Holiday hellos, crafty ones! Jenn here, with a great upcycle perfect for your last minute holiday decor!
I love decorating with wine bottles–our wedding used over 50 of them–because they are so versatile. You can paint them, collage them, use them as vases, stack them, cut them into glasses… seriously, there's a lot of possibility in an empty bottle. For this set I'm combining a trio of bottles with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive and some spray paint to make a sweet mantle decoration.
For this project you'll need
- 3 wine bottles, cleaned of labels and any residue (mine have beads in them from a previous use and I left them because it's easier than trying to fish them out)
- Painter's tape
- Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive
- Flat Spray Paint
- Metallic paste
- Ribbon
Line up the wine bottles on your work surface and stretch a length of painter's tape above and below where you want your letters. These will serve as your guide to keep everything in place.
Draw your letters (or other shapes) onto the bottles with the Helmar 450 Quick Dry. You can use a stencil if you aren't too sure of your handwriting, but just take it slow and give it a try. And while the 450 sticks to glass no problem, if you make a mistake you can peel up any oops.
Let the Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive dry completely and, if you'd like, add a second layer of glue to really make the letters stand out. Scoot off any stray glue strings and clean up your shapes with a craft knife, if necessary.
Spray the bottles all over with paint, using several light coats to prevent drips and runs. I prefer a flat paint for this, but if gloss is your favorite, go for it!
Now, you could technically stop with the paint and leave it a mono chrome bas relief and it would be awesome. But I like to add a little color, so I dug out my metallic rub-ons palette and used a cotton swab to apply bronze to the J and Y and green to the O (which I drew as a wreath). Then I buffed the rub-ons with a tissue until there was just a hint of color left on the raised areas.
To finish, I used some sage green ribbon to add a collar and bow to the neck of each bottle.
Wishing you creative days, holidays, and homes!
