Thursday, February 16, 2012

{DIY} Upcycle that (empty) 1800 Tequila bottle!

From an empty bottle of 1800 Tequila.....                                                    .....To a pretty, practical bath salt container       

Ok, so this has nothing to do with wine, or cork, but it does have something to do with alcohol, so technically, this post does belong on this blog...right? ;)

Anyway, my husband just recently finished a bottle of 1800 Tequila (not all at once, it did take few weeks for that to happen, no worries!), and he pointed out the fact that it really was a nicely designed bottle and that it'd be a waste to throw it out. Of course, that had my wheels turning and, out of absolute necessity, I decided to recycle the bottle as a bath salt holder (and yes, taking long baths with a glass of wine and some great music in the background IS an absolute necessity in my world...) by making my own bath salt and decorating the bottle for its new purpose. The 1800 Tequila bottle makes a great container because you can easily pour the salts right into your bath.

Step 1:

Clean the bottle and take off the stickers on the front and back, which I did by soaking in very hot water for  while, then scraping off the paper, and finally removing the remnants of glue with "Goo Gone."

Step 2:


Make your own bath salt mixture, by mixing 1 cup coarse salt, 1/2 cup Epsom salt, and 1/4 baking soda (this will be your base, to which you can add whatever you'd like for scent).


The next steps can be altered according to your preferences. I added:

 1 tablespoon Lemon peel (for a nice citrus scent) :


2 tablespoons (melted) Organic Coconut oil (acts as a moisturizer):


Next, I added a few drops of lemon, vanilla and coconut extract. You can use essential oils instead of extracts, but those are more expensive and less easy to find. I didn't want to have to order them online and wait to get them so I used extracts I already had in my pantry. These will work well if you don't have essential oils on hand.
Mix everything really well, making sure there are no lumps (I used my hands and found it easier to mix)


There are plenty of bath salt recipes out on the web, here are some websites I thought had some nice recipes:


Step 3:


Now let's decorate the bottle. I printed out a card stock sheet of paper with the words "Sel de bain" (Bath salts in French), and using an exacto knife, I created a stencil (be very careful with that type of knife, they are wicked sharp!)...


...which I then attached to the bottle, using regular tape:


I wanted to give the writing lots of texture, so I mixed some champagne colored glitter (which I already had from past Christmas crafts) with some brown metallic paint (which I also already had). These products were purchased at Michael's for about $5.



Mix the pain and glitter:


I then applied the paint mixture in a thick layer with a small brush onto the bottle using the stencil as a guide:


To decorate the neck of the bottle, I wrapped some hemp cord all the way around enough times to cover the entire width of the neck of the bottle. I then glued a fleur de lys wax seal onto the hemp. I "borrowed" ~ok, I stole it :)  ~ this awesome idea from the multi-talented Leah Marie Brown off her Etsy shop HERE. (how adorable are her votive jars? And SO affordable!). Many thanks to Leah Marie for letting me use her idea!


Finally, I wanted to cover up the top part of the lid, which had "1800" on it, so I used the same paint mixture and poured it on top, and covered up the entire surface. It needed to be quite thick to cover up the writing, so don't be shy about the amount of paint you use.



After I let it dry overnight (because it was so thick), I applied a coat of triple-thick gloss glaze (available at Michael's). And the final result...



Now you have a great reason to go take a long, hot bath!

5 comments:

  1. Wow! I love this idea!! Gonna have to find some jars and bottles and get cracking making these for friends!! I love the salt! And I know I actually have all the ingredients on hand! Thanks, Stephanie! You are an inspiration!

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    1. Thanks Jodie, do share what recipes you will be making will ya?

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  2. We talked about making a bath scrub/salt a week ago and you did not mention this project...or did that inspire this? Either way, very cool idea. You are so clever. I'll bet this smells amazing.

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    1. That ABSOLUTELY inspired this! I knew I wanted to do something with that great bottle, and chatting with you inspired me to give it a try, and even though this is not L'Occitane salt scrub, it does smell very nice. This type of bottle does not allow for an oily type of scrub though, as it'd be impossible to pour it out...I'd still like to try and make one that is like the L'Occitane scrub, but I'd have to put it in a wide-mouth type of jar so it can be scooped out :)

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  3. Well, a good way to prolong the life of a tequila bottle! I know bottles that are art by themselves and don't need to bi pimped, like tequila amor mío bottles, that can make a fine vase or stand alone elegantly!

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