How to Make Recycled Glass Bottle Halloween Witch Decorations

I have several empty glass beverage bottles in my recycled craft supply stash and think they will make cute indoor Halloween decorations. As what? As Halloween recycled bottle witches!

Share this recycled Halloween craft tutorial to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!

 

I didn’t want to make the stereotypical ugly green faced witch dressed in black. Instead I took my design inspiration from three of my fellow renaissance festival actresses who portray The Fiendish Sisters. They are more of the Shakespearean type witches  but instead of predicting the rise and fall of Danish kings, they host whiskey tastings. Which (witch?) is a great gig if you can get it.

 How to Make Halloween Witch Decorations

 

You will need for each witch you want to make:

A long neck glass bottle  such as a glass soda, juice, beer, wine, etc. bottle. You can find soda pop in retro glass bottles similar to what I used here. I wouldn’t recommend using a plastic bottle because it may tip over too easily after you decorate the bottle. Nobody likes a tipsy witch!

White jersey fabric or a white sock like these

Fabric – you can buy fat quarters of fabric here

Scissors

Cardstock

Fabric stiffener – I recommend using this Stiffy Fabric Stiffener because it dries clear unlike other brands I’ve used.

Pencil

Hot glue and hot glue gun and these Hot Glue Gun Helper Finger Caps. I cannot recommend the silicone finger caps enough! Every time I think its such a quick little hot glue project and I don’t need to wear them, I end up burning my fingers. Then I wear them and guess what? No more hot glue burns for the rest of the project! (Duh)

Embroidery Floss (you can find it here) or baker’s twine (you can find it here)

2 Embroidery needles like these

Doll hair – you can find both types of doll hair I used and more! here

Black craft paint and big round paint brush – I used this exact size of paint brush

Feathers – you can buy craft feathers here

Ribbon

Raffia

Craft stick

Small wood finial – this is the exact size and shape of unpainted wood final I used

Black craft wire

 (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.)

Step by Step Witch Craft tutorial:

1. First we need to make a pattern for the witch's hat. Use the craft paper and  scissors to make a cone shape that will be your pattern for the pointy part of the conical hat. Next, draw or trace a round object and cut it out with the scissor to make a pattern for the brim of the witches hat.

 

Remember to cut a hole in the center of the brim to fit the paper cone!

2. Use your paper patterns to cut the top of the conical hat and brim from your fabric. I didn’t cut perfectly smooth edges for the witches hats and clothes. I didn’t turn over most of the edges and picked at a few to fray the fabric a bit for interest. I figure our witch friends are too busy with their Scottish king prediction side hustle to go shopping for new clothes when they start to wear out.

 

3. Cover the hat brim fabric with Stiffy using a paint brush and allow it to dry overnight. You may want to set the brim on an elevated surface like a jar lid to add dips and shape to the hat brim as it dries.

 

4. Roll your paper cone pattern into a cone shape and secure it with a piece of tape. Cover the top of the hat fabric with Stiffy using a paint brush, wrap the fabric around your cone shape,  and allow it to dry overnight.

Tip: My paper pattern stuck to the inside of the witches hat after it dried.  I had to rip the paper to remove it from the stiffened hat piece.  I could have avoided that by periodically picking the hat up off it’s cone while it was drying or wrap the cone a something slippery like plastic wrap.

 

5. Wrap or cover the bottle with the white jersey fabric (you will need to use hot glue to glue the edges of the fabric at what will be the witch’s back to the bottle or cut the toe off the sock sock and slide it over the bottle. Use a string to tie it into place around the neck of the bottle.

Have the witches hat handy to check if the tied fabric needs to be trimmed to fit under it, how much white fabric to leave for the face, where and how much to attach as hair, etc. That's one the reasons we make it first. The other is because of the drying time of the fabric stiffener.

Tip: When I removed the labels from the bottles it left sticky adhesive on the bottles. (Thanks Fago you rock!) I left it so the first layer of fabric stuck to my bottle base. If you don’t have this happy accident, you may wish to use a little bit of  tacky glue like this kind to keep the jersey fabric from slipping as you work on the project.

 

6. Starting at the front of the witch, wrap a piece of fabric around the lower third of the bottle to make the underskirt and hot glue it into place.

7. Starting at the back of the witch, fold the upper edge of the fabric over itself and wrap a piece of fabric over the under skirt to make the overdress and glue it into place leaving the edges unsecured. We will cut them in the next step to make her dress and bodice.

8. Fold the top edge of the dress fabric over on themselves and use the scissors to make a V shape from the fabric to make the dress bodice. Use this same technique on the bottom of the dress fabric to let the under skirt show.

The pins hold the fabric so I can take the photo explaining how to fold and cut the fabric to make the witch's dress.

9. Thread two embroidery needles with embroidery floss and sew the bodice laces into each side of the bodice V shape like lacing a shoe. Ties the ends in a bow and trim the embroidery floss to length if needed. You may want to tack down any loosey goosey edges with glue if needed.

This is the only sewing you have to do or you can use craft paint if you like

10. Hot glue the hair onto the witch’s head. The braid is how that type of doll hair came in the package. I just tied the end with twine and glued it on because I liked the braided look (also I have hard time making this type of doll hair look decent.) I used yarn doll hair for the frizzy hair witch and embroidery floss for the blond witch.

Her hat will cover the top of her braid.

11. Make the witch’s hat by hot gluing the witch’s hat cone to the bottle. Next, slide the hat brim over the fabric hat cone and hot glue it into place. You can decorate the hat with feathers, silk leaves, flowers if you like.  Next, glue a piece of ribbon or fabric over the hat and brim seam to hid it.

The hat decorations don't have to be perfect to be beautiful. The peacock feathers went all wonky when when I started to hot glue them to the hat. I liked the witchy look and kept. it.

13. Dip the end of a large round craft paint brush into craft paint and use it as a dotting tool to paint the eyes on your witch.

Hey, where my witches at?!

12. To make the witch’s broom: I cut a juice pop stick lengthwise and painted it with brown craft paint. I folded raffia onto itself, tied it together with string, and trimmed one end of the bundle with scissors. After the paint dried, I stuck the broom handle into the raffia and hot glued it into place.

I took one for the team and drank soda and ate juice pops for this craft tutorial.

 It was tough, but what I do, I do it all  for you.

 

13. To make the witch’s cauldron: I painted the wood final black and wrapped a piece of craft wire around it to make a handle and hot glued it into place.

Bewitcha in a minute!

14. Display your witch crafts!

 

“When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?”

“Vespa stop being so dramatic! We’re meeting at 2 o’clock in the pub because people bought tickets to our whiskey tasting! Tell Hamlet he’s just going to have to wait until after!”

 

Looking for more creative Halloween decorating ideas? Check out the following options – and more! – below!

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