Repurposing ~ Handy Household Bottles for Kitchen and Laundry Use

• By Barb
• Posted in Bringing the garden inside, DIY home and garden craft projects
• On May 25, 2016
• 8 Comments.

Don’t toss those wine bottles in the recycling bin, make them into handy household bottles to use in the kitchen or laundry! This is a fun and easy project for all ages. These pretty repurposed bottles are great containers for dish soap, laundry soap, cooking oils, etc. Not only do they look much prettier than plastic store bottles, they also make lovely gifts and great fundraiser items. And, the cost is next to nothing!

 

 

For this project you will need a paint brush, Pebeo Porcelaine paint or Deco Art multi-purpose paint, a water cup, alcohol swabs and wine bottles. Limit your costs by buying just a few colors and mixing your paints. I recommend purchasing white, yellow, blue, red and dark green to get started. The paints are water-soluble until hardened, so one paint brush per person is enough. Just rinse it well between color applications. Draw some sketches as painting inspiration. Or, if you aren’t arty, you can use a stencil! If you prefer, you can paint vases, candle sticks or other glass items rather than wine bottles. Take a look at an example below.

There is a little prep work to do in advance. First, soak the bottles in a hot water and borax solution to remove the labels. After the labels are removed, either put them through the dishwasher or fill them with boiling water to sterilize them. Let the bottles dry thoroughly, inside and out.

Painting is the next order of business and the fun part! Wipe each bottle down with an alcohol swab to make sure there are no residues on the glass. Use a paper plate as your palette and pour a small (size of a quarter) pool of each color you desire on to the plate. You can paint these colors straight from the bottle or mix them to get custom colors. I found if the wine bottle glass is dark, adding white or cream to each color will help it show up better. Paint flowers, critters or whatever your heart desires. Have fun!

After painting, let the bottles dry for 24 hours before the next step, which is baking them to harden the porcelain paint. Baking creates a dishwasher-safe finish that will last for a long time.

Now for the baking directions! Place the bottles in a cool oven, then set it to 350 F degrees (or follow the directions on the porcelain paint container you are using).You may need to remove an oven rack to stand the bottles upright. Or lay them down on the racks if they are too tall. Careful not to scrape the painted areas! Bake for 1/2 hour and then turn off the oven. Do not remove the bottles until cool.

Now, pop a spout in the top and they are ready! Wasn’t that easy??  

Resource for pour spouts : I bought mine on-line from Amazon Prime. A set of 12 spouts cost $6.05. With prime membership, I did not have to pay any shipping costs. I do not represent Amazon in any way, however, I probably should!!

Amazon Easy Pour Spouts Link ~ Click here!

UPDATE!

I tried using Sharpie oil-based, fine point markers to decorate more bottles. It is much easier to draw and get detail with these Sharpies than with the brush and acrylic paints! Baking directions are the same ~ 350 F for 1/2 hour and let cool before touching them. Here are some of the results!