How to Paint a Folk Art Coca-Cola Bottle

I've been spray painting some of my vintage Coca-Cola bottles because they look awesome that way, even though I don't know what to do with them afterwards other than put them back on the same shelf where they lived before, but now looking awesome.

I'm thinking candle holders. Stay tuned.

Anyway, every now and then I mess up the spray paint job and end up with bubbles or drips, so I was also trying to think of a way to rescue the messed-up bottles, when I remembered how even more awesome the folk art Coca-Cola bottles that we saw at World of Coca-Cola were.

The folk art bottles were embellished in all kinds of ways, from decoupage to beading to even more extreme transformations, but the most accessible method that still had beautiful results was simply to paint on them.

To make the most authentic folk art, you should have no expectations built from previous experiences of what the artwork should be, so instead of trying something myself, I first gave a red spray-painted Coca-Cola bottle to the youngest of us. I provided her with my new favorite art supply, paint pens, and asked her if she would like to paint on this bottle for me.

Reader, she would!



And you're not going to believe what she came up with. The specific decorations are very much her own, but I think that the overall look reminds me VERY much of other folk art Coca-Cola bottles that I've seen:



I love that she went over the embossing in white, so that it stands out, and there's also a cat and a ballerina, representing her favorite things, and a mug of hot coffee, which she says represents my favorite thing.

I've already tried to get Will to paint a bottle, too, and she refused because she didn't like the feel of painting over the bumps, but I'm hoping that if I can catch her in the right mood she'll agree another time, and then I'll corner Matt, and then I'll make one, myself, and then we'll have a whole family of painted folk art bottles.

Just don't ask me what I'm going to do with them...

P.S. Here are some other things you could do with a stash of clear vintage bottles on your hands:

• Cut them down and pour candles in them.
• I'm pretty sure I have the right tools to drill a hole into a glass bottle, maybe for a string of twinkle lights or a post.
• If they're filthy, here's the best way to get them squeaky clean.
• I do NOT have the tools to flatten a glass bottle. Do you?
• I think this paint-dyed glue would make a more economical alternative to paint pens.
• I don't love the effects of dyeing the bottle from the inside, but maybe you do?
• I also want to try painting them from the inside with craft acrylics.
• Cover the bottle in twine, and it would make a lovely vase.