How to Make Your Own Potion Bottles

Happy (almost) Halloween, everybody!

A couple of weeks ago I created this fun collection of potion bottles to go with my Halloween decor.

Whether you are decorating for Halloween or a Harry Potter themed party, there is still time to whip up your very own, check out these directions:



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Disclosure

This post contains affiliate links.  If a purchase is made through an affiliate link then (at no additional cost to you) I will receive a commision.  Affiliate links are noted below.

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My Bottles

This is the collection of bottles I started with.  Going from left to right they were found at; a yard sale, Goodwill, a yard sale, a yard sale, a yard sale, Dollar Tree, Dollar Tree, Dollar Tree, a yard sale and Dollar Tree, each for $1 or less.

Tip - When looking at Dollar Tree, check out the glassware and home decor sections.  The lidded jar and dressing bottle were both found with the glassware, but the tiny seashell jars I found in home decor.  Bonus: empty out the shells to use for something else later ;)

You can click this Dollar Tree (affiliate) link in order to browse their selection of glassware yourself.

Step 1 - Add Paint

After deciding which potions/ ingredients to make, I chose paint colors that I thought best represented the bottle's contents.  For example, this laboratory flask was intended to hold 'Skele-Grow' (a bone regenerating potion from the Harry Potter series) so I used antique white as the paint color.

Side Note - The bottles that I purchased from Goodwill and Dollar Tree were in perfect, brand new condition.  The yard sale bottles, however, were stained up and full of blemishes.  While I cleaned the bottles for sanitation purposes, I intentionally left the stains and blemishes in place.  I wanted the finished product to have a more realistic 'used' look 😏

You can click here for a full post where I share how I use paint to coat the inside of glass bottles.

Painted Bottles

Here is a list of the Apple Barrel (acrylic) paint colors that I used for this project.  I pick up mine at Walmart where they usually run around $1 a bottle, but like to stock up when they are on sale for 50 cents 😉


Skele-Grow - Antique White
Floo Powder - Lilac Mist
Wing Of Bat - Jet Black
Dragon Scales - Holly Branch
Mermaid Tears - Laguna
Fur Of Werewolf - Melted Chocolate
Draught Of Living Death - Pewter Gray
Eye Of Newt - English Ivy Green
Pixie Dust - Pink Parfait
Powdered Unicorn Horn - (Metallic) Pure Gold

Tip - Leave your bottles open until all of the paint is completely dry to prevent wet paint from running back down the bottle.  This might happen anyway during drying, not a problem - Just tip the bottles over once in awhile to recoat any thin spots with more paint that has pooled at the bottom.  Or if needed, add a bit more paint to the bottle.

Step 2 - Print & Cut

After creating these labels using Microsoft Word, I printed them out on standard printer paper.  I wanted the paper to be thin (as opposed to card stock) so that attaching the labels to the bottles would be easier.

You can check out this Halloween cupcake post for a link to Just a Girl and Her Blog where Abby explains all about how to use Microsoft Word to create pretty labels.

Originally, I cut the labels out with the black outline trim intact but.....






.....When I matched up each label to it's bottle I ended up trimming them down further.

Some of shapes and sizes of the labels didn't look right to me when I held them against their bottle so that's why I started trimming.  Then I was left with some labels that had black outlines and some that didn't.  I decided to go for a consistent look and went ahead and trimmed the outline from all, but this is totally a personal choice.

Step 3 - Attach Labels

I used Mod Podge to both attach my labels to the bottle and provide them with a seal afterwards.  After applying a bit of the Mod Podge to the back of the label I stuck it into position and then coated it and the entire bottle with more Mod Podge before letting it dry.  I coated the entire bottle so that it would have a consistent textured look.

Ok, but what about the tinfoil, you know I have proper drop cloths, right?  I was simply curious to see how tinfoil would react to Mod Podge and the answer is...there was no reaction.  Absolutely nothing happened 😁😁😁

Note - Both the Mod Podge and paint brush shown in this photo can be purchased from Dollar Tree.  I like to stock up on these cheapy paint brushes for my messy projects in order to save my high quality brushes for actual canvas painting 😉

You can click this Dollar Tree (affiliate) link in order to browse their selection of craft supplies yourself.

Waiting to Dry

Once dry the Mod Podge takes on a clear look, so don't worry about the milky appearance.

During the drying time I kept busy by painting the corks and tops to the bottles.  Some I left natural brown and others I painted in gold.  As you can see in the following photos, this gave a more cohesive look to the collection:

Completed Bottles

I love how the collection turned out and it makes me smile every time I pass by.  The kids have enjoyed playing with them too, which is fun 😊

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Would you rather purchase your labels instead of making them?  Click to visit my Etsy shop where you can purchase my Potion Label Printable Pack.  This pack includes 35 different labels that can be printed in a parchment style.


The 35 Different Potion/ Ingredient Labels Include:

-Wing Of Bat
-Dragon Scales
-Mermaid Tears
-Fur Of Werewolf
-Eye Of Newt
-Pixie Dust
-Powdered Unicorn Horn
-Phoenix Feathers
-Dragon's Breath
-Mandrake Root
-Toadstools
-Mushroom Caps
-Sands Of Time
-Unicorn Blood
-Moondust
-Wolfsbane
-Valerian Root
-Diamond Dust
-Faerie Dust
-Four Leaf Clover
-Nightmares
-Phoenix Tears
-Dragon tears
-Stardust
-Pegasus Feathers
-Vampire Blood
-Vampire Venom
-Squid Ink
-Poison
-Moonbeams
-Memories
-Sea Water
-Snowflakes
-Raindrops
-Herbs


You should be able to whip up just about anything with a collection like that, am I right?  😎


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I hope you enjoyed this how-to post, thanks for stopping by!
-Jennifer

© Studio 27 - By Jennifer Adams 2018