Heating my score line
Sanding the rim
Finished projects
This Saturday I welcomed the weekend with an awesome recycling project. I've seen glass bottles converted into drinking glasses before but I wasn't sure of the process. My friend's mom answered the question for me when she bought a bottle cutter. Basically, you grab a wine bottle and score the circumference of it. Once you have a solid line you can hold the bottle over a candle flame to stress the glass. Once the bottle has heated for a few minutes the bottle "magically" separates at the score you made. To get the cup portion into drinking order (because let's face it, no one wants to cut their lips with glass while taking a swig of OJ) you sand the top. This glass took about 20 minutes of solid pressure. When it looks right, run your fingers over the rim just to make sure you won't get surprised.
If you're looking for something more than a plain glass you can buy etching cream and use stencil, handmade or pre-cut, to decorate the surface. Just brush a thick layer of the cream on and let it sit for a minute. Rinse it off and you've got one fancy glass. If you're like me, you also like mushroom decals from 1983. That little glass is my new pencil holder at work. This was a very fun project and I'm glad I got to recycle some bottles I had lying around the kitchen. I recommend it to all adults. And remember: WEAR THOSE SAFETY GOGGLES!
