Last Christmas I made some fabulous illuminated bottle lights for my home. I loved them so much I thought why not make some DIY Halloween lights too.
You can use any old bottles for this craft as long as they are clear glass. I like bottles in a different of sizes so I used a variety of bottles from different drinks.
It also gave me an excuse to finish the small amounts of gin I had in the cocktail cupboards. Why is it that gin is always in the best bottles?
Scary Upcycled Bottle Lights For Halloween
What makes this craft is those very affordable cork lights that you can get from either the internet or your local dollar/pound store. These handy little lights enable you to make DIY Halloween lights in bottles without having to drill into any glass.
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What You Need To Make Bottle Halloween Lights
- Old clear bottles in a variety of shapes and sizes. I used a mixture of gin and juice bottles.
- Halloween shaped stickers, silhouettes or die cuts.
- If using die-cut shapes and not stickers you will need some kind of temporary spray adhesive.
- Black spray paint
- Orange spray paint
- Cork wine bottle lights
How To Make DIY Halloween Lights in Bottles
1. The first thing to do is to remove any lables from the bottles you are going to use. I find that if I soak the bottles in hot soapy water for about half an hour most labels simply then peal off.If after soaking you are still left with a sticky residue where the label was. Either scrub this with a scourer or you can get a special sticky label remover.
2. Next, dry the bottles and then choose what silhouettes you want for the DIY Halloween lights on each bottle. Stick the Halloween stickers or die cuts onto the bottles. If you do use glue for this then make sure you use a repositional/temporary adhesive.
3. Then spray paint the bottle either black or Halloween orange. I painted a few bottles black and a few bottles orange so I ended up with enough bottle lights for a Halloween light display.
4. Finally, once the paint has dried carefully peel away the Halloween shapes. Then all that is left to do is to pop one of the cork lights into the top of each bottle.
I love the way the lights shine through the Halloween silhouette. You can easily create a fun DIY Halloween lights display for your mantle by using a variety of bottle shapes in both orange and black.
These DIY Halloween lights really are at their best on the dark nights when the tiny fairy lights inside the bottles shine through the scary Halloween shapes.
The cork lights are very easy to use, they just have a simple on-off switch on the top You can buy the string lights in various lengths and can even get rechargeable ones.
If you still have the original corks from your old wine bottles, save them for another fun Halloween craft. They can be turned into spooky Halloween wine cork Characters to hang in a garland.
Upcycled Halloween Bottle Lights
A fun and unique Halloween decoration for the home made by upcycling old bottles. This is a great craft to do with the kids. It's a very affordable Halloween decoration that is great for the front porch or the mantle.
Materials
- An assortment of old clear bottles.
- Montana Gold Black Spray paint
- Montana Gold Orange Spray Paint
- Repositional adhesive
- Halloween shaped die cuts
- Cork lights
Instructions
- Soak the empty bottles in hot water to remove all labels
- Stick the Halloween die cuts to the bottles.
- Spray paint each bottle either black or orange
- Once the paint is dry remove the Halloween die cuts
- Insert cork string lights into the top of each bottle.
Notes
It's the cork string lights that make this project. By using these lights there is no need to drill into the glass bottles. You can use this method to make illuminated bottles for other holidays, such as Christmas and Valentines.
Recommended Products
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If you want something a bit different for Halloween instead of the usual orange and black colours, then check out this illuminated pink neon DIY skull decor.
There are some lovely vintage skeleton pictures to download here. If you liked these bottles’ lights don’t forget to check out some of my other illuminated crafts and DIYs.
Or if you are looking for more Halloween & Fall crafts then check out these.
- Cute Halloween Treat Bags
- DIY Light-Up Pumpkin
- Pine Cones Fall Mason Jars
- Free Vintage Halloween Postcards
- The Best Acorn Wreaths & Garlands
For more affordable Halloween crafts visit cheapandthriftyliving.com
Debbee
Claire, this is my first look at your blog, coming from Party in PJs. These decorated Halloween bottles are spooktacular! I hadn’t heard of the wine cork lights before. Great tutorial too. Pinned.
