How To Make Lamps And Vases From Glass Bottles?

courtesy of Vilseskogen

The first question to answer is if you want the bottle to serve as a leg for a lamp or as the lamp shade?

To convert a bottle into a lamp you need a kit that you can buy at any home centre. The kit includes drilled corks in different sizes, a spindle, harp, sock with cover, lamp cord with plug, and nuts and washers. It is easier to leave the cord leading to a socket and not to hide it in a base.

If the bottle is serving as a leg, you would want to fill it in with marbles to give it ballast against the lamp and lamp shade that you will mount on it.

Select the drilled cork that fits your bottle neck and insert the spindle into it. /secure with nuts at both ends. Insert the cork into the bottle. Place the harp over the spindle. Attach socket base over the spindle and insert the cord through it. Strip wire ends of cord and attach to socket connections. Close socket.

Unscrew the finial on the harp cradle, place a shade over the spindle, and replace the finial. If you want the cord to be hidden inside the bottle, then drill a hole at the base of the bottle and pass naked cord through it before connecting it to the socket.

To drill glass you need a steel drill. Heat is until the edges is red and then dip in metallic mercury. the tempered drill will go through the glass easily. Drill partly from one side, and then finish from other side. If you drill clear through one side glass will break. If drilling bottles you cannot do this, so place glass in water between drilling secessions. Do not use a drill that is too sharp. The drill will be slower but will also break less.

To make pot for a plant out of a bottle you need to drill a hole at the bottom centre, for water to trickle through. a decorative vase for flowers does not need such a hole.

Paint the bottles with rainbow colours for beautiful reflection effect.

Use transparent glass colours.

for a special marbling rainbow effect use floating art colours (you can get them in any store). Drop a few colour drops into a deep bowl filled with water. The colours float on the surface. Dip bottle or any other item in centre of water bowl with colours, and the pull out slowly. The paint will stick onto the intended object. Dip back and forth for changing effects.