Crafts for Kids with Old, Antique, or Decorative Bottles

Make crafts with Old, Decorative Glass Bottles

So, I've been saving this old container of dirty, antique bottles to do some bottle crafts for kids. I dug them up on an abandoned property where an old cabin had once sat.  More recently, it had been an abandoned dump. It was a treasure trove of trash.

Old, antique amber and cobalt decorative bottles.

I found old crocks and a 1925 or 1928, Christmas edition, Coca-Cola bottle worth absolutely nothing! It was cracked. There was a mint-condition, amber, Clorox bottle, once worth around $40, until we moved and let our craziest driver friend pull the trailer (which I had poorly packed) and an awesome yellow bottle that had melted in the most beautiful Salvador Dali fashion (beauty is in the eye of the beholder)! I'm not a purist; I like to mix them in with my reproductions and other decorative, cheap, glass bottles.

Old medicine, ketchup, and syrup bottles.

What can you do with old bottles? My mother painted this beautiful, decorative bottle and gave it to me as a gift. It came filled with real Vanilla Beans and Vodka. Here's the Recipe for Home-made Vanilla Extract.  It came complete with a 'Do not open until' tag, and a cork, of course. Yum!

Handpainted glass bottles.

My daughter and I made some traditional colored rice in bottles.

Old ketchup bottle with rice art craft for kids.

We also had a craft-fail extraordinaire. I decided to put a bow on it and call it precious. Rock salt and glue are supposed to make a crystal coating for a candle votive. Um, no- not for us.

Rock salt and blue decorative bottle craft fail.

You don't have to dig in a dump for your jars. I found some very nice amber glass jars and bottles. I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment and share your creative glass projects with us.

TIP: Those dirty, old bottles went from trash to treasure when I squirted in a little hand-sanitizer, a sprinkle of salt, and about an inch of hot water. It worked like magic ~ just slosh! I had tried to clean them before, but this bottle cleaning recipe made them sparkle.

Recommended Reading:

Antique Trader Bottles Identification and Price Guide

Bottles and Bottle Collecting