With Thanksgiving just one day away, I thought it would be nice to share with everyone what I decided to do for my table’s centerpiece. There is plenty of holiday decor you can purchase to make your table look fabulous, but if you want to be a little crafty, why not try this quick project to make your very own! I made a couple things to piece together and each element of this project can be customized to fit your color scheme or theme!
DIY- Upcycled Holiday Centerpiece
What you will need:
-Bottles (I used two SKYY Vodka bottles with the labels peeled off) -As many as you would like to use!
-Glue (Recommended: E-6000 industrial adhesive -I use it for everything)
-Mod Podge & brush
-1 Hot glue gun-E-6000 can be used if you do not own a glue gun
-1 Pumpkin (or more if you would like!)
-About 7-8 leaves from outside (Preferably ones that are still fresh and not too crispy)
Step 1:
Have you ever tried to use a flame to cut a bottle? This was my first try and it was not as simple as most tutorials make it seem. I had a bit of a jagged edge but since I was covering it, it wasn’t a big deal. Here is a quick how to:
-Fill a small dish with nail polish remover
-Grab some string and wrap it around where you would like the bottle to break. I started with a hemp wire and it did not work at all. I found using an old shoe lace wrapped 3 times around finally broke the thick bottle!
-Remove the string and dip in polish remover until completely soaked
-Place back on to bottle and light the string
WARNING: Be sure the polish remover isn’t dripping down the bottle as this will also ignite and become quite dangerous to hold. -I know, because it happened to me!
-Hold both ends of the bottle until the flame has spread evenly and goes out.
-Immediately dump the bottle into ice cold water (filled my sink) and the bottle should crack immediately.
Once this step was complete, I began gluing hemp string around the top of the bottle. Using a hot glue gun (or an alternative strong adhesive) place a line of glue around and follow with the string. Once the first bit is secure, continue to wrap the string around only adding glue when necessary. I used two bottles for this project, both SKYY Vodka bottles. By cutting one bottle and leaving the other, adding hemp tied together both looks!
Next: The Pumpkin!
Since I decided to go for a natural theme for my centerpiece, I collected some leaves and attached them to a white pumpkin. The beauty of this step is that you can customize it however you’d like! Want to add some lace to that pumpkin? Go right ahead! Maybe get a black sharpie or paint and make a unique design. You can even add pearls or rhinestones glued into an elegant swirl!
If you would like to mod podge some leaves, here’s what to do:
1-Collect 7-8 leaves (for a medium sized pumpkin) Make sure you get leaves that are somewhat fresh and flexible without cracking and crumbling.
2-Since some of my leaves were a little weathered, I used the E-6000 glue to place them around the pumpkin
2-Once laid flat, mod podge over the leaves to secure them.
You can also crumble the leaves around the top to fill in some open spaces.
Let this pumpkin dry for about an hour and voila! A unique addition to your centerpiece.
Once finished, I decided to take the tall bottle and add a twig with some berries on it from my yard. The other bottle was filled with water and a floating candle. I added a small ceramic squash candle holder and metal leaves from an old broken fall decor item. I plan to take these items and spread them across the runner on our table for Thanksgiving, making the piece run the length of the table. There are many ways to tackle this project, let your imagination play!
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Upcycle 
