Our good friend Patty has sent us her latest project involving an incense holder.
Hey, Nick & Silke!
Although my latest project isn’t a lamp, I used a bottle, so that counts, right?
It is an incense holder, which will hopefully work as a mosquito repellant. I used an etching cream for the butterfly, which I had trouble photographing well. There are two vent holes drilled into the back side. My hubby used some safety wire to attach the chains for me. Now that I’ve made one, I can foresee many options for embellishing others. Because the incense smoke will cause the need for occasional washing, the embellishments will need to withstand soap and water.
It was a gift, so I’m anxious to hear whether or not it works.
As always, thank you for your ongoing inspiration and instruction.
This is a really cool idea! In the picture below you can see the detail in the etched butterfly. Cleaning the bottle should be a snap. With hot water and dish soap you should be able to hold your hands over the holes and swish it around inside until the bottle is clean.
We would like to thank Patty for sharing with us her latest bottle crafting project. Our contributors are always thinking of new and inventive ways to refurbish used glass bottle containers.
Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Patty has been a regular contributor to the Bottle-Lamp website and she also helps us manage the Facebook Bottle Crafts DIY page. Below you can follow the link to see some of her other bottle craft projects.
Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?
Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description and or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers. If you have a blog you can also include the web address and we will link back to you.
Thoughts of Spring are looming in the back of our minds but the weather seems to think otherwise.
If you’re feeling the winter blues then maybe you need to get some artificial enlightenment. With this collection of bottle decorations on Etsy we’re sure you’ll find something that will catch your eye and imagination.
This collection includes: bottles with lights, a multi-purpose lamp, a wind chime, and a very special ‘bottle for a cause’. We’re sure that there is something here for everyone. If you would like to learn more about any of the bottle lamps on Etsy simply click on the image.
Bottles Be Glowing – 19th Hole Wine Bottle Light
songbird58 – Irish Wine Bottle Lamp
glow828 – Pendant Light
Wine bottles gone crazy – Breast Cancer Awareness lamp
NightCapStudio – Industrial Style Lamp With USB and Edison Outlets
Lucent Jane – Rainbow Colored Hand Painted Wine Bottle Vase
All of the products that you find on Etsy are hand crafted one of a kind items. If you’re shopping for yourself or someone else why not find a truly unique gift that will always be cherished?
Do you have a bottle craft you would like to add? Maybe you want to comment on the products displayed here? Please leave us your kind words below.
Whether you are working at home or on the job, having the right tools can make all the difference.
It didn’t take long for me to realize just how much I had relied on my bench drill until it was gone. Drilling glass bottles with an electric hand drill and regular glass drilling bits is do-able but it doesn’t produce the nice clean edges. You have to take this with a grain of salt, because when I’m using the drill press, I’m also using my diamond tipped drill bits. Something you can’t do (yes, I tried), with an electric or cordless drill.
After careful consideration of both price and size, I decided to go with the WEN 4208 8-Inch 5 Speed Drill Press .
Price-wise it is mid range and it fell in line with a lot of what the other bench drill presses had to offer; varying speeds, adjustable table, and around 1/3 HP. The 8 inch is on the low end in terms of size, WEN also offers a 10, 12 and 15 inch machine, but having anything bigger in our house seemed absurd.
From a hobby perspective this little guy offers plenty of power in a compact unit (it weighs only 33.5 pounds) and I like that it has a place to attach the chuck right on the side of the machine.
Some More Product Details:
Includes: The Drill, 1/2″ Keyed Chuck, Chuck Key and Tools for Assembly
620-3100 RPM Range (5 Speeds: 620, 1100, 1720, 2340, 3100) to accommodate various materials and thicknesses
Spindle Travel of 2″ with easy to read, locking linear depth stop for accurate and repeatable drilling operations
Durable 1/3hp induction motor develops ample torque and power
6-1/2 x 6-1/2″ cast iron worktable is height adjustable and bevels up to 45 Degree left & right
Some careful price comparisons brought me to Amazon where the WEN drill press retails for only $79.99. This will get you free shipping even without Prime membership and it took just five days (including the weekend) until it arrived.
Right out of the box it took me around ten minutes to assemble it completely (see video for unpacking and set up).
The minute you turn on this drill press, you will notice something missing right away. The noise.
I was expecting it to let everyone in the house and the neighbors know that it was running, instead it quietly hummed to life and it was ready to go to work. It had been a long time since I had a chance to use my diamond tipped drill bits, much less drill a glass bottle. I got all my gear together and prepared my first job.
