I am a bit of a DIY enthusiast especially when it comes to upcycling. From the moment I spotted these empty scotch bottles I know they would become something other than trash. When I see something that most people would toss in the trash I tend to wonder “what could I make with that?”. Thank goodness for Pinterest – my go to place for the answer to my “what could I make with that?” question for years!
Don’t forget to PIN THIS POST so you’ll have it when you’re looking for inspiration too
I found a few empty scotch bottles that the Mr. kept because he liked the look of the bottles. Lucky for me! This was going to be great… I mean, look at the bottles! They are all different heights and widths and in perfect condition to become something beautiful.
Luckily, pinterest did not disappoint and pointed me in the right direction to craft my soon to be scotch bottle tiki torches. Another blogger, House Blend Family, had a post about turning wine bottles into “wine torches” which I could easily adapt to scotch bottles.
I found the citronella oil and tiki wicks locally at Walmart and then purchased the copper couplings and copper coupling caps at Kent Building Supplies (you can find the couplings anywhere that sells plumbing supplies). The citronella oil and wicks on the other hand were a bit more difficult to find (it took me three different Walmart locations to find them!), so if you are planning to make citronella candles of any kind be sure to add citronella oil and wicks to your shopping list early in the season.
I ended up having the same issue as the House Blend Family where the wicks were not long enough. I collected rocks from the beach to fill the bottoms of the three bottles, washed them in hot water (just to get any little bugs or seaweed off) and let them dry in the sun. If you’re not close to a rocky beach you could buy decorative rocks from Dollarama or Amazon or just wash any rocks you can find that will fit in the bottle.
I then filled each bottle so that the wicks could rest on the rocks. You only need a bit of the wick to be above the coupling, so keep this in mind when filling the bottles with rocks. The next step was to complete the project – I removed the wicks once again and filled the bottles (about half way) with citronella oil using a funnel. I used more oil than necessary, but wanted to use the whole bottle between these three scotch bottles to avoid another DIY dilemma of what to do with the rest of the oil. Once the oil was in the bottles, I put the wicks back into the bottles by feeding them through the copper couplings, let the wicks soak up the oil and then lit them to try them out!
And, Voila!
I am thrilled with the outcome! I completely agree with the House Blend Family that these would make great hostess gifts or home warming gifts. I think they are the perfect addition to any patio decor and of course the bonus is they help to keep the mosquitos away! The copper caps are used when they are being stored (especially if you leave them outside, which I do) to keep the wicks dry.
If you enjoyed this post share it with your friends that also have empty scotch bottles, wine bottles or other glass bottles ready to be up-cycled – thanks in advance, it means a lot to me!
xo Jenna
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