs on bottle is easier than ever. This project involves cutting the bottles roughly in half. Frost and glitter paint are used with heart stickers in a masking technique, so that light from the candles shines through the frosty heart shapes. Create a warm glow for your Valentine’s Day dinner at home!
MATERIALS
– Frappuccino bottles
–Martha Stewart frost glass paint in white
– glitter glass paint in red and pink
– heart stickers cut from foil tape or adhesive vinyl
– cosmetic sponge
– Rubbing Alcohol
– Lint free dry cloth
– Protective gloves
– heart stickers that adhere well to glass
-Surface protector such as newspaper or craft sheet
-bottle cutting supplies (See How to Cut Glass Bottles)
DIRECTIONS
- Remove labels with soapy water or Krylon Adhesive Remover. Clean and dry bottles.
- Cut bottles roughly in half. You don’t have to be exact. You just want to be able to lift off the top and place a votive candle inside when you are finished.
- Protect your work area with newspaper or craft sheet.
- Paint bottles by dabbing thin layer of frosty glass paint in white with a cosmetic sponge. Don’t go over the same area more than once. It is best to apply several light layers, allowing 10-15 minutes of dry time between to achieve the look you want. Applying too heavily leads to streaks and splotches that you won’t like. Once you are happy with coverage (1-3 coats should do it) let dry for about 30 minutes before moving onto the next step.
- Vinyl and foil tape work well for heart stickers. Cut out hearts using die cut machine, freehand or template (see Hearts page ?)
- Apply Heart stickers where you want light to come through the frosty heart. I went for almost center, spanning the cut seam.
- Paint one jar with glitter pink, and the other with glitter red. Several light layers with 10 minutes or more dry time in between is best.
- After your final layer, remove the heart stickers with tweezers or a craft knife, being careful not to smudge adjacent paint.
- Let dry overnight, with top and bottom apart so that they don’t dry stuck together.
- Lift off top and place candle.
- Light and enjoy!
EXTRA TIPS
￮ Masking Tips – Foil tape in the electrical section at the hardware store works great for these projects. It adheres well so that the paint doesn’t seep underneath, but doesn’t disturb any base layers of paint when removed. A large roll of it is under $8 and lasts years. Don’t leave the stickers on overnight, or the surrounding paint will peel away with them upon removal. You want to remove them soon after your last coat of paint.
