Refurbishing Antique Glass Bottles

I've always wanted to incorporate antique glass bottles into my home decor. Their various styles, shapes, and sizes just can't be found in the glassware section at your typical department store. I wanted that authentic wear-and-tear to add character to the mantel I was designing, not to mention antique shopping is basically Heaven on Earth!! So I ventured out to my local flea market to make that happen ;)

Find old,weathered glass bottles of various heights, sizes, and shapes. Remember - slight cracks, dents, rust spots, and scuffs are a good thing!! This will ensure texture & dimension to the setup. I found all of mine at an epic antique store in town. Each bottle was a steal at $1-$2 dollars.

 I used 2 methods to refurbish these antique bottles:

#1 Accentuating Its Flaws

Some of the bottles had a natural weathered-look that I didn't want to paint over. Remember those slight cracks, dents rust spots, & scuffs we mentioned earlier? I found that I could emphasize them by painting just the inside of the bottle! Simply squeeze dollop of acrylic paint inside the bottle and swirl it around, making sure to coat it completely. Because these are antique items having gone through wear & tear over many years, this method allows that uniqueness & character to come to the forefront without covering it up with paint.

#2 Painting Layers of Colors + Distressing

This method is exactly like the 3rd option in my blog post Distressing: How-to Make Anything Look Antique (link here), but instead of layering 3 similar colors on the outside of the glass, here I applied the first color to the inside of the bottle, then added the second and/or third colors to the outside of the bottle. I finished with sanding.

3 layers of colors (one inside, two outside) + sanding

Inside

1st outside layer

Sporadic 2nd layer

 

2 layers of colors (one inside, one outside) + sanding

Inside Coat

Sporadic Outside Coat

If I had chosen just one re-purposing style - either method #1, method #2, or leaving them be - it would've fallen flat to the eye because they would've been too uniform. Since they are antique and each unique in character, I wanted each bottle to stand out, yet compliment each other. Using different methods accomplished this- the different finishes & textures allowed each bottle to juxtapose one another.

Tutorial on the Rustic Glass Window shown above using Dollar Store Picture Frames HERE!