DIY Recycled Beer Bottle Boho Lights

I love sitting on my terrace and enjoying conversations over beers with friends but I always thought the pre-existing lighting did not fit the vibe. Since I had a little free time on hand and came across a bunch of pintrest suggestions and reels of boho home decor, I got inspired to make boho styled decor and what better way to make the 'system' self sufficient - drink beers and reuse the bottles and add to the lighting. With the monsoons coming, I thought I should make outdoor/waterproof lighting that can enhance the vibe of my terrace!

I made two types of lighting, one wherein I cut the bottle and placed a light bulb inside which is hung from the tree and the other with fairy lights stuffed inside the bottle which is hung from the wall. I will go over in greater detail the former as it includes all steps and more that the latter requires.

• 5x 15W incandescent light bulbs (or fairy lights with 220V LED drivers)
• 5x Bulb Holders
• 20m x Twisted Copper Wire (Lower gauge ~ 18AWG will also do)
• 2 pin plug
• Fevikwik/Thin CA Glue
• 2x Rolls of black electrical tape
• 100-150m of jute rope
• Screwdriver Set
• Wire snips
• Cling film/wrap
• Glass/Tile Cutter
• Candle
• 500mL-1L Mugs
• Ice
• Water
• Waste cloth
• Detergent powder

The beer bottles were left outside for a couple of months and hence had collected some dust and debris inside. The bottles also still had the labels on them. In order to clean the bottles and remove the labels, I soaked the bottles in a bucket of hot water and powdered detergent for an hour. I also poured some hot water and powdered detergent into the bottles.

Most of the labels just unglued themselves from the bottles and slipped off while some needed some gentle prying. After the labels had been removed I shook the bottles with the top capped with my thumb to rinse the insides and poured out the soap water and debris. I then rinsed the bottle with tap water to get all the soap and bubbles out.

In order to cut the bottoms of the bottles off, I decided to experiment with the temperature shock method as I did not have access to a bottle cutter. This method can be dangerous if not done carefully and with correct safety equipment. Ensure that you are working in area with sufficient ventilation and have a first aid kit handy incase of any mishaps. Wear gloves while working with glass and if it is your first time cutting and working with glass, lay out some plastic or paper on the ground and work table incase you break glass and it falls around the work area.

Using the glass/tile cutter score a line just above the bottom crease of the bottle. You may have to run over this line a couple of times in order to make the indent deeper. Ensure that you do not inhale any of the glass dust as you scratch and score a line on the surface of the bottle. Try to make sure that you do not make multiple overlapping lines while running the tool over the line multiple times. Do also try to make the score around the bottle a continuous one as open scored lines can lead to cracks onto the surface of the bottle in unwanted directions while applying heating and cooling.

I first tried to use hot water (80-90C) to heat the bottle by pouring some in it and immersing it in a mug of hot water for about 2-3mins. I then quickly poured the hot water out and immersed the bottle in ice water for 2-3mins. I repeated the same process a couple of times but did not get any results or hear any cracking sounds like I was told by tutorials I would.

I spoke to a local glass artist and asked him for his opinion. He suggested that if I was careful, I could try heating the bottle over an open flame of a candle. I was a little apprehensive at first but after trying it out for the first time, the stress reduced. Scented candles definitely help with the alleviating stress part haha 😂

Start by lighting a candle and placing it on table top. Heat the bottle at the score line and rotate it for even heating taking approximately 60s for a full rotation. After one full rotation you should start hearing cracking sounds as you rotate it over the flame for a second time. After the second rotation, dip the bottle in ice water and the bottle should crack right at the score line. Incase your score lines weren't continuous or neat, you could have jagged edges. Take both parts of the bottle and clean them with a waste cloth/rag and let them dry.

If you are going to seal the bottles back like I did, you wouldn't want to waste the time to sand the jagged edges. You would also lose the puzzle fit of the two pieces. Incase you plan to not seal the bottles and leave them open at the bottom then you can use 200grit sandpaper and smooth out the jagged edges. Be careful while doing so as the glass can cut through the sand paper and cut skin.

Take about 9" of twisted wire, strip one end and screw it onto the terminals of the bulb holder and assemble the holder back together. Now screw the bulb into the holder.

Place the assembled bulb holder inside the bottle and route the wire out through the neck of the bottle. You may want to use a dab of hot glue on the bulb holder to hold it in place temporarily for ease in assembly through the next steps. I did use hot glue, however the surface of the glass was too smooth and eventually it did come off.

For the fairy lights, it is pretty simple, just push it the entire string of lights in the bottle from the end to the start through the top of the bottle. You will have to be patient for this since very often the lights will bunch up inside and you wont be able to push more through. Just shake the bottle and that should clear up the bunch. Continue pushing the lights in till the end and even the driver. Leave about 6" of wire outside the neck of the bottle and proceed to the next step.

Dry fit the two halves of the bottle and find the position that fits. Use thin CA glue and glue the top and bottom halves together. Tape around the joint with electrical tape to waterproof it.

Place some cling film on the bottle top and tape around it with electrical tape to waterproof it as well and seal the bottle. Do the same with the fairy light bottles.

Cut 1-1.5m of jute rope. Add a drop of CA glue just above the electrical tape to fix the rope by holding it in place along the circumference of the bottle. Once the rope is fixed in place, wrap the rope around the bottle. Once you are satisfied with how much has been wrapped, apply a drop of CA glue and stick the rope in place. You may also want to push the wraps close together and apply some CA glue along the wraps in the height direction to secure them better. Once the glue has dried, cut off the excess rope.

This was done on the light bulb approach since the bottles were cut and glued back together and the rope would be able to hide the crack/joint and electrical tape. You do not have to do this on the fairy lights approach unless you want to for the aesthetic.

Cut about 1-1.5m of rope. Make a loop on the top of the bottle like in the third picture of this step and use electrical tape to hold it in place. Now wrap the rope around the neck in a circumferential direction in the upwards direction to the top of the bottle. Once you are satisfied with the wraps, use a drop of CA glue to secure the rope in place. Apply a few drops along the neck of the bottle as well in order to ensure it does not unwrap.

At this point, before you begin installing the lights, you will want to test and see whether you've wired everything correctly and nothing had been damaged in the previous steps as you were assembling the bottles.

Screw some twisted wire into the terminals of the 2 pin plug and assemble it back together. Make a connection with the two wires coming from the bottles. If you wish to wire multiple bottles to test them at once, wire them in parallel.

Check if all the lights are working.

Double the jute rope so you have two lines running and tie them on branches of trees to secure the hanging lines in place. For the fairy lights approach I tied the rope at anchor points on the side wall.

Once I was satisfied with the hanging line, I tied the bottles to the hanging line with the help of a rope. You can use any knots you wish to use. I used a simple shoelace knot incase I wanted to reposition them a little in the future.

Wire the lights in parallel like shown in the third picture of this step. Use electrical tape to ensure there are no shorts and tidy up the wiring. Do also tape the wires to the rope so that they are not dangling and wear out due to weather and wind.

Voila!

Power the lights on and enjoy the vibes!