Using Glue to Make a Dirty Potion Bottle Prop

To make new things look old are one of my favorite craft to do. I often use unexpected materials to get a great effect. Also in this project of making an old dirty potion bottle prop. To give the bottle an old look I used glue. Take a look at te tutorial and enjoy making your own dirty potion or in this case a holy water bottle!

You need:

• a bottle or jar
• a printed label with what is inside the bottle
• sealing wax
• brown acrylic paint
• all purpose glue
• scissor
• lighter
• paper towel

Cut out the label you want to glue on the bottle. You can print one you found on the internet or, if you have the skills, design one yourself. You can also download the label I designed from the pictures above. I printed the label on brown colored paper so it is easier to make it appear old.

Coat the back of the label completely with glue and press it on the bottle. Don't worry if it isn't on the right spot at once. You can slide the label a bit till you like it. If the glue becomes visible doing the sliding that is perfectly fine because we are going to ad a lot more glue later.

I aged the label in 4 steps:

1. I burned the edges of the label a little bit with the lighter.
2. I put some brown acrylic paint on the edges and with a paper towel I brushed some on the label itself.
3. With a wet paper towel I completely drowned the label. Because it already was glued to the bottle, the label will crumple nicely.
4. Still wet I picked a bit on the edges so it will tear apart a bit and crumple a bit more.

To start the aging proces of the bottle itself, start by adding a small amount of glue on the bottle. Spread the glue over the bottle with a crumpled kitchen paper while dabbing and rubbing. You will see little wires will arise which will give you the effect you want. If you dab to vigorously, you will see you pull the glue all the way of the bottle again. Don't panic! Just let the remaining glue cure and add some new glue to start again.

The dabbed glue should cover the whole bottle.

With a little brown paint on my finger, I run my finger gently over the dry glue. I barely though the bottle. This way the paint won't cover everything but will only stuck behind the glue that sticks out. This way you get a nice dirty look on the bottle.

Time to fill the bottle with some holy water or potion. Because my label tells me there should be holy water inside of the bottle, I fill the bottle for 3/4 with plain water. If you want to make a creepy potion you can also choose for a colored liquid. Or if you want to make it even more creepy: use some liquid but also put something inside it like some fake eyes, plants or animals.

So seal the bottle, press the cork firmly on the bottle. Light the sealing wax and let the melted wax drip where the cork goes into the bottle. The wax hardens quickly so if you want to model it a bit with your finger, you have to be quick. Make sure the wax is all the way around the cork.

The wax is shiny red so I put a little bit of brown paint on it to make it appear older.

The last two thing I do is make to top of the cork dirty with the brown paint and burn the edges of the cork a little bit with the lighter. Make sure you don't meld the wax again with the lighter so do it quick.

If you made a bottle of holy water you are ready to go for some vampire hunting!

Or enjoy the potion you just made!

Happy crafting! <3