Witch Bottles

Does anybody make witch bottles for a Halloween display?

I made a bunch of them last year and brought them into work. I used a wooden crate (painted black) and arranged purple mini-lights on the stand where I put the bottles and crate. They were a big hit at work for Halloween.

It's time to start working on them again. Last night, I spent a couple hours washing saved bottles and jars and removing old labels. My bottles contain all kinds of liquids and powders to be used in all sorts of "witchy" spells. There are Vampire Teeth (large crystals of kosher salt mixed with red food coloring for blood), Gryphon Claws (a pair of turkey feet that my boss gives me every year to put in a huge jar), Unicorn Blood (silver paint), Shaven Gnome Toes (sprouted garlic and peppercorns in oil), etc. My GF even made me some gorgeous little fairy wings to use for potions and spells. I made my own labels for each jar or bottle. All the lids and tops are painted black. I don't use anything plastic, strictly glass. I made up a paper mache witch's cookbook. It's a lot of fun to work on things like this.

I found out that Tide laundry detergent actually glows under a black light. Did a lot of research on Harry Potter sites to get the information I wanted.

I have enough for a nice display at work and another display for the hutch in our kitchen. I'll take some pictures again this year when the display is ready.

Anybody else doing anything special for Halloween?

That is really a cool idea.....I am always looking for something else to do at Halloween because I like it probably second to Thanksgiving. Christmas is just too much and so far afield from what it should be.

We usually get all the kids and grandkids over and we decorate our trails in the woods with scary signs like "i'd turn back if I were you" and various ominous sayings.lol. I hung a stuffed "guy" in the trees, put scary plastic hands coming up from under the footbridge...

Some of the kids won't go back there alone! But that is the fun of Halloween. Watching the kids running and laughing...and screaming!!

I would love to be able to decorate outside for Halloween, but there aren't enough kids in the neighborhood to make it worthwhile. Take some pictures, if you don't mind! I'd love to see what you do!

Here are some pictures of the witch bottles from last year, so you can get an idea of what I'm doing. They're not the greatest pictures, but I can't find my good ones. I'll be taking more pictures of the overall display once it's finished. It's a lot of work to get each bottle done, but the effect is really great once everything is arranged.

This morning, I asked my boss if I could borrow his turkey feet again this year. He laughed at me, but said he'd bring them in on Monday for me.

I also have Premium Amazonian Snake Oil - to be Used in Vengeance Potions and to Treat Rheumatioid Athritis

Hungarian Horntail Dragon Blood - Thirteen Practical Uses (Including Cauldron Cleaning!)

And of course, my labels needed an icon, what bette than a black cat!

You get the idea....here are the pictures. Note that the stains on the labels were put there on purpose. I was trying to give the idea that the bottles are really being used and are old.

Those are fantastic!!! Wow, love the authentic looking labels too. Man, my grandkids would love them. I can see the boys chasing the girls around with the gorey contents!!

You have a great imagination. Your boss has turkey feet? Has he seen a foot doctor?

I have no idea what a witch bottle is.

Edit: I see the pictures now. They were slow to show.

No, I've never made those. Cool idea though.

Yes I would love to see a photo of that. I am not artistic at all so I won't be doing anything like that but I love to see others who do.

Edit...ok just saw the pics, very nice.

Wow - those are gorgeous and SO creative!!!!!

I love those bottles! Where in the world did you come up with the labels? Is that something you designed on your own?

I would love to be able to decorate outside for Halloween, but there aren't enough kids in the neighborhood to make it worthwhile.

Click to expand...

That's our problem, too. There are a lot of kids in the neighborhood, but it seems as if they all end up at the trick-or-treat event at our local Mall. The fact the we live on sort of a dead end street (there's a cemetery at one end) doesn't help, either. I usually decorate my little heart out, then end up with all of 20 trick-or-treaters. *sigh*

Never heard of them but they are neat.

What did you use for "Pixie Dust" and what are those things that look like marbles in the smaller jar?

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you used liquid marbles for the eggs jar.

Those things are awesome, available at dollar tree. Video to show:
This is a great idea, I may have to incorporate this idea into decorating my new apartment!

Oh and those marble things are neat! They're like a super absorbent polymer similar to the stuff used in baby diapers and that homemade snow kit.

Originally Posted by Nekomania

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you used liquid marbles for the eggs jar.

Those things are awesome, available at dollar tree. Video to show:
This is a great idea, I may have to incorporate this idea into decorating my new apartment!

