Homemade Flattened Glass Bottles

Recycle bottles by flattening them and creating artwork.

Glass art is a beautiful way to decorate your home while recycling. You can use old wine, beer, vinegar or soda bottles to create your own flattened glass bottles to decorate your home. You can place wire hangers into the mouth of the bottle to allow you to hang it on the wall, or flatten a wine bottle to create a unique serving tray for cheese, butter or appetizers. Get creative and come up with more ways to use your recycled flattened glass bottles.

Things You'll Need

• Oven
• Glass bottles
• Copper wire
• Parchment paper
• Kiln
• Kiln wash
• Paintbrush

Instructions

Oven Method

1. Remove all paper labels from your bottle, and wash it thoroughly. Allow it to dry overnight before flattening.

2. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of a metal baking pan.

3. Place the bottle on top of the parchment paper, and place the pan into the oven. If you want to hang the bottle when you are done, place a piece of wire that has been bent into a "U" shape into the opening at the top with the open part on the inside of the bottle.

4. Turn the oven to 190 degrees for about 1 ½ hours to slowly heat the glass. If the glass is heated too quickly, it may break.

5. Increase the heat to 400 for 1/2 hour, and then increase it to 500 degrees. Allow the bottle to cook until it flattens completely. It will take between five and 10 hours, depending on the thickness of the glass, to flatten completely.

6. Reduce the heat to 400 for one hour. Then reduce the heat by 100 degrees per hour until the oven reaches 200 degrees. Allow the glass to cook at 200 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven without opening the door. Let the glass stay in the oven for 10 hours to cool completely.

Kiln Method

1. Remove all paper labels from your bottle, and wash it thoroughly. Allow it to dry overnight before flattening.

2. Paint the shelf in the kiln with a coating of kiln wash, so that the glass will not fuse to the kiln.

3. Place the bottle on the shelf, and close the lid.

4. Turn the kiln onto its lowest setting for one hour.

5. Turn the kiln to medium for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes. the temperature in the kiln is between 800 to 1000 degrees.

6. Turn the kiln to high for 30 to 45 minutes. When the kiln is on high for 30 to 45 minutes, the temperature in the kiln is between 1200 to 1500 degrees.

7. Turn off the kiln, and allow it to cool overnight. Do not open the kiln until morning. Once it's cool, your flattened bottle is ready for use.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure you remove all paper from the bottles before baking because paper ignites at 451 degrees, and you don't want to have a fire in your oven.

• Glass can explode when heated improperly, so make sure you heat it slowly. It needs to be cooled the same way or it will break.

References

• Glass Fusing Made Easy: Slumping Bottles
• Meta Cafe, Flatten a Bottle in Your Oven

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish