Upcycled Bottles

I mentioned in a previous post that I was headed to the antiques market to hunt down some old bottles for a project I saw on Martha Stewart's website. As luck would have it, I found quite a few and at really great prices so I busted out the enamel this weekend and gave upcycled bottles a try.

I'm very happy with the results but it wasn't as easy as Martha had me believing. After washing with soap and water and then prepping with the surface conditioner, the instructions said to pour in the enamel and swirl to coat. Sounds simple but the enamel was much thicker than I'd expected and mostly refused to budge from the place it was poured. I ended up having to use a paintbrush to try and spread it around. This proved especially difficult with the shape of the big vase but I managed it - using way too much enamel in the process.

Once I turned the bottles upside down to dry that enamel that didn't want to budge suddenly decided to move and soaked through the layers of paper towel to coat our kitchen counter. Luckily I was checking frequently so it was all wiped up before it had a chance to dry.

All told, I would try this again but with different expectations. It did create some pretty vases and I especially like how the little jar turned sort of green because of the tint of the glass. I wish I had some better photos to share with you but it was nighttime and I couldn't put anything in the bottles because, after more than 48 hours, the enamel is still wet!