recycled bottle art

DIY Recycled Glass Bottle Frames

Display meaningful photos in a unique way while busting through your stash of vintage buttons, ribbons, fabric scraps and found objects. These little medicine bottles can be found in thrift stores, at tag sales and online for cheap. Use them for Christmas gifts, or as photo frames for yourself!

MATERIALS

-Variety of antique medicine and food bottles

-Photos sized to fit in bottles and printed in black and white or sepia tone on copy paper

-Glitter, sand or other filler

-Found objects, beads, vintage buttons, old keys and other embellishments

-Decorative ribbon, twine, lace, burlap and fabric scraps

-Corks for bottle tops

-Copper craft wire gauge 20-22

-wire cutter

-scissors

-hot glue

-Bamboo skewer or pencil

DIRECTIONS

Clean bottle and remove any labels. Let dry.

Add sand or glitter using funnel or folded paper scrap
Drop in a few beads, buttons or other small meaningful objects.

Roll the photo into a tube and insert it into the bottle. Use a skewer to unroll it and flatten it against the inner surface of the bottle.
Embellish outside of bottle with ribbon, lace, twine, vintage pearls and other scraps. Glue on buttons and found objects with hot glue.

Place cork in bottle and embellish with vintage buttons, beads or brooches. Secure with wire wrapped around cork and through button. Add a dab of hot glue at the base of the button to hold in place on top of the cork.

How to Make a Gorgeous French Typography Lamp from a Liquor Bottle

by Johnnie Collier

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of DecoArt. All opinions are mine and honest. This paint rocks!

We are getting ready for a big move, and I am busy with DIY home decor on a shoestring budget! Today I am sharing a super sweet french typography Chalky Finish Paint lamp that I made from a discarded liquor bottle. You will see how to drill a hole in the bottle for the cord, how to chalk paint and distress the lamp, as well as how to transfer an image to the painted surface. This project is easy and cheap. The biggest expenditure is the $6 bottle lamp kit and the $15 lamp shade I just had to have for it! The new Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint is now available in Home Depot and Michaels stores. It is also available for purchase online at homedepot.com.

SUPPLIES:

Really cool liquor bottle

Drill and 1/2 inch Diamond hole drill bit

Small container of water

Towel or paper towels

Rubbing Alcohol or glass cleaner

Lamp Shade

Light Bulb

DecoArt Americana Chalky finish paint In Treasure, Inheritance, Everlasting and Primitive

DecoArt Americana Crème Wax in clear and Golden Brown

Medium grit sand paper

Paint brush and wax brush

Bottle Lamp Kit (I got mine at Wal-Mart for $6.47

White Tissue Paper

Cardstock

Masking Tape

Printer

Image to transfer (I used this French Typography Graphic from the fabulous Graphics Fairy)

TUTORIAL:

Begin by drilling a hole in the back at the base of your bottle where you want the cord to exit. I showed you how to do that HERE:

Upcycle a Glass Bottle into a Lamp

Once your hole is drilled, clean your bottle surface all over with glass cleaner or rubbing alcohol.

Use a soft, flat brush to paint on a layer of Treasure. When that is dry, paint on a layer of Primitive.

I sanded the gray, revealing the blue base layer. I decided I wanted a soft yellow top coat, so I mixed Everlasting with Inheritance to lighten and soften the mustard like color. Then I painted that in a cross hatch, random and messy fashion so that the final piece will have texture and depth.

To get my image for transfer, I printed some of my favorites from the Graphics Fairy. There are thousands of free images there to fit any style. The one I went with is a French Typography file which you can find linked in the supplies section.

Just cut a piece of white tissue paper to fit your card stock and tape it on with masking tape. Place in printer and print!

Cut or tear your image from the tissue paper. I like to tear it so the edges are feathered and not such a straight edge like you get with scissors. It blends in better.

Apply Clear Creme Wax where you will place the tissue. Carefully place the tissue and smooth out wrinkles with your finger.

Paint more Clear Creme Wax over that and let dry.

When the tissue transfer dries, sand entire bottle in areas where you want to bring out the underlying paint colors. Then apply clear wax over the entire bottle. Let that dry for at least 30 minutes.

Apply Golden Brown Creme Wax as desired and wipe back with soft cloth. If you use too much brown, you can wipe it away even further using Clear Creme Wax on a rag.

Now it is time to use the Bottle Lamp Kit!

Follow the included instructions, except for where it says to thread the cord. It has the cord coming out of the fixture just under the light bulb, but we drilled a hole in our bottle to avoid having an ugly cord running down the lamp from top to bottom!

I found the burlap lampshade at Wal-Mart for $15.

I love my new lamp! More than that, I love this line of paint. You will be seeing it in so many more projects coming up here at SBLC.

Remember this DIY Hand-Painted Sign? Yep, same paint line. It goes on beautifully, is easy to distress, and comes in an amazing color palate. LOVE!

Visit the DecoArt Chalky Finish website for more information.

Upcycle a Glass Bottle Into a Lamp

by Johnnie Collier

[pinit]

If you have ever thought it would be too hard to turn a bottle into a lamp, I am here to change your mind about that. Not just any lamp, mind you, but a sparkly, polka-dot spangled, fabulous lamp thanks to Mod Podge Rocks adhesive stencils from Amy Anderson and Plaid Crafts! Read on to see how you can make your very own in less than an hour. It is true.

