Add the perfect amount of spooky to your Halloween decor with these DIY Potion Bottles.
Don’t buy ready-made apothecary bottles to add to your tiered tray or Halloween decor – make them! Any small to medium glass bottles will work for this DIY. I used a combination of glass bottles I found at Dollar Tree, around the house, and one that I found at a yard sale.
To give my labels an aged look, I soaked them in coffee and baked them for a few minutes. Check out the video below and tutorial details to see the technique I used.
I chose to paint my bottles with mirror spray paint. A cheap $1 can of flat black or brown spray paint would work too but I just love the shiny, magical look of Mirror Effect spray paint. Here is a link to the Mirror Effect Spray Paint that I purchased on Amazon.
You’ll also want to pick up a few small Halloween items to decorate your bottles like skulls, bones, bugs, and whatever else you can find. Dollar Tree is a great place to find mini Halloween decorations.
Below is the complete list of supplies I used for this fun project and a link to the Free Potion Bottle Labels.
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Easy DIY Potion Bottles for Halloween – Video
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Supplies
- Mirror Effect spray paint
- A spray bottle with water
- Mod Podge (I used Matte)
- A foam applicator brush
- Black acrylic paint (optional)
- Mini skulls, bugs, floral moss, twine, or other spooky decorations
- A mug with about half of a cup of water and a coffee pod (to color and age labels)
- A print out of the Free Potion Bottle Labels
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How to make DIY Potion Bottles
Start by gathering up small glass bottles and jars. Remove any labels and spritz your bottles with water (see video above for technique). Then spray paint with Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect spray paint.
Next, print out the labels (link to the Free Potion Bottle Labels in the Supply list above). Print them larger or smaller depending on what works best with your bottles.
You can do this easily by adjusting the ‘Custom Scaling’ settings in your print dialog box. I printed out three different sizes to match the size of my bottles: 100%, 75%, and 50%.
Rip the labels by hand to give them a rough edge. See the video above for a better look at this process.
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How to give your DIY Potion Bottles an Aged Look Using Coffee
Apply the coffee technique in the video above using a regular coffee pod. If you have instant coffee on hand, try this technique from fixitsamo on YouTube.
Below are the quick steps/pictures for aging paper with a regular coffee pod–step 4 is important to get a dark-aged color:
- Mix a coffee pod with about 1/2 of a cup of water, stir, and let sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Put a paper towel over your labels on an old cookie sheet then spoon the coffee mixture onto the paper towel.
- Top with another sheet or two of paper towel and blot.
- Carefully remove all the paper towels and squeeze just a little coffee over the top of each label before baking.
- Bake until dry in a 350-degree oven. NOTE: Watch carefully, your labels will burn if left in too long. Labels dry and brown in just a few short minutes!
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Applying Labels and Finishing Touches to Your Potion Bottles
You can use a foam applicator brush and brush a little black acrylic paint to the edges of your labels. I blotted most of the black paint off of my brush before applying it to get a ‘dry brushed’ look.
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Apply the labels to your potion bottles using Mod Podge. Coat the reverse side of the label with Mod Podge then coat over the top and edges.
Last, hot glue on embellishments like skulls, old buttons, charms, bones, bugs, floral moss other decorations complete the spooky potion bottle look.
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Update…Mini Potion Bottles
I made mini potion bottles to sell in my booth using the same aging technique and labels! They’re the perfect size to decorate a small spooky Halloween tree.
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If you love this Spooky DIY, Pin-It to your Pinterest craft boards to come back to later! Then check out more Halloween DIYs.
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RELATED CRAFTS TO TRY:
- DIY Glitter Spiders
- How to Make a Wine Cork Tray Using a Stretched Canvas
- DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte Air Freshener – Free Templates
- DIY Spooky Mansion Wreath – Free Template
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