Apothecary Poison Bottles, For Use in Witch's Brew
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I made these fun, vintage poison bottles to scatter around the house.
They look really cute in bathrooms or in kitchens during the Halloween season.
Materials:
You probably already have a bunch of stuff you can use around your home. Be creative! But the following list will get you started with some ideas
- A variety of glass jars or bottles
- Printer paper
- Printer
- Instant coffee (for antiquing)
- paint brush
- Tacky Glue
- Food coloring
- Bottle corks
- Old buttons, costume jewelry, small Halloween decorations etc. for embellishments
- Cheesecloth
- Red candle stubs (for melting and dipping corks)
- Lit candle (for burning the edges of the parchment)
Where to begin
To start, I collected glass bottles. The more interesting the better, things like maple syrup, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some of the fancier beers or liquors usually make for interesting poison bottles. Any color will do, and you can fill clear ones with water and food coloring to make the poison even scarier. Soak the bottles in hot water for a few minutes to release the manufacturer's label. You can also use glass cleaner or nail polish remover with an abrasive sponge. Some really stubborn labels can be removed with a razor blade but be VERY careful when doing this so you don't cut yourself.
Finding vintage labels can be tricky, but I found an awesome website called Graphics Fairy by Karen. She has the coolest vintage clip art. She has a really reasonable copyright use agreement, but please read and respect her wishes. Look under Halloween, bugs, and anatomy to find some interesting ones. There are also a couple of websites where you can download old typewriter fonts try Font River where you can type and print words like "Poison" or "Dragon's Liver" etc. Picmonkey is also a great site for all sorts of fun Halloween graphics.
I printed my graphics on a parchment-colored card-stock and cut them out.
Then, next to a sink full of water, or better yet, outside, you can gently burn the edges of your label with a candle flame. PLEASE BE CAREFUL!
Then I took some instant coffee mixed with a little water and painted the labels an old brownish color, to make the label look weathered.
Glue the label to your bottle using some tacky glue.
If you have a clear glass bottle you'll have to fill it with "poison", which is water and food coloring.
Time for embellishments. You can decorate the bottle with anything you like. I used some cheesecloth soaked in the same coffee mixture and wrapped it around the bottle.
Then I searched through my grandmother's old button tin and found some costume buttons. Some of them look like Pirate Coins or Pieces of Eight.
You can use old skeleton keys, small Halloween decorations, thimbles, jewelry, etc.
If you have a bottle with a cork, you can dip it in blood-red wax to seal in the "poison". Melt some burgundy wax (old candles) in a double boiler. Place the cork in the bottle and dip the top in wax, then in cold water. Do this several times to layer on the wax.
Let some of the wax drip down the side of the bottle for an extra bloody look.
If you love making your own Halloween decorations, definitely check out how we made our Crooked Witches Hat
