I know it’s only October–not even Halloween yet–but I’m already trying to line up some Christmas craftiness. Every year I tell myself that I want to make home-made gifts…and every year it comes to crunch time. I stress over getting things made, which completely zaps the joy out of crafting. This year, I’m determined to be different. I’m determined to start making a few things here and there–and hopefully by December I’ll have a good stash of hand-made creations to gift.
I started this week with these distressed glass bottles. These were kind of a trial run, but I am totally head over heels with the result.
They were so easy to make. They took a couple hours, but only due to drying time. This project started with my love for a maple syrup bottle that Derek and I emptied out over some loaded {shredded coconut, almonds, cashews and chocolate chips} pancakes. I loved it’s shape, I didn’t want it to be tossed to the bin. I started there and added a well-beaten red bottle I got in a “lot” at an auction.
Step one was giving each bottle an undercoat of spray paint. I experimented with two different colors. Hoping that the end product would allow a little of the color to peek through the distressed paint on the bottles.
I’ve been hearing word of the wonders of chalk paint and found this handy recipe to make my own {I used the plaster of paris recipe}. It you don’t know what chalk paint is, visit the link, it explains it all. But for the sake of this project, just know that it is well covering, opaque and will adhere to nearly any surface. I mixed some up in soup bins from the recycle bin and brushed an even coat on each bottle. Once that dried, I repeated the process.
Once that dried, I used a fine-grain sand paper and gently rubbed away some of the paint. In some places I took it down to the glass, in other places, I only took off the chalk paint to expose the spray paint underneath.
As a subtle finishing touch I rubbed a little glaze {left over from my cabinet redo} into textured places on the bottle. As soon as it was on, I wiped it away and into the cracks with a paper towel.
Once everything dried completely, I gave each finished bottle a spray coat of clear acrylic finish. I used this matte finish from Tree House Studio.
Pretty cute, right? Now you can make your own…or gamble on your chances of receiving this set from me for Christmas!
