Recycling Bottles

Earlier I wrote a post on recycling bottles to make a chic decor item for your home.

Well, I attempted this project myself last weekend.  Check out how!

First, I looked for 3 already used bottles around the house.  I wanted to pick 2 taller bottles, and one shorter one- for height variation.  I also wanted to pick bottles that had different types of “texture” and shape.  Here is what I came up with.  The shorter bottle once stored a chicken marinade from Trader Joes- I liked the height and interesting form of the neck.  The middle bottle once stored a Port Wine we got from Napa.  I liked the sleekness and simplicity of this bottle.  Finally, the bottle on the right is an S. Pellegrino bottle.  I liked that this bottle was a little fatter than the Port Wine bottle.

So, after picking out which bottles I wanted to transform, I rinsed them out and made sure they were nice and clean on the inside.

Next step, I had to take off the labels.  I plugged our sink and filled it up with hot water and  3-4 drops of dish washing liquids, and dropped the bottles in.  I then left the bottles in there soaking for about 1 hour.

Once an hour passed (check the labels after an hour, you’ll know if it’s time for the labels to come off, or if you need to leave them for a bit longer), I peeled off the labels while they were still in the water.  Some labels were easy to take off…such as the S. Pellegrino bottle and the Port Wine bottle, but the Trader Joe’s bottle needed a little help from our dish sponge and a bit of scrubbing.  After the labels were off, I washed, rinsed and dried the bottles.

Then, I got my painting supplies ready.  When we were at Lowe’s, I came across some discounted paint-  half a pint of Valspar Samples for $.50…yup! 50 cents!  We used Mercer Blue Satin and Breakwater Interior Satin Latex.  We also bought a pack of sponge paint brushes (we use these often) for about $3.50.

Then it was time to paint!!  You may want to start painting below the rim of the bottle first, so you can use your fingertips to turn your bottle as you paint, without messing up the paint you already laid.  Last step would be to paint the rim.

We ended up doing 3 coats of paint on each bottle.  Letting it dry for about 2 hours before the next coat.  The amount of coats may also depend on the color of your bottle or the color of your paint.  Here is what it looked like after the first coat.

And, here they are after 3 coats!  I love the look…so simple and chic!  Really loving how we used the same color, but in different shades…it just looks like it makes sense that way.  If you are looking for a super cheap and super easy project, try this one!