Repurposed Addiction

Happy Fourth of July, friends!

I hope everyone is having a fun and safe holiday! I know we are. Our new neighborhood goes crazy with the fireworks. The area of Arkansas we were from was always under a burn ban and not many people shot them off. I’m curious to see how loud it is tonight? It’s been loud all weekend. Just remember, have fun but please try to be courteous of neighbors who may have PTSD.

One of the projects I worked on this weekend was repurposing glass Starbucks frappuccino bottles. I may or may not have an addiction to these things. One day I realized how many of these bottles I throw away and figured I could repurpose them into something cool for our home.

Two of these were just from yesterday. Hold the judgment please.

As someone who spends A LOT of time on pinterest, I knew there was countless possibilities for these.

First, of course, I needed to remove these labels. For some reason I thought these labels were engraved on the bottle and I originally planned on spray painting them. Thankfully, pinterest educated me on removing the labels.

A hot water soak, some dawn dish soap, a scruby sponge, and some nail polish remover took the date stamp and label gunk off. Removing the label opened up a whole new set of possibilities for these because I no longer had to spray paint them.

Using some scotch tape, acrylic paint, foam brushes, and a spray clear coat, I set out to create unique bottles.

I wanted to keep them metallic. I had this pretty Sahara Gold made by FolkArt. I love this gold because it’s a little bronzier and less flashy. I wanted a lighter metallic brown as well, so I mixed Americana acrylic paint in Burlap and Ceramcoat acrylic paint in Pearl Finish.

This was after one thin coat. 

After finishing all the painting, I went with Valspar Project Perfect clear topcoat to seal the bottles. One thing I didn’t consider when doing this is that it would leave a texture on the clear parts of the bottle. I didn’t want the paint to be glossy, so I went with the satin finish. This left the clear part of the bottles with a frosted appearance. I ended up liking the look, but if you don’t like the look you could always leave the tape on until after spraying the sealer on.

The acrylic paint chips easily before it’s sealed, so I have a few chipped spots on them. I wasn’t too concerned about this because I knew I was going to put them inside a crate of some sort and most of the bottle wouldn’t even be seen. Plus, everything else in my house has that chippy distressed look, so I went with it. While on my mission to find fabric for Spencer’s Tepee, I found these beautiful flowers at Joann’s on sale for 70% off! What?! Yes please!

They came in sets of three of one color. I know the colors are springy, but I think they are pretty enough for the summer too!

I love a good deal. 70% off $1.99…. I probably should have bought them all. Maybe I need to go back.

I also found a gorgeous wooden basket at 40% off. Upon finding the link to it, I notice it’s now 50% off. Of course.

In order to have the flowers stick out high enough, I needed to fill the bottom of the bottles with small pebbles. I stole these pebbles from another vase that has not been rehomed in our new place. Guess I’ll have to go back to Joann’s for more. Darn.

I didn’t have enough pebbles to fill up all six jars. So I just did three. I think the arrangement turned out beautifully. When I go back to the craft store, I’ll buy more small pebbles and see how it looks with all six jars full. But for now, I’ll enjoy my finished product like it is!

Yes, I’m missing two bottles from these final pictures. I’m still painting them. 

Now, if only I had a kitchen table… We didn’t bring our old one with us during the move. I’m quickly regretting that decision. I’m now thinking some sanding and staining/painting would be another fun project!

I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did! I love having small projects like this going on all the time! My next project will be a week-long project. I’m going to start on it tomorrow. Hint: I’ve already done one and this is the matching piece.

Till next time, xoxo