Bottling Things Up...

I do love antique bottles..the shapes, the colours, the embossed lettering, the frostiness they sometimes acquire through being buried in the ground for years and years...

But just sometimes this isn't enough...

I've been selling old bottles in my shop for a while now; some sold as they are and others tied in a length of ribbon and a brooch or buckle attached, to be removed and worn if wished.

Nothing is glued, so all can be returned back to how things were if necessary.

That is until today...I finally plucked up the courage to do something I have wanted to do for a long time. I'm all for recycling and up-cycling in order to make something useful or beautiful... but just occasionally I feel a pang of guilt when I take the scissors to old fabrics and lace for example, just in case what I have planned doesn't turn out how I imagined. I am to be found regularly sewing in the shop and am often asked what I am currently making...one lady was horrified to see me chopping into a vintage hand embroidered tablecloth, until I showed her the huge tear in the middle of it and the countless rust spots which would have made it unsaleable as is. She could then see the merits of salvaging the good bits to be seen and appreciated on something new.

So, my latest handmade items include these, where I used some roughly torn fragments of antique lace which I applied to the surface of some shapely old bottles in my collection.

I suppose if someone where to take offence, then the bottles could be soaked in some clear water and eventually the lace would slip away to reveal the unscathed bottle beneath!

I know there are lots of bloggers and craftspeople out there using various vintage and antique materials in their craft work and so there shouldn't really be this sense of guilt that we are altering these things for ever, more that we are giving them a new lease of life to be loved and enjoyed for a long time to come.

That said, I would have a problem with scissors being taken to an old quilt for example, without it first being assessed if a repair were possible to prolong its intended use. Or a linen tablecloth could be given the boiling method of laundering to possibly remove some unsightly stains.

**
I bought a few more bottles at a flea market on Sunday, which still had their original stoppers in place.

These I gave a decal label in an antique style, which would make them perfect for storing bubble baths and oils in a traditional style bathroom.

And a broken china posy earring was fixed to the top of each as a sweet decorative touch. Done!

Two simple little projects that didn't cost the earth :)

Niki x