DIY Potion Bottles
I have always admired and loved stage and movie set design and how you can make something look authentic with just a few art supplies like paint and glue. I’m going to show you how to make Authentic Potion Bottles out of $1 bottles I found at the Dollar Tree store
The dollar tree has a very nice array of glassware to choose from for projects like this. I look out for anything with shape and texture. Finding a jar or a bottle with a lid is a must.
The dollar tree has a very nice array of glassware to choose from for projects like this. I look out for anything with shape and texture. Finding a jar or a bottle with a lid is a must.
Supplies
$1 Bottles or jars from the Dollar tree
Matte mod podge
Gauze
Kitchen towel
Baking soda
Rustoleum matte black spray paint
Martha Stewart metallic silver paint
Gold leafing or any bright gold paint
Paint brush
Bottle tags
Adding Interesting Texture to the Potion Bottles and Jars.
Gauze
Even though the bottle and jars had interesting texture already, I wanted to add in some extra spookiness to it. The gauze works out perfect for this because when you adhere it onto the bottle and push it into shape, it truly looks like thick cobwebs.
First, I painted mod podge directly onto the bottle where I wanted the gauze to lay and then I pressed the gauze to the bottle. It’ll seem like it’s not really sticking to the bottle, but after painting more mod podge on top of the gauze, it becomes a lot easier to maneuver into place. Stretch it out. Gather it. You can’t go wrong with this, just go with it! Every bottle will be unique.
The crystal stopper for the bottle was missing something. I wanted it to remain a crystal stopper but it was too sparkly & clean for the spooky look I was after. So instead of painting it black, I adhered black gauze to it in a spiral fashion with mod podge. Cleaned up the excess glue with a q-tip and it ended u looking perfect. By cleaning up the excess with a q-tip is made parts of the crystal milky, which gave it an authentically old look.
Kitchen towel
Often, I’ll look around the house for things to use for texture. What I found worked really well was bounty kitchen towel. I know, how right? My mind was blown how well it worked.
Tear off a piece, make sure it has no straight edges. Paint modpodge to the jar where you want the kitchen towel to lay. Press the kitchen towel down onto the glass. Again, it’ll seem like the kitchen towel won’t stick but once you paint mod podge over the top of it, it changes everything. You can use your paint brush to push it into shape and gather to add texture.
Drips
There’s nothing more icky than drips on a bottle, and if those drips are creepy things like beetle juice, or goo, then it gets the senses going. So it’s a perfect addition to these spooky potion bottles. I did say they looked authentic.
For the larger bottles, I used straight mod podge and poured it on the neck of the bottle and let it drip down. Straight mod podge is a little runnier so the drips were long. If your bottle is large, it’s perfect for the size.
For small stubby jars however, I needed the mod podge to be thicker so the drips wouldn’t run so fast. I experimented and added baking soda to the mod podge. And it worked! You can adjust your consistency to get your desired effect. So I added baking soda until I got the desired consistency to drip slower.
I used the back of my paint brush to scoop up some mod podge mixture and tapped it off on the top of the jars. Sometimes it needed a little help to drip further, so I used the surface I was working on to tap the bottles a little to help the drips fall.
Leave out for a day to completely dry before moving onto the next steps.
Even though the bottle and jars had interesting texture already, I wanted to add in some extra spookiness to it. The gauze works out perfect for this because when you adhere it onto the bottle and push it into shape, it truly looks like thick cobwebs.
First, I painted mod podge directly onto the bottle where I wanted the gauze to lay and then I pressed the gauze to the bottle. It’ll seem like it’s not really sticking to the bottle, but after painting more mod podge on top of the gauze, it becomes a lot easier to maneuver into place. Stretch it out. Gather it. You can’t go wrong with this, just go with it! Every bottle will be unique.
The crystal stopper for the bottle was missing something. I wanted it to remain a crystal stopper but it was too sparkly & clean for the spooky look I was after. So instead of painting it black, I adhered black gauze to it in a spiral fashion with mod podge. Cleaned up the excess glue with a q-tip and it ended u looking perfect. By cleaning up the excess with a q-tip is made parts of the crystal milky, which gave it an authentically old look.