Claire Armstrong
Ha ha ! Thank you
NINA LEWIS
I love, love, love these Halloween lights! This is something that I’ve just GOT to make! I’m going to feature this at our Party in Your PJs tomorrow night on my Grandma Ideas site. Thanks so much for sharing this awesome idea!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, that’s awesome I look forward to seeing the feature.
Naush Samama
I love upcycle projects ! Your Halloween lights are perfect. They really look high end. Bravo !
Thank you for sharing it with us at Meraki Link Party.
Naush
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much, they do look good on the porch at Halloween.
Amy
So creative! What a fun craft. Pinned!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much, they do add a fun and spooky glow to my decorations.
Kasia
I love how these turned out! Such a simple and creative idea to recycle unnecessary bottles 🙂 I’ll be making Christmas ones this year. Thanks for sharing the tutorial, Claire!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Kasia. I’ve made Christmas and Valentine’s one too, great to use the cork lights all year round.
Kathy A
These are so cute. My daughter is a wicked Halloween fan and I love making stuff for her! May have to try some!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, they are very easy and fun to make I’m sure she’d love them.
DecorCraftDesign
Beautiful Halloween Bottles Decoration, it’s hard to choose one, I love all!
Claire Armstrong
Aww, thank you so much.
Rhonda Gales
I love how these turned out. Perfect for a mantel or vignette. Please share on my Sunday’s Best linkup. We’ve started our The Witching Hour theme. The linkup starts every Saturday night at 8:00pm EST. I’ll be Pinning your post to my Halloween board.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much. And I will share.
Ann
Great idea! Thank you for sharing at Party In Your PJ’s. I will be featuring you tomorrow night on my blog!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, I look forward to seeing them.
Julie
These are very cool, and you are forced to drink things in interesting bottles too, to prepare for this! – what a great hardship! I’m thinking a Christmas version might be fun too.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Julie. That was the best bit finishing off all the stuff in the lovely shaped bottles. I already have a Christmas version too!
Sylvia | Grace for a Gypsy
Stopping by again, found you at the Vintage Charm Party #199. sharing
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much and thanks for the share.
Kippi
I love Halloween and these bottle lights are perfect for my decorations. Thank you for sharing how to make them. I am pining.
Happy Fall!!
Hugs,
Kippi
Ps. Pls share on my site at the You’re The Star blog hop
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much and for the star blog hop.
Sylvia | Grace for a Gypsy
Cute ideas! Love the skeletons! Going to share with my granddaughter who loves decorating for Halloween.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, it’s kind of creepy and cute at the same time.
LISA
so cute ! I love the dancing skeleton 🙂
xo Lisa S
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, the skeleton is more cute than scary.
Michelle Leslie
These turned out great Claire. The orange one with the orange Dia de la madre mask is gorgeous and that little skeleton is too cute. Guess I’m going to have to start drinking gin instead of beer 😀
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Michelle. I do like the orange Mexican skull one too. Drinking gin is sometimes the right thing to do !
Linda at Mixed Kreations
Awe these turned out super cute! The perfect Halloween craft! It’s hard to choose, but I think the skelton is my favorite!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, yes I like the skeleton too, he’s kind of cute and scary at the same time,
Christina Woodcock
These are adorable Claire! I had never heard of cork lights how cool!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. Cork lights are fun and make a great present too.
shantana
How Lovely these look. Greetings from Sydney and wish you a lovely weekend.
Hugs,
Shantana
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much. I hope you are having a lovely spring down under.
Michelle
Awesome Halloween bottles! Looks like a fun project.
Claire Armstrong
It was fun to do. Great if you can get a variety of bottles different shapes and sizes.
Anita Holland
Great Halloween bottles. Pinned
Claire Armstrong
Thank you and thanks for the share.