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We wanted to make a unique planter for our houseplants by upcycling items we already had. I am not always the best at remembering to water the indoor plants and wanted a system that was low maintenance.
Bottle planters are a simple hydroponic, meaning soilless, form of gardening relying mostly on water. Clear glass bottles are not ideal for this method because the light exposure they allow will promote algae growth. The solution is to use an opaque container. This is where painting the bottle planters comes in. The paint finish will diffuse light and slow algae growth.
Periodically, it helps to empty the water, rinse, and refill with fresh water. Heavily chlorinated water should sit for a day or so before adding it to the bottle planter. Lastly, powdered charcoal will also help retard algae growth. Add a pinch to your freshly filled water bottles to protect your plants.
Draw Design and Trace with Hot Glue
Using a felt tip marker, draw a design directly on the glass bottle. Trace over the design with the hot glue. It will leave stringy strands of glue. Just remove those by pulling them off.
Paint a Layer of White Primer
I am very fond of the primer paint called Kilz. It has superior coverability, which is helpful for covering the black marker used to draw out the design.
Paint the entire bottle with primer including the hot glue design. Let it dry for a couple of hours before moving on to the next step.
Paint a Layer of Light Blue
Over the white primer, you will paint a layer of light blue (or a color of your choosing). Again, make sure to paint over the decorative design. It will need a few hours to dry before scraping and sanding.
Scrape To Expose Some Clear Glass
Now that the paint layers have dried down a bit, go ahead and scrape some areas to expose some of the clear glass. Use a flat edge scraper to do this safely. Guide the scraper moving away from your body. This is a good time to scrape off any paint drips.
Use a fine (220 grit) sandpaper to buff all painted surfaces of the bottle. Buffing gently in a circular motion will help create a more even finish by dulling paint lines. Work your way around the edges of each and every scraped area. This will give the edges a more naturally distressed look versus the clean lines of a freshly scraped area.
Use a microfiber cloth to dust off the residue from sanding.
Add Antique Glaze in Crosshatch Pattern
An antique bottle would have some darker patches on the finish, perhaps from oily hands or the soil it was unearthed from. Recreate this look by intentionally adding splashes of dark paint over your light blue finish.
Using a chopping motion, mix dark and light paints together. Lightly dab your brush in the paint mixture and dry brush over top of the light blue paint. I like the crosshatch pattern (below middle), especially after it has been sanded down a bit. It adds some visual interest to the overall paint finish.
Dry brushing uses only a small amount of paint to achieve an impactful design. It dries down fast. After washing the brush and patting it dry, lightly paint on one more layer of light blue. Be careful to leave some of the darker paint showing. Don’t forget to paint the bottom of the bottle as you will see it when it is hanging up.
Continue Distressing
One more round of distressing and you have a beautifully antiqued bottle ready for use as a lovely planter.
Scrape some spots on different parts of the bottle. Gently buff over the entire surface to blend the paint. Sand around the edges of each scraped area. Distress over the hot glue to draw some attention to this pretty detail.
Adjust Macrame to Fit the Bottle
A friend of mine had made me a beautiful macrame plant hanger years ago. I couldn’t wait to see it paired with my distressed bottle planter. The only problem was that the macrame hanger was made for a pot that is wider than the bottle.
No problem, in this case you can securely fit the plant hanger around the bottle using jute garden twine. If you don’t have twine, I’m sure you can come up with something creative in its place. Strips of fabric, yarn, ribbons etc. would work fine.
Place the bottle in the hanger first to see how it fits. Next, pull opposing strands of jute cord together to create a tight fit conforming to the bottle. Using small threads of jute twine, tie these opposing strands together to secure.
Add Plants and Hang
Rinse and refill the bottles with water. Take cuttings from other indoor plants, such as Golden Pothos, that are long enough to reach deep down into the bottle. Over time the cuttings will develop a whole system of roots within the bottle.
Once a month top off the bottle with water. Oh, and remember those distressed areas that expose the clear glass? These serve as little windows to check the water level. This takes the guesswork out of watering the house plants. Now that’s my kind of indoor gardening!
