{centerpieces: bottle update}

I've started bartending again. One of the wedding-related bonuses? I get to take home any cool looking {empty} bottles that are destined to be disposed of. Last night I brought home an additional 16 bottles to add to my collection.

Here is what I have so far.

 

Oh, and please accept my standing apology for the poor photos. Someday we will get a nice DSLR and I'll learn how to use it and have beautiful blog worthy photos. Someday.

I want to make sure our centerpieces have a good mixture of color variation and height variation so I reorganized the bottles this morning to see what I have to work with.

 

I love the color gradient effect but this isn't the way that they will be set up. (At least that I plan right now. All plans subject to change. And change. Maybe a little second-guessing, panic, and then change again.) This at least helps me make sure that we don't end up with 5,000 blue Skyy bottles and a handful of other kinds. I had a moment of disappointment when I looked at this lineup that this wasn't matching the vision I had. Don't worry if they don't look all that great right now.

After staring at the color organized bottles in jammies like a mad woman, I realized I don't think that the brown bottles fit. Like skinny jeans after Thanksgiving dinner. You could probably hide the muffin-top with a flowy top but it just wouldn't feel right. (You're welcome for that visual.) I was going to accept them as a neutral but then nixed them. Ya'know, gave the whole, "it's not you, it's me" talk. Don't worry, I'm sure I will find another purpose for them later. (Maybe even expect another post about wine bottle uses.) All I had left with were yellow-green bottles, dark green bottles, bright green bottles, dark blue bottles, light blue bottles, and clear bottles. Phew. But even this isn't the final cut.

Remember my plans to paint some of the bottles/jars?

Well, I only have the one to demonstrate the idea. It's the wrong kind of paint so I'm sure it won't hold up well with water in it but it does a good job of being a stand in. Right now it stands out like a big fat opaque sore thumb. All of the clear glasses on the far right will get the paint treatment in varying blues and greens so let's just cut them out of the picture.

Ahhhh. Love it. The blue and green opaque vases will add another layer of dimension while still fitting into the color scheme. Best part? so far it is has be fuh-reeee. I'll need to add in the cost of some goo-be-gone or olive oil to de-label and de-stickify my beautiful vessels plus the cost of paint when that time comes. Overall, project bottle-jar-centerpiece is progressing in a successful manner.

I know soon I will have to start being pickier with what bottles/jars I collect for this project. They are slowly taking over and I'll need to come up with a system to store them while still being able to keep track of colors and height categories. Oh, and I need to calculate how many will be needed for each table.

Official statement on behalf of our livers: Most of these bottles have been collected from friends and family. As much as a large quantity of alcohol bottles on our living room hearth makes us appear to be alcoholics, I assure you we are not.