Painted & Distressed Vintage Embossed Apothecary Bottles

Sunday, November 24, 2013 by Cathe Holden

The moment I discovered painted and distressed Mason jars on the internet I was smitten with the look. It got me thinking about embossed glass and I decided to try out the look on a few vintage apothecary bottles I had in my studio. I painted them with basic two-dollar acrylic paints and was so happy with the results. I did learn while experimenting that light color paint is the way to go. Darker colors don’t allow enough contrast between the paint and the distressed areas. I began collecting more and more bottles online and in local shops. When shopping, remember that the condition of the inside of the bottle is of no real concern, so you may find bottles with inner grunge at a good price. I decided to paint my entire collection, even the ones I’d previously painted, in taupe-greys and white-blue to create a lovely decoration for our mantle. I painted each bottle with Martha Stewart Crafts™ Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Paint. Each bottle received two coats with about one hour drying time between coats.I used a wooden dowel to manipulate reach bottle as I painted and turn upside down to paint the bottoms. Then all skewered bottles were placed in a test tube rack I found somewhere. Once dry, I used fine grit sandpaper to sand embossed areas of type, bottle edges and rim. Here is my newly painted and distressed apothecary bottle collection with trims of foliage from around our yard tucked into each, accented with faux floral berries.