Thursday, April 4, 2013

Classy Beer Bottle Centerpiece

Yes, you read that right, folks.  "Classy" and "beer bottles" rarely go together, however, in this case I think I'm right.  Why?  Because, I said so.

After hanging out on Pinterest and seeing a bunch of fun cut bottle projects, I bought myself a bottle cutter for Christmas, thinking it would be the gift that keeps on giving (making things and emptying alcohol bottles).  I got the Generation Green g2 Bottle Cutter, I think I paid around $20.  I read the directions, twice, and rummaged through my empty liquor bottle collection (which is embarrassingly extensive).  Removing the labels and top off of my Smirnoff bottle took forever, so I was hoping this would be the hardest part.  Wrong.  After using the little gizmo to score around the bottle, I dipped it in boiling water and then in ice water, per the directions.  Nothing.  Tried again.  Nada.  Re-read the directions and it said to try the boil/ice dip 5 times, leaving the bottle submerged for 5 seconds.  I dipped it for 30, and finally got a break.  However, it wasn't a nice, clean cut.  It was something that you would use in a seedy bar to stab the dude you caught trying to slip roofies into your drink.  Not classy.  I tried again with a Kahlua bottle.  Same miserable result.  I didn't get any pictures, but it appears that this lady at Craft Test Dummies had the same results.  Trying not to get discouraged, I decided to try one more time on a beer bottle.  They are made out of thinner glass than liquor bottles, so I thought it might be easier to get a clean cut.  BOOM!  Success!  I was able to get 5 out of 6 bottles cleanly cut.  Which gives me 5 cute little juice (or something on the rocks) glasses.
 
Now, I have 5 bottle tops to deal with.  I decided to make a little candle holder/centerpiece for the outside table. 

5 bottle tops and a piece of driftwood
 I traced the bottom of the bottle and a tea light on to the drift wood, as the bottles need to be raised up a little bit so the candles get enough air to stay lit, but not so much to blow out.
Authentic beach tumbled tile pieces.  Collected and hoarded, by yours truly.

Glued the tile to the wood using a silicone tile adhesive, being careful to leave room for the tea light and also overlapping where the bottles would rest.

Done, and you can barely see Helper Cat under the table.

Classy, no?


I'm going to try the bottle cutter again on thicker glass, now that I've gained some confidence in the gizmo.  Hopefully I'll be able to showcase some more classy, crafty, recycled projects soon.  Better get drinking!  Glug, glug, glug.

Thanks for stopping by!

5 comments:

  1. I recommend getting a rough nail file - the type used for acrylic nails, it makes a nice easy tool for softening any really sharp edges! Also I saw something on Pinterest the other day about cutting bottles I'll try to find to send you....

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  2. I sanded the edges with wet sandpaper, they turned out super smooth. The technique that I've seen on Pinterest requires yarn, nail polish remover, and fire. Strikes me as a little dangerous. I think I just needed to perfect my technique with my little gizmo. We'll see though ;)

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  3. I saw something on Pinterest about using acetone and string and a lighter (outdoors of course) No glass cutter involved at all...just simple chemistry. This chic was awesome too...showed you step by step.

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  4. Yeah, I watched that video, and thought to myself, "I'd probably catch my hair on fire." I think I *may* have been pressing the glass cutter too hard, and thus making a deeper score which is harder to break. I watched a couple more videos with this product, and the lady was cutting wine bottles, no problem. So I'm going to give it another shot before I set the gizmo on fire with acetone and yarn. :)

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  5. It took me many bottles to get it perfect. I used a glass cutter and pressed hard enough to make an etch in the glass. The trick I feel is to do it slowly and evenly even wiggle it back and forth so an even etch is made all the way around, to the same depth. Don’t go over it, once one revolution is completed, as you’ll have a double line. You’ll know you are back at the start by the change in feel and the noise of the blade against the bottle. I then pour from the kettle, boiling water slowly over the etching and turn the bottle around several times. Then I pour iced water slowly on the etch as I turned the bottle and you can clearly see the etch getting bigger. If it doesn’t split at this step then do boiling water again and it splits perfectly (well most times)

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