Thursday, December 8, 2011

Vintage Bottle Tutorial

My parents are in the process of building a new house. They needed some fill dirt to help level out the ground. So my dad found a place that wanted to get rid of a lot of their dirt and they would dump it at my parents for free.
Good deal!

It wasn't just dirt that got dumped though, there was a ton of these mixed in.


And this is just a small sample of what they uncovered.
 Some of these bottles are so old.
It's amazing that they are still in one piece.












Oh my GOSH! Don't throw them away, I want them!
So they saved them for me...Yay!
This was around Halloween and I thought they would be great for making little potion bottles.
I never got around to those, but I also thought they would be really cute for Christmas too!

Cleaning these gems was the hardest part.
I let them soak in soapy water and then washed the outside of them.
It was the inside that was HARD to clean! A toothbrush wouldn't fit, so I read that soaking them in Polydent or any denture cleaner would help loosen stubborn dirt and stains. So that and a bottle brush worked ok. They weren't perfect but that adds to their charm:)

~Tutorial for Vintage Christmas Bottles~

Gather your supplies:


*vintage bottle: (of course, any glass bottle would do)
*graphic: I picked out a cute piece of scrapbook paper at the craft store and cut out my image; you can find and print one online too
 *mod podge
*paintbrush
*damp paper towel
*clear fine glitter
*silver glitter paint
*embellishments; ribbons, bells, Christmas balls, anything!

Here's my graphic. Sweet little reindeer.


Paint the back of the graphic with a good coating of mod podge.


Place the graphic where you want it on the bottle, then coat the top of the graphic with another layer of mod podge.


While it is still wet, do a light sprinkling of clear fine glitter over the graphic. You can leave it plain also.


Now is a good time to take a damp paper towel and wipe any excess mod podge and glitter off the bottle.


I then outline the graphic in a bolder color glitter, depending on your picture you may want to use red, gold, green, silvery blue or pink!


Then I decided to fill the inside of my bottle with some Vintage Mica Snow. I wanted a sparkly effect. I've used artificial snow before and sometimes I leave them empty too.


A funnel made this step very easy. If it gets clogged and it will, just poke it with the end of your paintbrush.


After the glitter dries, you can add some of your pretty little touches to the neck of your bottle.
I chose this silver and blue fiber yarn from Martha Stewart that I picked up at Joann's.


That's it!
They don't take long at all and they can dress up a little vignette for Christmas!


There are so many different options, just have fun!

Hope you enjoy!




 








23 comments:

just me said...

Our house was built in 1923, when my husband was digging holes for fence posts he dug up some old bottles. Not as big as the ones you got! But 2 were old Lysol bottles, we keep hoping to find the tin of old coins:)

Stacie (craft-princess) said...

Oh wow! Thanks so much for the tutorial!

Ruby Jean said...

We got fill dirt once but never got anything Amazing like that.... We just found a bunch of ROCKS!!! not so Exciting... :) Love the bottles and how you decorated them...

GARAGE SALE GAL said...

Glad you saved those awesome old bottles!!!Very cool! Thanks for sharing our idea about dressing up the bottles!
Mr Red Nose is darling!!!
Deb :)

Lorraine Young Pottery said...

The pale blue one is extra nice. What a fantastic find. Imagine they have been lying in wait for you all these years :-}

The bambi sprinkled with glitter is so cute too.

Lorraine

http://frenchblueandpeachypink.blogspot.com/ said...

In the 'olden days' before garbage collections existed, folks would bury their rubbish up in the far corners of their gardens. When we were landscaping we founds parts of a beautiful old brass bed. It's amazing what we can dig up in our own backyards. I adore your treasures and am so happy that you saved them from the skip.

Dorothy said...

Oh, I'm going to make one of those this week-end! Thank you for sharing!
xoxo Dorothy

michelle said...

luv it so beautiful! i luv old bottles myself i wil have to try this! i use salt n pepper shakers for my glitter too. i use the very small formal ones for my martha stewart glitter as it seems much finer than most glitters.

Sarah said...

what an awesome find! and I love what you did with them, they're beautiful! :)

Unknown said...

This is amazing! I can't believe that they are in such awesome shape. Very cool!

Kei said...

Those are gorgeous! You had a really lucky score with those bottles! :D

Lauren @ My Wonderfully Made said...

Oh my goodness! What a load of treasure!! Thanks for the cleaning tips and your tutorial -- very cute!

The Cottage Market {Andrea} ♥ said...

OH MY GOSH!!!!! HOW FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABULOUS are these!!!! what a find!!! what a score!!!! what beauties!!!!!! and what you created -- well as always BRILLIANT!!!!! sending hugs and congrats on your treasure trove of bottles!!!! : )hugs...

Trisha said...

I want some dirt that has such wonderful things in it! I love the way these bottles turned out! I will have to try them myself but not with such cool bottles! Thanks for sharing.

~Trisha

Katherines Corner said...

These are lovely Michelle!, Thank you for sharing with us. Hugs P.S. Please ad your sweet blog to my blog list page and don't forget to enter the Tis The Season Giveaway it ends soon.

Pamela said...

OMG these are just fabulous! You are certainly far craftier than I. Thanx for coming to party!

Lynn at Cottage and Creek said...

I think your bottles are fabulous! I can't believe there were so many buried in the ground! Thanks for the tutorial too. I bought some old bottles at Amvets a couple months ago. I left many and now I regret it. I'm your newest follower and I hope you can pop over to Cottage and Creek and follow back.
Lynn

Susan Holt Simpson said...

What a great find! Those bottles are a treasure!

Martha said...

Not as lucky as you, but bought some cute bottles! Have made 2 so far......too too cute! Gave one away......thanks so much for the tutorial! Will be making more. Gonna try some thrift stores to see if I can find more interesting bottles!

Merry Christmas Michelle!!!!
Hugs
Martha

A Few Pennies said...

Wow; lovely vintage treasures! I love what you transformed them into--so pretty. Merry Christmas!

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

So pretty! Wishing a very merry Christmas and the happiest of holiday seasons to you and yours!...hugs...Debbie

Free Pretty Things For You said...

Wishing you a very merry Christmas my dear!!!
xoxoxo!

for the love of a house said...

wow!!! what a great haul!! so glad you had them save them for you.
I wish you a very Happy New Year!!
joan

p.s. thank you so much for leaving your "calling card" Michelle, and for your sweet note.

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