Halloween Potion Bottles

Hello All!

This instructable has been years in the making.

Potion Bottles for my witches display.

I have searched high and low for labels, bottles and things to put in those bottles.

That's right. Most of these potion bottles have something in them.

They look great displayed at Halloween and it's a great way to get people to take a closer look at your display.

This part can be time consuming.

The best place I've found for labels is Pinterest. Here is a link to my Pinterest page with most of the labels I've used.

Halloween page for potion bottle labels

I copy and past them into Photoshop and edit (resize, remove watermarks, etc) there.

Most everything is printed on plain white paper.

Some labels I created. I found pictures of what I want the ingredient to be and added lettering in a font I liked in Photoshop.

There are a few labels I may have missed or couldn't find. So if you want them you may have to do some digging.

Dafont.com is a great place for free fonts

This part is fun.

Save any and every bottle or jar you like. Big, small, tall, thin, unique.

Wine, hot sauce, garlic, alcohol, beer, syrup, food coloring, extract, salt and pepper shakers.

Any unique shape you find. I bought some of these at Hobby Lobby and I've found some at yard sales and Goodwill. Others are from my friends who drink fancier alcohol than I do. :)

Clean the labels off by soaking the bottles in hot water for a few minutes.

If they have caps or lids hold on to those. If not I'll go over how to make new ones.

This part you have to use your imagination.

First pick your jar or bottle. Then decide what you want to go in that jar or bottle.

Here is a list of some, not all, of the things used to fill specific bottles.

Deadly Nightshade is faux fern leaves in a tall, skinny vodka bottle.

Gargoyle dust is filled with baking soda in a square bottle.

Sandman Charm is raw sugar in a square bottle

Mermaid hair is faux hair from the dollar store in a pop top bottle

Crocodile tears is just water in a large whisky bottle.

Whomping Willow seeds are some weird looking beads in an old food coloring jar

Crow's Soul is a black feather in an extract bottle

Reincarnated Soul is cotton in a Buddha beer bottle

Little Red Riding Hood fur is faux fur in a rum bottle

Chimera blood, Bat's Blood and Virgin blood are all colored corn syrup or water in a soda bottle

Liquid Lightning is glow in the dark paint coated on the inside of a fancy bottle

Vampire Glitter is glitter in a test tube

The Jellyfish Stingers are lines and blobs of hot glue laid out on wax paper. I filled a flip top bottle with aquarium rocks and shells I got from the dollar store. Add the "stingers" and fill with water that was dyed blue with food coloring. Hang the label from around the neck of the bottle on a piece of jute.

You can use:

faux flowers/leaves/ferns - Deadly Nightshade, Lotus petals,

faux fur/hair/feathers - Mermaid Hair, Little Red Riding Hood wolf fur, Crow's Soul

baking soda, corn syrup, water (clear and dyed), raw sugar, beans - Sandman Charm, Dried Hell Fire, Virgin & Bat's Blood, Gargoyle Dust, Crocodile Tears, Black Magic Beans, Chimera Blood, Ghost Tears, Squid Ink

beads, glitter, rocks, crystals - Pearls of Wisdom, Forest Sprite Eggs, Grindylow Eggs, Whomping Willow Seeds, Petrified Troll Boogers, Pixie Dust, Mummy Dust,

fake plastic snakes, mini light covers - Spawn of Jack O Lantern, Bat's Blood, snake oil, test tube with deadly snake babies

Glow in the dark paint or slime - Slimer, LIfe Eternal, Liquid Lightening, Draught of the Living Death

After you've picked your label/bottle/ingredient combo it's time to put it all together.

Print out the label in the size appropriate for your bottle and glue it on.

If you don't want a glued on label then make a one that hangs off the bottle. (Jellyfish Stingers, Jinn, Mermaid Hair)

Laminate some labels for effect. (Snake Oil, Reincarnated Soul)

Put your "ingredient" in the bottle.

Glue on the lid.

Make the bottles as simple or fancy as you like. Sometimes the ingredient can give you an idea as to what the bottle should look like.

Hang a smaller bottle, like a spice bottle, or small jewelry bags from the sides. (Sandman Charm, Gargoyle Dust)

Paint the lids flat black or wash with gold paint and/or glitter (Hell Fire)

Glue round glass stones from the Dollar Store to the outside. (Mermaid Hair)

Drip hot glue down the sides of a bottle to look like wax. Paint with acrylic paint or glow in the dark paint. (Draught of Living Death)

Hang bits of old costume jewelry around the neck of the bottle. (Lotus petals, Red Riding Hood, Jellyfish stingers, Virgin blood, Chimera Venom)

Glue animals to the outside or on the cap. (Snake Oil, Gargoyle Dust, Crow's Soul)

Wrap the neck in strips of thin leather, cording, creepy cloth, or ribbon. (Crocodile Tears, Gargoyle Dust, Coffin Nails, Reincarnated Soul,

The Black Cat Curse bottle is covered in wire bottle covers from Campo Viejo Tempranillo wine bottles. I collect the wire throughout the year and add them to the bottle at Halloween.

Hang the label around the neck with a piece of chain or jute. (Jellyfish stingers, Mermaid Hair, Reincarnated Soul, Jinn, Snake Oil)

If you need a cap: Wine corks, old costume jewelry and old large earrings make good caps. Bits of fabric folded over the top and wrapped with cord around neck. The lid of the snake oil jar in made with costume jewelry, beads and necklace chain.

I made my potion bottle stand out of a plastic shelving unit. I have black burlap covering the shelves. I used to have burlap covering the legs of the shelf but I keep running out of zip ties to attach them so I scrapped them this year.

Have fun and Happy Haunting

*You can also see my haunted radio on the fireplace mantel and Figaro my goblin little kid on his Granny Witch's lap. I have instructables for both of these if you are interested.