Use Bottles As Vases

Use Bottles As Vases

If there are times that you need more vases than you have, use bottles as vases. 

Bottles usually have thin necks and are easy to arrange flowers in. 

The BIG plus to using bottles as vases is that 

they can be very low cost or even free. 

To decorate my house for Spring this year I wanted to use lots of

flowers but I don't have an unlimited amount of vases. 

I found clear bottles that I could take the labels off of and use them as vases. 

In the photo above the two center containers are vases and the 

other containers are bottles. 

Here is my living room decorated for Spring...

On the mantel I used vases (that don't match exactly but are

 close in size and color) to hold artificial Spring branches.

I add water to the vases to advance the idea that the branches 

are real. Most of the time the branches have plastic stems. If they

are wrapped in paper, oh well, I may be painting those stems later.

The picture between the vases is made from a print with artist

gel medium applied to it to make it look like a painting. I like that

it bridges the feel of Winter (bare birch) and Spring (green grass).

The mantel has a single bookcase to the left...

...and a double bookcase to the right...

A trick that I like to use is to cut the (usually not real looking) greenery off  of artificial flowers and use real greenery instead.

It really helps to fool the eye of the beholder. 

On the side of the living room that the double bookcase is on

there is a sofa that sits in front of the bank of three windows.

Usually I make my own pillow covers to save money like these

ones with birds stenciled on them. I saw the solid colored green

pillows with beige fringe on them at a nearby "At Home" store

for only $16 recently...I thought that was a good price. 

With so many flowers in the room already, I kept the frog containers on the coffee table simple with faux succulents. 

Across the room from the sofa is a cabinet that houses our radio

  and CD player. It was almost black with age at a flea market before we painted the base of it. My husband revived the wooden top. 

The only flowers that are real on this console are the white spirea in a re-purposed Crown Royal bottle. The flowers on each end are
in re-purposed champagne bottles.

The frames above the painted cabinet have chicken wire stapled to

 the backside. That makes it easy to change out the decor items on  the frames seasonally. Right now there are faux wooden signs there. 

I usually don't show this angle of the living room (because who wants to look at a hulking TV cabinet) but it gives  you a better 

idea of the layout of my home. 

To the left of the cabinet (where the black dinette set is) is the kitchen area. To the right of the cabinet

(where you see terracotta lamps) is the dining room area. 

Recently the dining room table utilized bottles as vases for

St. Patrick's Day decor. Sadly the spirea has withered and the

table is now being used for various craft projects. 

The table in the kitchen, however, still has a display of a mix of

artificial and real flowers and greenery.  

Clear glass bottles are a good substitute for traditional glass vases 

but they can be a little harder to come by. If you don't mind painting bottles to use as vases, you don't have to be as picky.

Painted bottles are fun to use as party or wedding centerpieces. 

Colored glass bottles are easier to find. Even if you don't drink

wine or beer, you might know friends or family that do and they

would probably be glad to save bottles for you. 

It is easy to soak the bottles to get the labels off. Here is a tutorial

on "The Lazy Way to Get Labels Off Of Bottles". 

For a Mexican-themed party I helped with we spray painted the

cleaned bottles with bright colors. 

We put colorful tissue paper flowers in the painted bottles. 

If you want to, it is also easy to make the bottles two-tone colored

by using tape and paper to mask off part of the painted bottle

and spray it with a second color. 

You can also use the bottles to hold water and keep flowers and

greenery fresh for a party or wedding. These bottles are bright

colors but bottles can be made to look more elegant by painting 

them silver or gold for a more formal event. 

So the next time you need more vases than you have, think

about using bottles as vases too.