Transform Old Prescription Bottles into Whimsical Home Decor
Today I am excited to share what to do with old prescription bottles. This whimsical vintage-inspired upcycling idea will make an impact in your home decor.
I'd like to first send out a thank you to all of our readers. Without you, this blog would not exist. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your comments, your emails, messages on social media, and your purchases from our affiliate links. You keep this upcycling bus moving forward on our path, bringing more ideas to the masses. We wish you all a Merry Christmas! We hope 2025 will be our best year yet with more upcycling, trash to treasure projects, and a little home improvement included in the mix. With that being said, let's get into what to do with prescription bottles.
I asked Cindy Lou for some time to think it over, and then I came up with an idea I decided to share with y'all. Do you ever feel like we are going to go on a whimsical path to creativity when you visit me?
I sure hope so. I enjoy sharing how I get from point A to point B, no matter how many twists and turns are on that path. Some may say, it can be a wild ride that is for sure, so let's get into it.
It seems there are plenty of old prescription and plastic bottles these days in our homes. My husband typically takes his back to the pharmacy, and asks for refills that way.
Since they send me emails to renew my scripts, I just do it that way. Now that I think about it, I should be taking the empty bottles back when I pick up the new, or perhaps not after today's upcycle project share.
When I thought about what to do with old prescription bottles, finally an idea struck!
It is Christmas, and what are we seeing all over the place this time of year? Why bells of course! Don't worry, I have way more ideas for you than just bells on the tree.
As I was working on my bell, another idea came to me once I saw the bottle painted. I'll share that idea with you below our How To. I had to pull out the old phone tree and call up the friends and family and make a request for prescription bottles to get this idea rolling.
Don't Forget to Pin for Later!
What to do with Old Prescription Bottles
Materials:
- Empty prescription bottles
- Trim mould
- Crayola clay or Air Dry Foam Clay
- Black chalk paint
- Chip brush
- Antique gold rub-n-buff
- Titebond glue
- Cornstarch
- Twine
Instructions:
- Brush cornstarch on to mold with brush
- Warm clay up by rubbing it back and forth in your hands
- Press clay into trim mold
- Release clay and apply Titebond glue to the back of the clay trim molding strip
- Lightly press the clay trim around the top and bottom of the prescription bottle (I decided to add another layer of trim to the very bottle of our bell, top of the bottle to cover the threaded part
- Paint entire bottle and trim with black chalk paint in a stippling pattern for full coverage of the bottle, allow to fully dry
- Begin stippling the antique gold rub n buff to the bottle for a layered look and dimension
- Drill a hole into the top of the bell, bottom of the bottle
- Thread twine through to hang and add clacker to bell
- Hang on the tree for a vintage bell look on your Christmas tree, or add to presents as extra bling to your gift, you could even hang them on a door handle
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| Use a small gold ornament as a clacker for the bell |
Thank you for challenging me to work with old prescription bottles Cindy Lou Who. I have never upcycled pill bottles before, but you have just opened up a whole new world of possibilities to me.
I do enjoy a new challenge. Sometimes the ideas come quickly and other times I need to think about them for a while. I am glad I was able to turn this challenge idea around quickly, especially in time for Christmas gift giving.
Now on to my second idea upcycling old prescription bottles. Once I had painted my DIY prescription bottle bell, I thought hmm...
Do you see it too?
It's okay if you do not, I will give you all the ideas that filtered through my mind.
You see, the long way we typically go... my sister recently joined Ancestory and calls every time she learns something new about our family history.
She gets excited and will say, "I found Sirs, and Lords, and Ladies", oh my! A few days later, I hear, "I've traced our heritage back to the 1500's." Of course, I find all of this fascinating, but the photos are what make me stop and think.
I sometimes find myself looking at a relative, and wonder, do I have her chin, or his eyes?
Once she shared the Lords and Ladies, I have been in a Downton Abbey (I loved that series) kind of mood. So when I looked at that painted script bottle with the decorative trim, I immediately jumped to royal spools of thread... who wouldn't, right. Oh, I know... probably not where your mind went, but it was at the top of my whimsical list.
We simply cannot have regular old wood spools, we must have antique gilded gold spools of thread!
My mind immediately jumped to times where beautiful dresses were handmade, and so I had to share. If you think Cara has simply lost her mind, then you may be on to something there (crafting and upcycling makes me a bit ga-ga), but I no longer wanted bells, I wanted gold spools!
Once spools where lodged in this ole' brain, I wanted to drop the bell idea at once, but I decided to share them both in case one or the other may be your fancy.
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| The fan had to stay, it is too heavy for me to take up and down from the china cabinet, short gal here |
I am betting the reason I could not get the spools out of my mind is because I have recently become smitten with vintage and antique spools. I found a few at the yearly outdoor barn sale, and so they had to come home with me.
I also used them in my Christmas displays this year, but once I saw those fancy pants spools, I thought to myself, they need to be everywhere, stat! Hey, it doesn't look like I was too far off the mark, check out this link to see more fancy pants in the sewing department! Who knew? Now I wish I could sew.
I pulled up that old phone tree, and began asking who had old empty prescription bottles, and you know what? The tree came through for me. I was over the moon to have so many to work with.
I am keeping all of the prescription bottles now so I can keep using them in our decor.
Want more ideas? How about: riser legs, tealight candle holders, perhaps miniature drums with gold threads crisscrossed over the drum sides, and even on top a wood cutting board with greenery.
I even have another idea, and hopefully it comes to fruition. You know, sometimes my ideas just do not work out, and other times they come to me while in the midst of another project, one just never knows how inspiration will strike.
I sure hope you enjoyed this upcycling adventure, and perhaps will no longer wonder what to do with old prescription bottles since we simply all need those royal spools in our lives, donchathink? 😉
Cheerio,
Cara
Very cute, Cara! People are always asking for ideas to use old prescription bottles so this is great. I can't wait to share it and recommend this idea, since it's lovely!
ReplyDeleteAww, thank you so much Kim! I was over the moon with how they turned out, expect to see more in my decor, I am kind of obsessed now.
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful! You'd never guess they were made from old prescription bottles, Cara, and you have more ideas? I can't wait to see what you come up with next.
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