Patron Bottle Candle Holder

Hanging Candle Holder

We have a lot of people that collect bottles for us now and one particular bottle that shows up for us is the Patron bottle.

It’s a unique bottle that has it’s own unique style. It’s a prized possession for some of it’s owners and they always add the comment; “I saw this and thought of you.” or “Imagine what you could do with this?”

Well, I tried a small string of lights in one and that’s about as good as it got. Because of it’s size we were only able to fit a light string of 15 in it. It was time to try something different and that’s when I began to look at the bottle upside down.

Enter the ‘Bottle Candle Holder’ Idea

With a nice concave surface bottom and plenty of room, it seemed like the ideal candle holder. Using my largest glass die cutter, I set to work on drilling out the bottom. First I set up my saw horses and used a piece of scrap wood to make a holder for it. By drilling a hole big enough for the neck to go through, I was then able to place it on a surface where I wasn’t relying on myself to do the holding and the drilling.

Patron Bottle Candle Holder Project

With the bottle now upside down and resting on my plank board, I proceeded to fill the concave bottom with water.

I didn’t need to use my clay ring as enough water was contained in this area. My electric drill has a level on it so between that and just getting a feel to make sure the drill is starting in a flat position, I would be ready to start. If you start drilling crooked you’ll end up working harder as you go deeper into the glass because you’ll feel the drill bit start to move around. It will still work but it’s harder to control it.

The base of the bottle is thick but in no time at all I found I had completely drilled through. Even with the water, the bottle had gotten warm so I decided to let it set awhile and cool off. The inside edges were sharp and to avoid anyone cutting themselves while placing a candle inside, I would file it to smooth it out.

Hanging out

Envisioning a hanger was a little more work. My first idea was to coil copper around the stem and work my way up with an over hang to work with. It seemed alright at first but the more I thought about it, the more I became concerned with the bottle simply falling out. I wanted something a little more secure. Silke came up with the idea of using her jewelry wire and attach a wired cord through each side secured beads on the ends. It made sense and all I would have to do is drill small holes on opposite sides to arrange the holder.

Drilling holes in a Patron bottle

I used my drill press for the holes because I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t break the bottle during the drilling process. The drill press would allow me to apply a nice steady slow pressure as opposed to me using the electric drill and doing it free hand.

With both holes drilled I fed the wire through and Silke secured the ends with beads.

It looked awesome and we had it on the deck that evening. With the cork back in and the candle in place, it added a certain ambiance to our deck. I was quick to point out how much cooler it would be if we added more around the rest of the deck. I got ‘the look’ and thought better than to push my luck.

What do you think of the Patron Bottle Candle Holder? Leave us a comment below.

13 thoughts on “Patron Bottle Candle Holder

  1. Candles are wonderful things that can evoke many moods and enhance many settings. Perhaps you’re planning a romantic dinner for two, or a family Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering. Placing candles on the table adds to your decor and tells your guests that they’re special.’

  2. Although electric lighting has phased out candles in many parts of the world, candlesticks and candelabra are still used in some Western countries homes as a decorative element or to add atmosphere on special occasions. Before the proliferation of electricity services, candles were brought into the bedroom using chamber sticks, which were shorter than ordinary candle holders and furnished with a wide pan to catch the wax drippings.’

    Enjoy your day

    1. Rachel,

      Thank you. The Patron bottle is unique in style and it’s another one that I always feel compelled to create something with. I’ve seen some really cool lamps made with these as well.

  3. Hola! I’ve been following your blog for some time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from New Caney Tx!
    Just wanted to tell you keep up the great work!

  4. I have a good many Patron bottles my husband has been saving them from work for me. I plan to make a bar light and pendant light for my kitchen. I need to cut the bottoms off the bottles. I have tried the scoring, hot and cold water bath method. 1 out off 5 attempts did not crack and gave a nice clean cut.
    I am barely a hobbyist. I have this $4 scribe that gave a 20% success rate. I bought a Dremel tool and a diamond blade but have yet to attempt it.
    Any suggestions?
    I want to cut as close to the irregular bottom as possible.
    FYI – The concave bottom makes a nice soon rest ;)

    1. Jody,
      This sounds like an awesome project. How are you using the scribe? The only bottle cutter that I have to cut a square bottle is the Creator’s Bottle Cutter. I’m reluctant to suggest that to you because of the irregular shape of the Patron bottle.

      1. I’m using the scribe as I saw in various you tube videos. Wedding around the bottle. As close to the bottom as I can. Generally just below the word Patron in the glass. The corners are thicker. The bottom of the bottle is not straight. I do believe they are hand made. This is what makes them so beautiful. The irregularities, the bubbles and the waves.
        I’ve seen many bar lights made of the Patron bottles. The are no directions on how they cut them though. Just the wiring of the light which I plan to buy kits for each bottle. Drill through a long piece of drift wood, plug the cords into a power strip then into the socket in the ceiling.
        I bought the Dremel specifically for the project though I am reluctant to take it on.

        1. Jody,
          You absolutely correct. Every Patron bottle is hand made. So, in the spirit that each one is unique, you will have a collection of bottles that will make your project unique. I’ve given this some thought and even considered working out a way that you could use the neck of the bottle as the rotation point rather then the base. All of the bottles would then at least have the same height. Scribing while rotating on the neck of the bottle would be tricky and take a little practice. Using the board with the hole in it (like the one in the video) you could rotate the bottle while you scribed.
          No two bottles are alike – The votive candle holder in this post was made with little or no problem. When I tried to replicate the project it went horribly wrong. The bottle broke while I was drilling the side holes. Don’t get discouraged if this happens while your working on your bar light. Hopefully your husband has put together a nice collection for you to work with. ;)
          We would love to showcase your project. Send us a picture and we’ll put it on the site.

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