DIY: Recycled Glass Bottle Candle Holder

I had been looking for fun ways to reuse glass bottles when I stumbled across this tutorial through Pinterest. Instead of creating glasses from beer bottles (which I may do in the future) I decided to use this idea of glass cutting to create a candle holder. I think it turned out rather well!

Materials

Old glass bottle (I used a gin bottle since I liked the square shape)

Cotton yarn or string

Nail polish remover

A lighter or matches

Ice

Sandpaper

Glue

Lace or other semi-transparent trim/ribbon (I used vintage lace)

Paint brush

Directions

If your bottle still has its label on, soak it in hot water and then pull or scrub the label off. I had a bit of sticky film that was covering my bottle even after vigorous scrubbing, so I rubbed it off with some Goo Gone and a paper towel.

Here is the bottle I started with during the label removal process:

Once you have removed the label, begin by using this tutorial to cut the top off of your bottle. This can be a bit dangerous, so I would not recommend doing this part of the tutorial with children. The flame is isolated to the yarn and will not travel or make the bottle too hot to handle. Also, make sure that you have a deep sink or bucket of ice water so that you can fully submerge the bottle after the flame has gone out.

My cut edge was not quite perfect, but with a bit of sanding it evened out well. Do not worry if yours is also uneven, once you get the lace or trim on no one will be able to notice!

Once you have sanded your newly cut bottle, play around with your chosen decoration and figure out how you want it to look. I chose to cover the entire bottle with lace since I loved the way it looked. Then I added a tiny strip of lace trim around the top which improved the over-all look and hid the uneven edge.

Now paint the bottle with glue (I used tacky glue) in the places you want the lace to go. Place the lace on the glue and rub back and forth over it to make sure it sticks well. Continue this process until you have covered the entire bottle or however much you want to cover. Let it sit until the glue has dried.

Once the glue has dried, paint once more over the lace with glue. If you have small trim like I did, you can paint over that as well as the flat lace. If your trim is somewhat larger, only paint over the base of it (the part attached to the glass). Let this dry completely.

Now it is time to choose a candle! I chose a beeswax votive and wrapped the bottom and sides it in tin foil to prevent it from spilling inside my new candle holder. I highly recommend using a votive since tea lights do not give off enough light for something of this size.

Doesn’t the candle light glow beautifully through the lace?