DIY:: Bottles of Light

Here is a great tutorial I found on the Design Mom blog, in case you want to try these at home – I definitely will!

Glass bottles are best, use either clear or tinted ones – they will all look gorgeous for the effect. Try and find bottles which you particularly love, with an interesting shape or otherwise beautiful simplicity.

The first step is the wash the bottle and remove any labels. You can do that with a scraper tool or immerse your bottle into warm water, the label will come off very easily then.

Once the bottle is clean and label free, it was time to drill through the glass. You can use a 3/8″ drill bit especially designed for glass and tile. The drilling takes around 20 minutes — because you can’t go too fast. The drilling will create white dust and as the hole gets bigger, it will smoke a bit from the heat.

Next you can paint it {optional}. You can experiment first with jam and baby food jars to try different techniques — like paint dripped from plastic spoons. The chosen effect here was the sponged look. Using a disposable sponge brush and Liquid Leaf paint — but any metallic enamel paint should work. The paint is not water-cleanup, so a disposable brush is great for this project. You only need a little bit of paint to get the coverage wanted. Instead of brushing the paint on, “pat” it into place.

Once the paint was dry (it dries very quickly), you can start stuffing the lights in. You’ll need a 50 light string that is not made to connect end-to-end.

The lights fit through one at a time, but it was a bit tight — use a slightly larger drill bit and the light stuffing would go much faster. Stuff every light on the string in, and the plug will dangle out the back, ready to find a socket.

And viola! A fun tutorial and beautiful holiday décor with a little Christmas sparkle and cheer {they’re so pretty you can use them all year ‘round, why not?} – ideal also for your summer garden parties, to put under a hallway table or by a festive window…the possibilities are endless!

 

Related Post: Holiday Décor idea {Bottle Lighting}

Image source and tutorial by Design Mom