Drilling bottles involves having some plumbers putty that you roll into a donut shape. Once you’ve found the area where you want to drill you circle it with the putty. This will allow you to retain a small amount of water over the area where you are drilling, it will also minimize glass dust and reduce heat from friction.
Working with the WEN drill press was effortless and it was nice to be able to once again create the nice clean edges that I had come to expect from the diamond tipped drill bits.
It is my intent to add some materials to the drill press work table that will accommodate the bottles. A little buffer to rest the glass on will also be added. Having the drill come right out of the box and be ready to go with minimum effort and time was a huge plus.
The only thing that I can even bring to this discussion as a point of complaint would be for the fact that I’m left handed. In a right hand dominated world I’m sorely outnumbered and as my brother always says; “You will learn to adapt.”
This quiet, compact, powerful machine is everything that I had hoped it would be. With the versatile speeds and angles I believe that I will be able to accomplish all of my hobby projects and more. Easy on the pocket book, it’s practically a steal, and it drills through glass like butter. :)
Read more about the WEN Drill Press on Amazon, including a ton of customer reviews!
Re-purposing used decanters and giving them a second life keeps Randi from Gypsy Bottle Boutique a very busy crafter.
With over 60 different items to choose from on her Etsy store you will find a little something for everyone when you browse through her hand crafted items. We were able to correspond with her via e-mail and find out how things are going.
BL – How long have you been creating your bottle lights?
GBB – I have been using bottles for my artistic genre for about 3 years. I started out by melting bottles down in my kiln for trays, spoon rests, candy dishes, etc. After doing this for about a year I decided to look for another way to display the beauty of a glass bottle. There are so many bottles with beautiful labels and designs, these details cannot highlighted when I was melting everything down. Labels have to be scraped off and most times intricate detail of a glass bottle will be lost when heated. This gave me the perfect gateway to bottle lights, I decided to buy a drill and try a new venture, bottle lights.
BL – Do you have fun tidbits about yourself or your business you would like to share with our readers?
GBB – The name of my company is The Gypsies in a Bottle Boutique…. I have been mesmerized my whole life with gypsies. The culture and history has always intrigued me with such a strong allure. My favorite book of all time is Wuthering Heights which I read early in life, I think this is where I contracted the “Gypsy Fever!” The book is about a forbidden love between a lady and a gypsy that surpasses the grave! Such an awesome book! Anyway, I am now married and have settled down and I am not much of a nomad anymore. However, I will always be a gypsy at heart and it’s the perfect name for my business.
My husband and I own a few restaurants so I have a perfect source for my bottle inventory. I have over 5000 bottles in my storage, no joke. I also did this all on my own. I have drilled every single bottle I have ever sold. This is funny to me because I have been asked more than a handful of times, “Does your husband drill them out for you?” I am the bottle maker from start to finish, except the liquor I don’t drink liquor, so I do get assistance there..
I love learning about glass by working with the bottles and getting my own techniques etc. I love making beautiful pieces out of ordinary things. I like how personal a bottle craft can be as a gift. Something so common as a bottle turned into a memory or treasure. I make a lot of wedding invitation bottles, they make a great wedding gift. I take the wedding invite and size it accordingly to the melted bottle and then decorate the neck with the theme or colors of the wedding. I have made bunches of the “bottle trays” like this but I am excited to make a lamp using a wedding invite!
BL – Where can we purchase your crafts?
GBB – I have a shop on Etsy to buy my bottle designs, link is below
www.etsy.com/shop/GypsyBottleBoutique
I also have a Facebook page where orders can be placed and I can be contacted also.
www.facebook.com/thegypsiesinabottleboutique
The endless possibilities that glass bottles offer are truly amazing. You can find decorative items and purposeful dinner ware at the Gypsy Bottle Boutique.
We would like to thank Randi for taking the time to write to us. Be sure to check out her Etsy store or leave her a comment below.
Moving to another state doesn’t mean you have to trade off your favorite sports team. You just have to find a new way to show your support. Thanks to Bottles Be Glowing, you can do just that!
Jessie from Bottles Be Glowing has created several NHL hockey lighted bottles and when I read that she was planning to put together a MN Wild one, I was eager to get my hands on it. Anticipating how she would put it together was more than half the fun!
Minnesota Wild Bottle With Lights
It was posted onto a social media website with the caption –“A little ice, a puck and an empty bottle = a perfect time to make a Minnesota Wild Bottle light”
This was brilliant! The frosted glass looked like an ice rink and the Minnesota Wild logo was prominently displayed in the middle. By adding color matching bling and a pennant with whistle to top it all off, the whole hockey theme was complete.
