Store flavored vinegar in a beautiful bottle.
Glass bottles come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They can be used as decorative items on a shelf for their unique shape and color. But a better use for them is to turn them into something useful as well as beautiful. Use them to store spices, flavored vinegars or liquors, turn them into reed diffusers, vases or oil lamps or use them to hold homemade gift items like candles or baking mixes. By putting just a little more effort into it, you can make beautiful craft items out of decorative bottles.
Decorating a Bottle
Bottles can be painted with glass paint.
There are numerous ways to decorate a plain bottle. You can use Mod Podge to glue on scrapbook paper, gift wrap or pretty pictures, or just decoupage on tissue paper and then seal with another coat of Mod Podge. The bottle can be painted with glass paint to add color, or have ribbon or raffia wrapped around it and tied to decorate. Lids can also be decorated by painting them or covering them with decorative paper.
Candles in a Decorative Wide-mouth Bottle
Crayons can be melted down to make candles.
Candles are a perfect match for a wide-mouth bottle or jar. Decorate the bottle by gluing on tissue paper with Mod Podge, then adding another topcoat of Mod Podge to seal. Place a votive candle in the wide-mouthed bottle.
For a winter look, decoupage a winter scene from a greeting card or book to the front of the bottle or jar. Seal with a topcoat of Mod Podge. Mix white acrylic paint, Mod Podge, ginger and cinnamon together and apply the mixture around the outside of the bottle or jar and on the edges of the image. When the candle is lit, the scene will be illuminated.
You can also melt down an old candle and wick, then pour the melted wax in a bottle and insert the wick to make a candle. Crayons can also be melted down to make candles.
Homemade Bath Salts
Fill a decorative bottle or jar with homemade bath salt.
A gift of homemade bath salts in a decorative bottle or jar is always in season. You can add aromatherapy as well by adding fragrance. Start with Epsom salts or sea salt, food coloring, glycerine (optional) and essential oils like mandarin orange, lavender, sandalwood or patchouli. Do not use baking soda, as it can make the mixture explode. Fill a decorative bottle or jar with your salt mix and it's ready to give as a gift or to embellish your home bathroom and bath.
Lava Lamp Bottle
Use a glass bottle with a lid or cork to make a lava lamp bottle.
A fun item to make and give is a lava lamp bottle, where colored blobs of oil float around in a bottle. You'll need 3/4 cup cooking oil, 1/2 tbsp. powdered tempera in the color of your choice, water, a funnel and a bottle (wavy bottles are fun) with a sealable lid. Mix the oil and tempera and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Use the funnel to pour the colored mixture into the bottle. Then use the funnel to fill the bottle the rest of the way with water. Seal it tightly with the lid. As you tilt the bottle back and forth, the lava mix will crash against the sides and is fun to watch.
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