Upcycling progress: Bottle it up

When we were first told to make something useful (or purely aesthetic) out of something that would be thrown away, my mind started thinking of all the different possibilities. I was really excited because I am a packrat – I try to save as many things as possible!

I tried to brainstorm some ideas but I knew it had to revolve around my collection of empty glass bottles. I try to collect one of each kind, and so I have a pretty decent collection, but I wanted to take it one step further.

I also had a small string light that I had got for Christmas and was not using anymore. So, I thought about making a night lamp out of my bottle.

There were a few challenges though. The bottles I had were either too translucent or too opaque and it was hard to find the balance. Finally, I found the one! However, it didn’t have a twist off cap, it had some sort of a weird contraption to allow controlled outpour of the beverage. So, the creative destroyer within me awoke and used a plier, my teeth, a knife, and a screw driver to clear enough way near the neck of the bottle for the lights.

Bits and pieces after creative destruction

 

Once I was done with that, I could put in the lights and viola! the night lamp got a new life into it.

The upcycled night lamp

 

I am pretty happy with the progress so far and I am thinking of what else I can add to this to make it even better – any ideas?

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2 Comments. Leave new

  • Hi. I like the idea of creating a night light out of glass bottle and string lights, but I feel as if you need to make it slightly more complicated. Maybe try getting a variety of clear bottles in different shapes, removing the labels (let the bottles soaked in warm water for a long time and they should just slide off) and making a tower out of them. Or if you can find a really big bottle, you could make a lamp shade out of it. Just a few ideas. Good luck with your project!

    Reply
  • Alexandra Rivas
    February 5, 2017 3:18 pm

    Hey Sid! After we talked about your project in class, I had an idea! If you wanted to spice it up a bit or just add on to the project some more, you could make a bottle chandelier sort of thing. I’m not sure how to post images in comments (or if that is even possible) but here is a link to an idea on google!
    http://diy.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/diy/fullset/2013/5/20/0/Orginal-Chandelier-Made-From-Wine-Bottles_4x3.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.1280.960.jpeg

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