SUPPLIES:

Glass Bottle

Mod Podge Rocks Adhesive Stencils (Polka Dot Pattern)

Mod Podge Gloss Finish

Foam Spouncer

Podgeable Glitters

GE Bottle Lamp Kit

Lamp Shade

Light Bulb

Drill and 1/2 inch Diamond Hole Drill Bit

Lint free towel and rubbing alcohol

Dust mask

Protective Gloves

Protective Eyewear

Container of water with a a soaked towel or rag

TUTORIAL:

Wearing gloves, mask and protective eyewear, drill a hole in the bottle where you want the cord to exit your finished lamp (in the back near the bottom). You will be using a 1/2 inch hole saw diamond bit.

Come in at an angle to start the notch in the glass, then you will be able to come in at a 90 degree angle to continue drilling.

Here I am drilling at 90°. You can see the dust from the glass being drilled. About every 2o seconds of drilling, take the rag from the water and drip it onto the drilled area and the drill bit to cool things down and get rid of the glass dust.

* Some people do the entire thing in water, but I have found that to be inconvenient to pull off with just one person.

*Don’t press on the drill. Let the drill bit do the work or you risk breaking the glass. Don’t forget to cool things off with water. Again, the glass will break if things get to hot.

Here you can see the hole is complete, and the glass circle cut out is now inside the bottle (on the left). Clean away the debris.

Clean the glass well with rubbing alcohol and a lint free towel before stenciling. Once it is dry, place stencil and apply Mod Podge Gloss generously with a foam spouncer.

Apply Podgeable Glitter immediately after applying Mod Podge. Remove stencil and let dry!

I picked up this kit at Walmart for I think $6.

It comes with 3 different sized adapters for various bottle opening sizes. It turned out that all of them were to small for my bottle, so I dug through my stash and found a big cork that fit perfectly.

I found a drill bit just smaller than the threaded rod I needed to insert in the cork and drilled a hole for the rod.

I inserted the rod and assembled the lamp according to the instructions, running the wire through the hole drilled in the back of the bottle.

I found a burlap lampshade at Walmart as well. For this kit, you need one attaches at the base of the bulb (the lamp kit doesn’t come with a harp attachment). Mine was $8. I added a burlap flower to finish, and I am in love with my new lamp.

These stencils are so easy to use! They give great lines and come in 6 hip designs. Head to Michael’s to grab your own, or visit Plaid Online.

Here are more awesome projects using Mod Podge Rock Stencils. Enjoy!!

How I Cut Wine Bottles for Perfect Rings

by Johnnie Collier

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I am cutting the heck out of wine and beer bottles these days as I create recycled bottle art. There are several ways to approach this task. You can score the bottle with one of the many bottle cutting jigs available, or you can go the tile saw route. Today I am going to show you the best wine bottle cutter I have found, and how I separate the glass cleanly after making the score line. You will learn the best way to cut a wine bottle, as well as how I make the rings, then fuse them in my kiln to get the smooth “donut” like the one I made for the pictured necklace.

Creator’s Bottle Cutter

This is the cutter I use. I love it. I have tried several, and this one gives me the best score line with the least hassle.

PROS: It is easy to get an even score line all the way around the bottle since the bottle is supported well and you have both hands free to rotate it. It is great for cutting several rings of the same height from a bottle because you can easily adjust the blade location an even amount using the ruler on the blade guide.

CONS: I wish I could cut the bottle neck with this cutter, but sadly, I can’t. The blade doesn’t reach high enough for that.

This video from Delphi Glass shows you how easy it is to cut with the Creator’s Bottle Cutter. After making the score line, the video shows heat applied to the score line with a candle. I started out that way, but then found a quicker way that produces very clean breaks.

First make all of the score lines for getting several rings from one bottle. I like to make my rings 0.5-0.75 inches tall, so I just move the blade that distance for each line.

Once the score lines are made, I put the bottle back on the roller and heat the bottom score line. I hold the torch in my right hand and spin the bottle on the rollers with my left hand on the neck of the bottle. It is important to keep the bottle moving because applying the torch in one spot for very long will cause the glass to splinter and shatter.

Sometimes a few rotations with the torch on the score line will be enough to separate the glass. After 30 seconds of heat if the glass is still intact, I submerge in a bucket of cold water and that does it. Now the bottom is off of the bottle and I move on to the next score line. When it breaks, I have my first ring.

To get the smooth, flat ring shown in the beer bottle necklace, I put my rings in my kiln (I have a Paragon Fusion 14) and run to full fuse. You could do these one at a time in your a microwave kiln. That is how I started!

I showed you my first microwave kiln project here:

DIY Recycled Glass Bottle Frames

MATERIALS

DIRECTIONS

How to Make a Gorgeous French Typography Lamp from a Liquor Bottle

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of DecoArt. All opinions are mine and honest. This paint rocks!

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

Upcycle a Glass Bottle Into a Lamp

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

How I Cut Wine Bottles for Perfect Rings

Meet Johnnie

Categories

Recent Printables

50+ Roundups

DIY Recycled Glass Bottle Frames

MATERIALS

DIRECTIONS

How to Make a Gorgeous French Typography Lamp from a Liquor Bottle

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of DecoArt. All opinions are mine and honest. This paint rocks!

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

Upcycle a Glass Bottle Into a Lamp

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

How I Cut Wine Bottles for Perfect Rings

Meet Johnnie

Categories

Recent Printables

SBLC Topics

50+ Roundups