apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

How exactly would you paint those without it going all streaky? Do you need a special kind of paint?

spaceagemouse: nah, just spraypaint. i went through my grandmother's garage as a teenager attacking random junk with matte gold spraypaint once. it actually made the glass stuff look really cool.

looks like the point of the elle photo is to make it look like vintage milkglass?

You can clean old glass bottles so they look like new with a rust remover product called wink. It takes away all the hard water discoloration and whatever else. Somehow painting glass seems like the wrong thing to do.

spaceagemouse,

the caption lists the paints as being regular old house paint (albeit expensive!), so i would assume they just brushed it on...and yes, i love me some gold spray paint as well!

shayna

you can also paint bottles from the inside out. i did that this year for xmas ornaments. i bought the plain glass bulbs at target, then mixed regular acrylic craft paint to custom shades. i had to play around with the viscosity a little, slowly adding drops or water and mixing until i got something similar to melted chocolate. then i poured some through the opening of each bulb, trying to get a few tablespoons into the bottom. then i turned the bulbs upside down and nestled them in egg crates. the paint sloooowly runs down the sides until the whole inside surface is coated, and the excess drips out the opening into the egg crate. they take about 48 hours to dry. they looked so good i was thrilled! glossy finish, nice solid, opaque color. i'm sure you could do this with bottles. you might have to move them around a bit to get the paint to cover.

Jo Sonja makes 'conditioner' you use as a basecoat on glass and ceramics. It is similar to the stuff you use to make paint stick to laminates. Then you use some other water based paints.
OR use transparent glass paints some of which are fixed in a domestic oven.
I've been keeping some pickle jars to experiment on as I collect interesting shapes.

Martha Stewart featured something like this a few years ago in her magazine. Start by using lightly tinted glass (think the green of classic soda bottles). Pour white enamel paint inside, swirl to cover the bottom, and then tip upside down. I've actually done this at home, and it's one of the few DIYs that is actually even easier than it looks. I can't find the MS article online, but here's the picture that was in her magazine:

http://www.paperbean.com.au/blog/centrepiece07.jpg

When I saw the photo, I thought they were plaster casts of bottles, which might be easy to do - Just pour it in and when it sets, break off the bottle (recycle), and then sand and paint - sturdier for earthquake areas or big dogs tails, too!

Molly Margarita,

That looks so cool! Can you still put water into the bottles afterward?

"That looks so cool! Can you still put water into the bottles afterward?"

I suppose it depends on what type of paint you use. If you use a strong non-water soluble enamel, absolutely. I have put water in a few of mine with no ill effects thus far.

"scared off by the icky factor"? You mean, because they're ugly?

Molly Margarita, that's what I was thinking would look best - painting the inside.

@Viva Idea: When you swirl multiple colors you get an even better effect. It works on those cheap votive holders and crappy glass vases at the craft store as well. I made quite a bit of cash doing that and selling them at craft fairs ;) Spring colors for the Easter shows, more traditional colors for the xmas shows. Plus purple was always a huge hit. One lady paid $30 for a giant fishbowl looking vase that cost me $5 to buy and maybe $5 in pink and white paint.... unreal.