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.
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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.
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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!
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Handpainted glass bottles. |
My daughter and I made some traditional colored rice in bottles.
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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.
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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