Starbucks Bottle Flower Vase

There are so many things lying around our homes that can be reused or upcycled into something useful. Starbucks frappuccinos in the small glass bottles are not only delicious, but their bottles are great quality and once cleaned, can be used for many things. I've seen so many picture on blogs and on Pinterest of painted glass bottles used as flower vases. They looked super cute and different and I decided to give it a shot. To try this out you'll need:

• Glass bottles
• Paint color of your choosing
• A small paintbrush with a long thin handle that can fit in a bottle.

I saved three glass frappuccino bottles to use as vases. You can even stock up on these and  reuse them for things like milk & cookie parties. I'm telling you, people do it! Just do a quick search on reusing glass bottles and you find loads of creativity and inspiration. Anyway, I soaked the bottles in hot soapy water for about 15 minutes to get the glue on the labels to weaken. They peeled of very easily, many people use Goo Gone or vinegar but hot soapy water worked just fine. To remove the glue residue and date labels I just put some scrub into it, and the bottle was spankin new.

Before you begin painting the bottles, put down some plastic or newspapers to keep paint off your area. Ideally, I would have done this outside but since it is so cold I decided to do it indoors. Have a damp towel or washcloth and sink nearby incase paint spills or something. I purchased two sample paints in a Benjamin Moore store, a dark teal and a nude color. 



Pour some paint into the very bottom of your bottle and then flip the bottle upside down to bring the paint flow towards the bottle opening. This may take some time so be patient. If you have some spots with no paint as shown in the picture below, simply use a small paintbrush to get in there and cover it up. Once your bottle/bottles are painted inside, place them facing downwards on newspaper or plastic. This will help bring out the extra paint from within the bottle.

Once the extra paint from inside has all come out, place the bottles upright to let them dry. Since the paint is inside of the bottle, it takes much longer to dry. I left my bottles alone for a good 2 days before I did anything with them. To see if they have dried, stick something long in to touch the bottom of the bottle, if it comes out with no paint you should be ready to go :)

I used to purple and pink flowers to decorate, and you can use whatever your heart desires. You can place them inside or outside as well, I think they look great outside. You can also tie ribbons around the bottles, or hot glue some pretty rhinestones, just have fun with it! You could also do this with other glass bottles or vases, there's so many to choose from. Hope you enjoyed!

Naema