Oh and those marble things are neat! They're like a super absorbent polymer similar to the stuff used in baby diapers and that homemade snow kit.

Click to expand...

I've never heard of those! Pretty neat!

I found a youtube video showing how to make your own with 3 ingredients. Looks very easy. I'm going to bookmark it and give it a try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSM5w...eature=related

Here is another one

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I've never heard of those! Pretty neat!

I found a youtube video showing how to make your own with 3 ingredients. Looks very easy. I'm going to bookmark it and give it a try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSM5w...eature=related

Here is another one

Click to expand...

I think those youtube videos on how to make your own are actually fake. But I haven't tried myself so I am not sure.

=D If they are fake, the marbles are still REALLY cheap and completely reusable after they dry out you just add more water.

Sorry, I've not been on the computer for quite awhile.

The Pickled Doxy Eggs are simply flat-type clear marbles packed in a solution from a room freshener. I bought them packed in a little container (the whole thing was advertised as room fresherner from Christmas Tree Hill), removed them from the container and put them in a small glass jar.

The Concentrated Pixie Dust is simply red and white little decorating sugars that you use to decorate cookies and cakes. I only used red and white because, for some reason, I think those are pixie-ish colors. But you could use any color you wanted.

The Shaven Gnome Toes are peeled cloves of garlic in oil. I placed some peppercorns in the jar, too, just to add a bit of "dirt.

I also have Albino Jellyfish Stingers - Hot glue strands in blue water.

Things I use in making witch bottles:

Clean glass jars and bottles (remove all labels....if you can get the label off, rub the area well with oil or use GooGone) I asked people to save me jars and bottles and they were only too willing to give them to me. Only glass, though, unless you don't mind using plastic. Find unusual bottles in stores. My Hellboro

Black spray paint to spray all lids, tops, and corks

Binder Twine to wrap around bottle necks

Glue Sticks and a glue gun

Matte Varnishfor acrylic paint. I use that to spray the label after it's placed on the jar. It will help protect it a little bit.

I make my own labels, using PSP and regular printer paper. Use a laser printer to reduce ink runs. I dip my pages of labels in coffee to get an "old" look and ink-jet ink can run. I let the pages dry, then carefully cut the labels.

When I'm working on labels on the computer, I'll measure out the bottle or jar to see what size label I should make.

Some ingredients for the bottles:

seed pods
unusual looking roots
pieces of pine cones
bottles of food -anchovies or other fish, for example
sea or kosher salt
pieces of tree bark
Peppadews
pieces of dried marigold flowers
pieces of dried herbs or leaves
glycerin
food coloring
peppercorns of all colors (can be used as beetle dung, for example)
strands of hot glue
stones
colored vegetable oil (just grab a cheap bottle)
cheap lotions, shampoos, conditioners, etc. that you can dilute or change colors

Go to WalMart or a fishing store and look at the lures. My Premium Amazonian Snake Oil is simply a bunch of snaky-looking fishing lures in a light green vegetable oil. I can't even touch the things....DH puts that jar together! Ugh

Go to a Party City store or other kind of store that specializes in items for seasonal parties. My GF found some great eyeballs at a local store for me to use this year. She's the same GF who made me some gorgeous fairy wings to put into a jar. I found some fake spiders for a jar called Elven Hairy Spiders - Warning: Must Use Within 27 Hours After Activation .

Ask a hunter for turkey feet. My boss is an avid hunter, so he brings in a pair of turkey feet for me. I call them Gryphon Claws - Forelimbs of Male Beasts Found Dead of Broken Hearts After the Deaths of Their Lifelong Mates

Look for unusual looking bottles you can use. Small trial size liquor bottles work well, too. When you're at the grocery store, look for neat bottles. Yes, I'll buy whatever's in the bottle, just to get the bottle.

Get the idea? Do research. Check out some Harry Potter sites for information on ingredients used in spells and potions.

It really is a lot of fun to put together a display. I got the idea from another board I post on and fell in love with witch bottles.

Oh! You can get labels for jars and cans here: http://aranamuerta.com/2008/01/29/witches-kitchen In fact, check the site out because her ideas are amazing.

If you have any questions, I'll try to help you. I'm no expert by any means, but I enjoy making them.

And don't forget your witch's cookbook!

SO SO SO very cool! Thanks for sharing!

They're brilliant! Bet they'd make a really cool school project, too.

Awesome idea!

I wish I lived in a neighborhood that had kids.