DIY Halloween Candlesticks | Recycled Wine Bottle Project

For this year's Halloween I wanted to create a candlestick centrepiece for either a dining table or fireplace, but I wanted it to be displayed all through Autumn too...therefore, I aimed more for a 'spooky vibe' than for full-on skulls & bats :D

To make them elegant and kinda gothic, I wanted them to be tall and thin, and I thought the best way to do that was to combine tapered candles with glass bottles. A variety in sizes was then very simple to achieve since glass bottles can be found in all different sizes.

This DIY is very easy to do, and I hope you like the result!

• Glass Bottles in 3 sizes: I used a full-size and mini wine bottle, plus a cider bottle.
• Loosely Woven Fabric: I used 'creepy cloth', but loosely woven gauze or cheesecloth would also work.
• Black Paint: Matte spray paint is preferable.
• Metallic Paint: I used copper metallic acrylic paint.
• Cheap Paintbrush
• PVA Glue
• Candles: I used 'Vampire Tears' tapered black candles.
• Craft/X-acto Knife
• Scissors
• White Primer/Gesso
• Scrap of Card
• Breathing Mask

First, remove any loose parts of the labels on the bottles you're using. You don't need to remove all of the label though, since we'll be covering these up anyway.

Carefully cut off any metal collars that may be on the bottles too. Basically anything not firmly attached needs to come off, including caps.

Then paint the outside walls of these bottoms with some kind of primer. I used white Gesso.

Leave to dry.

Note: If you are going to be painting the bottles black with a brush, rather than with a spray paint, then I would recommend that you paint the bottles black now. This is because it's going to be more difficult and time-consuming to paint with a brush after adding the fabric.

OK, so next you need to cut out a piece of your fabric that is large enough to wrap completely around the bottle.

Then use a cheap paintbrush to apply PVA glue all over the surface. Wrap the piece of fabric around and press it into the glue all over.

Repeat for all of the bottles.

Cut off any excess fabric around the edges and where the fabric layers are overlapping. Ideally you want a single layer of the fabric all over.

Then add more PVA glue over the top, especially in areas where there are loose threads sticking out. The fabric should be well attached.

Leave to dry.

Spray paint all of the bottles black. Do this outside and take the necessary safety precautions (i.e. wear a mask).

I used 2 layers of this 'Matt Super' spray paint from Plastikote.

Leave to dry.

In this step we're going to be adding shiny metallic highlights, in order to add dimension.

So put a dollop of your metallic paint onto a scrap of card, then dip your paintbrush in. Remove any excess paint by brushing it onto the card, then drag the brush over the surface of the bottles. Repeat over and over until you are happy with the result.

The aim here is to use a 'dry' brush to apply minimal paint and mostly catch the highlights - the 'highest' points - on the bottle, which is the fabric threads. You don't want to get paint in all of the 'nooks and crannies'; in fact, you want to avoid getting paint in those areas.

It's personal preference whether you want to add a lot of this paint, like I've done, or apply it lightly only on the fabric threads.

I really like the effect, and by using copper paint I think the threads look like copper wires snaking across the surface.

To make the candles fit into the bottles, you will need to carefully carve at least an inch at the base of each candle to make it the right diameter to fit snugly in the openings.

With the large 2 bottles, this is what I did. But with the smallest bottle, the opening was a lot smaller, and so I first used a blade to cut approx. 1.5" off the bottom of the candle first. Then I carved the end to a small enough diameter to fit very snugly.

Make sure these are a tight fit so they won't fall out.

And that's it, the candlesticks are now finished! In these photos you can see how the candles drip red which I thought was pretty cool.

Just a safety note here: I definitely recommend placing these candles on some kind of plate or metal tray when lit, and as always please don't leave candles unattended :)

Happy Halloween & thanks for reading!