DIY Painted Glass Bottles

I’m guilty of overthinking projects sometimes. Our mantel was long overdue for a refresh and a pile of old bottles has been taunting me for a bit. Thanks to the invitation to co-host the #upcyclesquad challenge I discovered a fun and quick refresh. With a simple chalk paint project, I painted old antique glass bottles to become vases for the mantel.

I started with some large jugs that had character because of their lines and shapes, but had some stains that would require quite a bit more elbow grease than I was up for. The shorter bottle is an old kerosene lamp jug. It would have had a metal band and handle originally. I love using old bottles in decor because of their shape. I also picked up a little set of drawers at the thrift store that I wanted to bring into the mix.

I lightly sanded both the set of drawers and the jugs. Even after washing the jugs they had a bit of residue on them so by sanding them down I was able to remove that residue for a nice smooth surface that would be ready to paint. For this project I chose Rustoleum chalk paint in charcoal.

For much of the project I used a small foam roller to avoid brush lines. I used a brush only when necessary to keep a clean line or to fill in. Because I wanted a bit of aged, chippy style on the glass 1-2 coats was enough to cover. Shortly after doing the large bottles, I realized I could use many of the small bottles to decorate the mantle, so I painted those as well.

I was worried that using a dark color on the glass would hide the lettering, but I was thrilled to find that the words and logos on the old antique bottles really stood out in the dark color. To emphasize certain words I rubbed them very lightly with high grit (220+) sandpaper. I even had success just rubbing over the letters with my fingers on the tiny little lettering. I was surprised when I saw this!

Oops! I guess I wasn’t supposed to upcycle this old glass bottle. These painted bottles made perfect vessels and vases to decorate my mantel.

I used preserved palm spears and our linen eucalyptus spray to accent the vases on the refreshed mantel. I love the cohesive natural tones with the wood and charcoal accents. I bet right now you are looking around your house for old bottles and a paint brush!