Kitchen towel
Often, I’ll look around the house for things to use for texture. What I found worked really well was bounty kitchen towel. I know, how right? My mind was blown how well it worked.
Tear off a piece, make sure it has no straight edges. Paint modpodge to the jar where you want the kitchen towel to lay. Press the kitchen towel down onto the glass. Again, it’ll seem like the kitchen towel won’t stick but once you paint mod podge over the top of it, it changes everything. You can use your paint brush to push it into shape and gather to add texture.
Drips
There’s nothing more icky than drips on a bottle, and if those drips are creepy things like beetle juice, or goo, then it gets the senses going. So it’s a perfect addition to these spooky potion bottles. I did say they looked authentic.
For the larger bottles, I used straight mod podge and poured it on the neck of the bottle and let it drip down. Straight mod podge is a little runnier so the drips were long. If your bottle is large, it’s perfect for the size.
For small stubby jars however, I needed the mod podge to be thicker so the drips wouldn’t run so fast. I experimented and added baking soda to the mod podge. And it worked! You can adjust your consistency to get your desired effect. So I added baking soda until I got the desired consistency to drip slower.
I used the back of my paint brush to scoop up some mod podge mixture and tapped it off on the top of the jars. Sometimes it needed a little help to drip further, so I used the surface I was working on to tap the bottles a little to help the drips fall.
Leave out for a day to completely dry before moving onto the next steps.
The Power of Paint
Matte Black spray paint
My all time favorite black spray paint is Rustoleum painters touch in matte black. Check out this post where I transform my bathroom vanity light and my faucet with Rustoleum Painters touch spray paint.
The bottles and jars only needed one coat. Make sure you get into all the creases and folds. The entire bottle needs to be covered in black.
I waited an hour for the paint to dry before I went to the next step.
Drybrush the potion bottles silver
I used Martha Stewart metallic silver paint to dry brush the texture. This makes all the detail pop. You can dry brush as much or less as you like. I like to drybrush most of the bottle with silver. I feel that if there was parts perfectly black, it wouldn’t have that ‘old’ look.
The trick to dry brushing is that you have to put enough paint on the brush to coat the bristles, but then you have to stipple most of the paint off, until the brush is almost ‘dry’. Some may say it’s a waste of paint, but I think dry brushing gives the piece so much depth, so it’s worth it.
My all time favorite black spray paint is Rustoleum painters touch in matte black. Check out this post where I transform my bathroom vanity light and my faucet with Rustoleum Painters touch spray paint.
The bottles and jars only needed one coat. Make sure you get into all the creases and folds. The entire bottle needs to be covered in black.
I waited an hour for the paint to dry before I went to the next step.
Drybrush the potion bottles silver
I used Martha Stewart metallic silver paint to dry brush the texture. This makes all the detail pop. You can dry brush as much or less as you like. I like to drybrush most of the bottle with silver. I feel that if there was parts perfectly black, it wouldn’t have that ‘old’ look.
The trick to dry brushing is that you have to put enough paint on the brush to coat the bristles, but then you have to stipple most of the paint off, until the brush is almost ‘dry’. Some may say it’s a waste of paint, but I think dry brushing gives the piece so much depth, so it’s worth it.
Concluding These DIY Spooky Potion Bottles.
If you’d like a more in-depth tutorial with videos, please visit my blog: www.barberellahome.com. You’ll also see how I’ve made the tags for these bottles on that blog post. Go check it out.
So what do you think? Would you try make these? If you do, I’d love to see it. Post a pic here or send me a DM on Instagram or post a pic and tag @BarberellaHome. It brings me great joy to see all of your DIYs.
If you would like to purchase these potion bottles, head over to my Etsy shop and check out my listings. Find my shop @ShopBarberellaHome
Until next time xoxo
So what do you think? Would you try make these? If you do, I’d love to see it. Post a pic here or send me a DM on Instagram or post a pic and tag @BarberellaHome. It brings me great joy to see all of your DIYs.
If you would like to purchase these potion bottles, head over to my Etsy shop and check out my listings. Find my shop @ShopBarberellaHome
Until next time xoxo