Little Painted Bottles with Big Results

We’re all about upcycling glass in this house, especially when you can use it for craft projects! In this post, you’ll learn how to make little painted bottles with big results.

So, go get your glass bottles ready, and let’s get started!

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Easy DIY Painted Bottles as Vases

For this project, I decided to use my beer bottles as a trio of vases. You can also display the bottles together or separately, with or without flowers. They’d make a great accent for bookshelves or window sills, too.

Supplies for Beer Bottle Vases

Obviously, you’ll need to get your hands on a few empty beer bottles to get started. (Maybe that’s part of the fun for this project?)

Any type of bottle will do. Feel free to mix up the bottle shapes if that strikes your fancy!

Other supplies:

• Chalk paint (a.k.a. ultra matte acrylic paint)
• Paint brushes
• Matte acrylic sealer (optional)
• Real or faux flowers

Note: You can also use wine bottles for this craft, but I like the small size of the beer bottles…you can easily pair/bundle them without taking up too much room. 

Here are the three colors of chalk paint used in this tutorial (available on Amazon). Click the images for details.

Step 1: Wash bottles and remove labels

I soak my bottles in sudsy water to help remove labels. You can also use Goo Gone or another similar liquid if you find yourself in a sticky situation. 😉 (Sorry for the dad jokes…sometimes I can’t help myself.)

Step 2: Paint 2-3 coats of chalk paint

Using a good acrylic paint brush, apply 2-3 coats of chalk paint to your bottle. Start at the base and work your way up to the neck.

This chalk paint dries fairly quickly, so you’ll want to apply the coats quickly, too. You may also want to paint the inside of the bottle neck just enough to hide the amber-colored glass.

I painted the bottom of my bottles after finishing all of my coats. No one will see that part much anyway.

Tip: For consistent coverage, you can also use spray paint instead of acrylic paint. However, I like the fact that with acrylic paint, you can work indoors and without fumes.

Step 3: Allow to dry 2 hours after each coat

While one bottle is drying, rinse your brush and start on another bottle. Dry. Rinse. Repeat!

Step 4: Apply acrylic sealer (optional)

After the bottles are completely dry, you can use sand paper to strip away some paint and create a more vintage effect, or you can go straight to applying a spray sealer.

I chose a matte sealer for this project. It helps protect the paint from peeling or getting damaged.

If you’ve seen my decoupage wooden tissue box or my decoupage wooden spoons, you’ll notice I used a different “high shine” sealer for those projects.

Decoupage wooden spoons with high shine sealer

This would’ve given my bottle vases a polished look, but I was going for more of a rustic vibe in this tutorial.

Step 5: Add flowers, and enjoy!

I added some simple faux floral stems from Dollar Tree to complete my look.

Since you’re not painting the inside of the beer vases, you can also use fresh flowers. Just don’t let the outside paint get too wet.

Care Instructions for Painted Beer Bottles

While you can rinse out the inside of your painted bottles, don’t submerge the bottles in water once they’re painted. Use a soft cloth to wipe down the outside if necessary.

I used my beer bottles as part of my Easter tablescape. You would never notice these are beer bottles unless you looked closely.

Easter table decorating ideas

Other Ideas for Upcycled Beer Bottles

Imagine the possibilities of painting beer bottles for any occasion. You could go more modern, add stencils or apply hand-painted details.

I also now have a faux mercury glass technique you can try!

DIY mercury glass tutorial

Here are a few more painted bottle ideas to get your gears turning:

• Valentine’s Day — Red, white and pink bottles with hearts
• Summer — Fruit-themed painted bottles, like watermelon or pineapple
• Fourth of July — Red, white and blue bottles to hold your sparklers
• Fall — Witches, jack-o-lanterns or Frankenstein bottles
• Christmas — Snowman, Santa or reindeer bottles

You can also experiment with color blocking or mosaic patterns, which I’ll show you in upcoming posts. Don’t stop with bottles, either! I’ve made painted terracotta pots and painted Dollar Tree pumpkins with similar materials.

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