Beer Bottle Candle Holders

In keeping with the “decorate with beer bottles for St. Patrick’s Day” theme, I have another fun project to share with you guys today! I recycled a few green Heineken bottles into candle holders!

Green and gold, so festive!

To make these candle holders you need to be able to cut a beer bottle in half, but don’t worry, it’s not actually that difficult to do! And if you don’t want to cut a bottle in half, check out these twine wrapped bottles for beer bottle decorating ideas that don’t require cutting!

Beer Bottle Candle Holders

Here’s what I used to make these St. Patrick’s Day shamrock candle holders:

• green beer bottles
• a glass cutter
• sandpaper or emery cloth
• double-sided adhesive
• gold glitter

Start by cutting your bottle in half. I’m not going to do a whole tutorial on cutting glass in this post because there are tons of YouTube videos that can help you out, but here are a few basics. To cut glass you need a glass cutter, which is a tool that makes small, shallow scores on the surface of the glass. I used one specifically for cutting bottles; it is a cutting wheel attached to a stand so you can rotate the bottle and make a straight cut. But they also come in handheld versions so you can cut intricate shapes for stained glass etc.

Once you score the glass, all you have to do is carefully stress that score mark until the glass breaks. If you are careful, it will break right along your score line and you’ll have a cut piece of glass!

And of course, cut glass edges are extremely sharp, so use caution whenever you’re cutting glass. Wear gloves and goggles, cuz you never know!

Once your glass is cut, sand it down using sand paper or emery cloth to smooth the edges. Use a really coarse grit (60 or 80) to round the edges at first, and then use a finer grit to smooth it out once the sharp edges are gone.

Much better!

I used Silhouette’s double-sided adhesive for this project and it worked great! It stuck to the glass really well, and I was able to shape the glitter exactly into a shamrock shape without any trouble! If you want to see another great project using the double-sided adhesive, check out these adorable glitter snowflake ornaments.

I cut the adhesive into shamrock shapes using my Cameo. If you like the pattern, I’ve provided the cutting files below. Just click the link to download the file you want.

• Shamrocks (studio file)
• Shamrocks (PDF)

I didn’t get any pictures of the next part because glitter is EXTREMELY messy! It was all over my hands, the table, and my lap, and I didn’t want to get it all over my camera, so bear with me on this part!

Stick the adhesive to your glass, then pull the backing paper off, leaving the adhesive exposed on the other side. Pour a tiny bit of glitter onto your adhesive and use a small brush to spread it around until it covers the adhesive completely. Shake and brush off any excess glitter, and you’re done!

I left about two inches of glass on the bottom of these beer bottles and they are the perfect height for some tiny tea lights!

If you have a good clean cut on your beer bottle and the top is still salvageable, decorate it too, and put the bottle back together for a really pretty candle holder! You could also use a votive if you set it up this way.

The top of the beer bottle can also be its own candle holder. Stick a taper candle in through the neck for a taller light source. Or you can use the top of the bottle as a candle sleeve, kind of like a hurricane glass.

Or use it as an incense holder!

Beer bottles are super versatile for crafting, especially if you have the ability to cut them! So invest in a good glass cutter and take a few minutes to learn how to do it. Trust me, it’s so much easier than it looks, and it only takes a few minutes to make the cut! Sanding it down takes a little longer, but that’s another matter… 🙂

I just love how festive these are! And the adhesive is holding the glitter on there pretty well, so they aren’t shedding all over my table!

Have you ever tried cutting glass before? My grandparents made GORGEOUS stained glass and I was always in awe of the pieces they made. I can cut a beer bottle in half, but that takes nowhere near as much skill. 🙂