Numbered Wine Bottles

While browsing the newest Restoration Hardware source book, I happened upon some cool accents that I knew would be easy to replicate. These numbered bottles were apparently only used for staging as I could not find them for purchase. Since I'm a fan of upcycling wine bottles, this was right up my alley.

That pendant lighting ROCKS too!

It took awhile to scrounge up three clear bottles. I thought the black bottles (above) were cool, but had none on-hand. I guess I could have done a black "paint-glaze" to the interior of my bottles but thought white on clear would look classy.

First, I looked for the correct font; Boston Traffic is the trendy font used on these bottles. Just do a Google search to find a font creator. I actually printed out the numbers of my street address to give this trio of bottles a bit of meaning. After they've printed (you may have to resize them first), I cut them out with an X-acto Knife. Use much caution when dealing with these knives. For best results, place your printed-out font paper on a surface the knife can easily cut into. I typically use cardboard.

TIP: While working on your fonts, you may want to soak your wine bottles in some hot water with dish detergent. This usually will allow the labels to peel off easily. I got a few wine labels off intact and am saving them for a future project!

A damp paper stencil easily sticks to glass.

To adhere your paper letters to the bottles, simply run them under a soft stream of water until they are soaked through.  Then, lay them in place.  Use a paper towel to dab any residual water off of the glass, particularly within the area you will be painting.

I chose Martha Stewart acrylic craft paint, color summer linen with a satin finish.  Using a small yet stiff multi-purpose bristle brush with a flat head, I dabbed paint into my stencil.  I let it set for about 3 minutes and then went over the still-wet paint with a dry foam brush.  I wanted a unified-looking finish across all three bottles with minimal brush marks or stippling.

Once this was done, I removed the paper stencils while still wet.  (Place your used stencils on a papertowel to dry for future use!)  A small piece of damp paper towel helped wipe off any residue around the numbers once the stencils were removed.  Work carefully around the edges of the numbers as the paint is still wet. Once the paint is fully dry, I will remove any paint from the edges of the numbers with a slight scrape of an Xacto-knife or even a fingernail for a nice finish.

The edges of the letters will be "cleaned-up" once the paint fully cures.

I sure like the way they came out.  I was considering painting a silver or black band around the circumference of the center of the bottle with spray paint and THEN adding the number within the band.  I think that would look neat too, but . . .

. . . Sometimes Simplicity is BEST!

A great looking addition against a charcoal-black accent wall!

Until the next time, HAPPY UPCYCLING!

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