Blackboard Bottle Craft

You know those yummy coffee drinks you can buy at the market? The ones that come in glass bottles shaped like old fashioned milk bottles? I’ve always felt somewhat guilty throwing them away even if they can be recycled. They just seem so...well, useable. If you’re at all like me, you’ll enjoy putting them to good use long after the sweet, creamy drink is gone.

After washing out the bottles I started thinking about how I could decorate them, or any jar or bottle for that matter, and I came up with some ideas that you might find useful too.  My 13 year-old daughter jumped in to help, which made it even more fun.

In my last post, where I shared a granola recipe, I showed you how I used one of my blackboard bottles when sharing home baked items with friends.

Here’s what you’ll need to make this craft:

 Glass bottle(s)

Goo Gone

1” foam paint brush

paint primer

blackboard paint

painter’s tape

die-cuts

craft paper

candy wrappers

rubber cement

chalk

embellishments for decorating bottle

Set up time: 10 minutes

Time to paint and decorate 1 - 3 bottles: 30 minutes plus “wait time” for primer and paint to dry

To get started, we peeled off the plastic label around the neck of the bottles and then pulled the sticky label off the front and backs.  To get the sticky residue off the glass we used Goo Gone, which worked beautifully and removed all traces of glue.  Then we washed the outside of the bottles to make sure they were clean and free of any Goo Gone oil.

To create the blackboard label on the front of the bottle we painted a small shape with primer and let it dry before painting blackboard paint over it.  Small, 1” foam paint brushes worked well to create clean edges of our shapes.

To create different shapes try using die-cuts or painter’s tape to create a design within the taped section, or simply paint freehand...it’s up to you.  Make sure to paint a large enough “blackboard” area so you’ll be able to write on it when it’s dry.

To cover the logo on the top of the lids we cut out decorative scrapbook paper and used rubber cement to adhere it to the lids.  We also used portions of candy wrappers to decorate the lids, which added a fun embellishment.  Beyond that, we cut small squares from remnant fabrics, covered the bottle lids, and secured the fabric with colorful elastic bands to add a decorative touch.

As you can see we found plenty of uses for these cute little bottles and had fun making them unique and gift-worthy.  Let us know how you take this craft and build on it. What will you use your blackboard bottles for?