I started painting more and more wine bottles within the past year as a way to calm myself down when I have a PTSD or anxiety attack. When I tell other people about this, they look at me like I must be as good as Michelangelo. As much as I would love to be that amazing at painting, this...is not the case for me. I completely mess up bottles, and they don't really look professional or perfect, but I love them anyway. It's taught me to just be creative and to let go when things get hard.
Pick a wine bottle
Beautiful, isn't it?
If you are over the age of 21, have some fun the next time you go to the grocery store and pick out a nice (or cheap) bottle of wine, invite some friends over and have a nice night finishing the bottle so that we can get this started.
If you are under 21 or just don't like wine or drinking, ask for the bottle from someone who does!
Remove the labels
To be honest, this part is kind of optional. It can be really annoying to get all of the labelings off. You can take the labels off for a more smooth look on your finished bottle, but if you do not want to do that, you can even incorporate them into the finished product! Make sure you get all of the wine out of the bottle during this step as well! Make sure everything is dry (you can keep it out overnight to dry off) before you move on.
While your bottle is drying and such, jump onto Pinterest and look for ideas for your bottle. Don't be scared if a lot of them look like something that is way above your level! You can use these to get color combination ideas and create a simpler idea with them!
Paint your wine bottle in a nice base color
Especially if you are starting out, this is the easiest way to go. Paint the whole bottle one color until it is opaque. The paint doesn't have to be fancy. I use the stuff at Walmart and you can choose between glossy or matte paint depending on your preference! It does not have to be specific for glass painting, so you can save some of that cash!
Paint your design!
I like to just paint random strokes from a bunch of different colors all over the place. I just kind of let whatever happens happen and just have fun! Sometimes using twine to wrap all or parts of the wine bottle can be fun too! Channel your inner Bob Ross and create that masterpiece!
Put it in the oven
When you go to put the bottle into the oven, please make sure that the entire bottle is dry! If it's not then bubbling can form and it won't turn out as well. Place the bottle onto a cookie sheet (lying down) and place it into an oven that has not been turned on yet.* Once the bottle is inside, start warming the oven until 350 degrees. Once the oven hits 350 degrees, set a timer for 30 minutes for your bottle to cook! After those 30 minutes are up, turn off the oven, but keep the bottle in there and let it come down to room temperature (or wait another 30 minutes and let it cool off outside the oven).
*It is super important to place it into a cold oven because we need to gradually heat up the glass so that it won't shatter!
And that is it! After you bake the bottle, the paint should be set. If you experience any chipping, you can spray some spray paint top coat on it. Put some flowers inside, or just leave it as is and it now becomes a cute part of your house or apartment!
