We use plastic bottles for water at home, which I have been meaning to change to glass for a while now. I thought I’d gradually get new glass ones as and when the plastic ones need replacement. But with the recent plastic ban, ‘recycle-reuse-reduce’ has been playing more strongly on my mind. So when I saw a few empty bottles lying in the ‘raddi‘ cupboard, I looked up ‘how to decoupage a glass bottle’ on Google, and we have this post!

How To Decoupage A Glass Bottle:

I saw pics of so many pretty bottles, all of which were decoupaged fully from top to bottom. Though these looked fabulous, I was sure I didn’t want to do that. Practically, if I was going to use these as water bottles, I needed to see easily whether they had water in them or not. An opaque bottle which I had to open to check every single time didn’t sound like a great idea. So before I knew exactly how I was going to decoupage the bottle, I knew that I was only going to decoupage half of it.

What I Used: 

This is what you will need to decoupage your bottles. (I have links to most supplies at the end of the post)

• Empty glass bottles
• Chalk paint
• One step crackle medium
• Mod Podge
• Decoupage papers
• Twine
• Scissors
• Brushes

(1) First Coat of Chalk Paint:

As you know, my living room is mostly red and cream in colour. I thought I’d do something similar with the bottles so that they fit into the scene well. I didn’t want glaring red bottles though, so I used that as the first coat of paint for the crackle effect. That way, the red would only show through the cracks.

I marked a line about half way up the bottle and filled in the bottom portion in red.

Though I could see the brush strokes quite clearly when the paint was fresh, it evened out as I continued to spread the paint with the brush. The best part about doing a vintage, crackled look is that you don’t have to worry about making it perfect at all. The more worn out and uneven it is, the more vintage it looks!

Once both the bottles were done, I left them to dry for about an hour.

(2) Cut The Decoupage Paper:

While waiting for the bottles to dry, I decided to cut the decoupage paper. I love how the paper has so many different elements in it, some of which overlap. Which means I might see and cut something completely different from what you would if you were cutting the paper.

I cut out as many different elements as I could and put them aside for later.

(3) Spread a Layer of Crackle Medium:

I used the One Step Crackle Medium by Little Birdie (I have links to all the products I used below). I spread an even layer of the medium till about half an inch above the red paint. The plan was to paint the white a little unevenly above the red, so I made sure I had crackle medium there too.

Then I left it for a while till the crackle medium dried partially.

(4) Second Coat of Chalk Paint:

Now this is the tricky part. You have to wait till the crackle medium becomes a little sticky and then put on the second coat of paint. So the crackle medium can neither dry fully, nor be too wet. This is the first time I did it, so I’m not sure how long it takes or whether I got it completely right. I’ll probably know better after I’ve done a few more crackle paint projects.

When I thought the crackle medium was a little sticky, I applied the second coat of chalk paint in white. I painted bottom to top and let the white spill over the edge of the red.

I left the bottles to dry and saw the cracks gradually appear on the surface as the paint dried.

(5) Stick the Decoupage Paper:

Then I took the decoupage paper cuttings I had kept aside and started placing them one at a time on the bottle. Once I had chosen my cutting, I applied a generous amount of Mod Podge behind it and patted it down on the bottle with my finger.

Leave this to dry for some time too.

(6) Some Twine Around The Neck:

Because the bottom of the bottle was all dressed up, the top looked too bare. I decided to wrap some twine around the neck to balance it out. I wrapped the twine thrice around the neck, measured the length and cut it. A generous amount of Mod Podge was applied to the neck and I wrapped the twine on it.

(7) Seal the Entire Surface With Mod Podge:

The chalk paints are water based, and the paper and twine are not waterproof either. Spread a generous layer of Mod Podge on the entire painted and decoupaged surface to seal it all in and protect it. I used my finger to spread the Mod Podge quickly and evenly.

I also covered the twine with a layer of Mod Podge.

And that’s it.. I was done!

As you can see, how to decoupage a glass bottle is pretty easy after all. It takes a bit of time, but that’s because of all the waiting in between for every step to dry. The process itself doesn’t take too long.

The bottles turned out so pretty, I couldn’t resist adding some fairy lights and styling them as decor items.

But I do intend to use them as fridge bottles for water.

As I get more empty bottles, I’ll probably decoupage them in a similar style too. That way, even if the bottles are of different shapes and sizes, they’ll still look like they belong together because of the decoupage. Can’t wait to add to my collection!

(8) Coat With Clear Varnish:

After using the bottles for a couple of days I realised that when you take the bottle out of the fridge and it ‘sweats’ the paper tends to peel off. I added a layer of clear varnish on the bottle to prevent that. It worked!

Shop For Supplies:

Most of what I used for ‘How to Decoupage a Glass Bottle’ is available online. Just click the links below to buy.

| – 1 – Decoupage Paper: Touch of Nature | – 2 – Chalk Paint: Salsa Red | – 3 – Chalk Paint: Misty Fog | – 4 – One Step Crackle Medium | – 5 – Mod Podge |

For those of you who prefer visuals, here’s a short video on how to decoupage a glass bottle.

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I hope you enjoyed this post on how to decoupage a glass bottle. It was my first experience with crackle medium and decoupage and I can’t wait to use these in more projects. I’m sure many of you must have used these techniques before. Share your favourite projects with me in the comments below so I that I can get new ideas too!

Until next time,

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