Mesmerized but still of sound mind I quickly claimed the lighted bottle before someone else did. When you have as many fans as the Wild do, you have to act fast on something like this. I would have never forgiven myself if I had let this one slip by.
Minnesota Wild Gear courtesy of Bottles Be Glowing
Shipping and receiving – I have to share with you my experience while purchasing this bottle. To sum it all up it was fantastic. The minute I submitted my payment I was told when my bottle would ship. The next day I received an e-mail with the tracking code so I could follow its progress.
When it arrived I felt like a kid at Christmas again. The same care and attention to detail that had gone into creating this unique one of a kind item had been given to the packaging as well. The bottle was carefully wrapped in bubble wrap and filled in with air bags on the sides to prevent it from moving around inside the box during transport. I didn’t waste a second and immediately plugged it in. Silke and I stepped back and marveled for at it for awhile.
I’m telling you from first hand experience that when you purchase something from Bottles Be Glowing you will not be disappointed. More than the item itself you will be receiving a hand crafted item that is handled by the person who made it from start to finish. I have another bottle of my favorite NFL team also from Bottles Be Glowing and the same quality and care has been consistent with both.
If you would like to check out more bottle lights from Bottles Be Glowing be sure to “Like” them on their Facebook page. You can also see more of the bottles on the Etsy store.
After signing up for our free downloadable eBook, our readers receive regular email updates from us.
In our fifth newsletter we include the link to our eBook again in case it has been misplaced or forgotten about and ask our readers to send us pictures to share. Donna emailed us back after receiving this message and the following conversation ensued:
“After attempting to drill 5 bottles, the first two broke away at the bottom, one cracked at the end, and the other two are better. However, I felt the bits were too worn down to continue and it was taking me well over an hour to do one bottle. I am lucky that I work at a middle school and was able to use the large drill units they have. I bought a 1/2″ dimond drill bit and was able to drill one in under a minute, with the assitance of the technology teacher. I will be finishing drilling the rest of the bottles next week. I was wondering for the glass sand filler, do you use 1 bag per bottle? Thanks for the ebook!!! I’m really glad I’m doing this project! Donna”
Here is Nick’s reply to her question in case you were wondering the same. I had a bottle break on me because I went to close to the base. It was an attempt to keep the label intact. Bottom line – I know how you feel. The filler I used took two bags. I had some left over but for the next one I only had to purchase a single. So to answer your question. Two bags.
Take a look at the frosted bottle with stenciled writing Donna sent along with her final reply below.
So I just wanted to show you my bottle. I actually have 14 that I am finishing up, but this shows the finished product. I actually got the frosted glass idea from a link on your page. I found some reusable stencils and sprayed the glass frosting over it. I’m using these as shower favors. Thanks for all your support. I’m having fun doing projects, though some are more time consuming than others. I just wanted to add that I used a rubber grommet at the drilled hole. I had to feed it through the lights before I fed the lights through the bottle. It wasn’t as bad as thought. Thanks again!!
Donna, thank you so much for sending in your photo and sharing your ideas.
Using lighted bottles as shower favors is wonderful, I’m sure your guest will love them.
Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?
Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers.
If you have a blog you can also include the web address, we will link back to you.
Andrew sent in this picture of his finished bottle project to be displayed on the DIY Show Off page.
Woodford Reserve is a Kentucky Straight Boubon Whiskey that comes in a distinct and I think, very masculine, looking bottle. Andrew really enhanced the look of the bottle by adding amber colored glass marbles and white lights. Very well done Andrew!
Lighted Woodford Bottle by Andrew
Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?
Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers. If you have a blog you can also include the web address, we will link back to you.
We started a new recycled glass bottle project about a week ago. I saw a picture on Pinterest with an ivy growing out of the bottom of the bottle. The article attached to the picture had a lot of comments asking how to make a Glass Bottle Plant Holder.
I asked Nick if he was interested in making plant holders and he was all for it. So, Nick drilled a big hole in the bottom, we filled the bottle 3/4 full of dirt, added a plant, attached a wire and viola we have a Glass Bottle Plant Holder.
Strawberry Plant in Glass Bottle Holder
We decided against using an ivy and went with three strawberry plants and one cherry tomato plant instead. As long as the plant you use in the bottle is a climbing plant it should work. We made a video showing the process of making a Glass Bottle Plant Holder from drilling the hole into the bottom of the bottles to adding the plant and attaching the wire. The video will be on our Recycled Bottle Projects Youtube channel shortly.
Cherry Tomato Plant in Glass Bottle Holder
We will take pictures of the plants throughout spring and summer to see if the plants will take roots and produce any tomatoes and strawberries.
What do you think of these Recycled Glass Bottle Plant Holders?
