Whether you’re a Harry Potter fan or just want to decorate for Halloween, these potion bottles are really easy and a lot of fun to make. The process for these bottles is very similar to that of my Swamp Jars. You can find that tutorial by clicking this link.
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Supplies
- Old bottles/jars
- Sandpaper
- Oil Rubbed Bronze (or black) spray paint
- Antiquing wax
- Brush
- Paper towel
- Black acrylic paint
- Toothbrush
- Cranberry alcohol ink
- Butterscotch alcohol ink
- Distress ink
- Ink blending brush
- Jar labels
- Mod podge
- Jute
- Scissors
Choosing a Bottle
To begin with I selected some old bottles and jars we didn’t need anymore regardless of whether they were glass or plastic. Some of these my boyfriend, Chris had just sitting around his house and the three smaller ones were mini wine bottles I removed the labels from after the wine disappeared (I have no idea who drank it, I’m pretty certain it wasn’t Chris). Some of the lids I used Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint on for the purpose of making them look more authentic.
Distressing the Bottles
Initially, I sanded the bottles with 60 grit sandpaper in order to rough up the outside a bit.
Next, I painted antiquing wax all over the bottles, then wiped it off with a paper towel in various directions. Although watered down brown paint would also do the trick, I LOVE antiquing wax! I think it gives the perfect “distressed look” so to that end, that’s what I used! I wore some gloves while wiping off the wax and consequently, this added some different patterns in the wax that I also really liked.
I took the bottles outside and used an old toothbrush (of course a stiff bristled brush would work just as well) and dipped it in some watered down black acrylic paint. Once the bottles were splattered, I used the same paper towel I used to wipe off the wax and dabbed at the splatters a bit to blend them in but at the same time still give the appearance of dirt and distress. Now that the painting was complete, I allowed these to dry.
Bottle Labels
In the meantime, I printed out some labels and cut them out. Some of the labels I used came from the following sites:
Halloween Apothecary Bottles | Halloween Printable Included – 17turtles
Free Printable Halloween Bottle Labels and Potion Labels – Holidappy
Next, I used a blending brush to apply Distress Ink all over the labels resulting in a vintage look. I really like this ink and in fact I’ve used it on other projects like my Spell Books. I purchased both the Distress Ink and Blending Tool on Amazon with these links.
After using the Distress Ink, I wadded all the labels up to give them an even more distressed, worn appearance.
After my bottles had dried, I covered them with mod podge and placed the labels where I wanted them. Whereas, I could have let this dry to keep the labels from sliding all over the place, I’m impatient (I’m sure Chris can validate this), so I skipped that step and immediately painted mod podge over the labels.
Final Touches
Once the bottles were dry, I added just a bit more antiquing wax over the labels and bottles. Next, I used some Cranberry Alcohol Ink in a spray bottle and sprayed small amounts on all the bottles. As a result, you get the appearance of blood thus increasing the “creep factor”. I wanted to give my bottles a slight glow so with this in mind, I sprayed a small amount of Butterscotch Alcohol Ink on the bottles as well. I purchased my alcohol ink on Amazon using the above links. The cranberry alcohol ink has been especially useful in quite a few Halloween projects.
Once the bottles are dry, you can attach jute cord if you wish. Finally, to fill the bottles, I use various every day items from around the house including vegetable oil, water, or both combined with food coloring. Likewise, I also use household or outdoor items such as baby powder, coffee, oat meal, twigs, sand, etc. to represent solid ingredients.
To summarize, these potion bottles are a lot of fun and very simple to create. As shown above, I keep some of them with my spell books over the fireplace and some in the kitchen next to my “human stew.”
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