DIY Custom Bedazzled College Champagne Bling Bottles
Last week I was at a high school teaching a bling class, and the kids asked me how to DIY custom bedazzle college champagne bling bottle. I’m sure you’ve seen it all over social media bedazzled college champagne bottles. I will start off with my disclaimer: these are best for college graduation when it is legal to drink. I do not condone or promote underage drinking. This is why I do not use champagne bottles when making this for a teenage girl. I only make my bling bottles with sparkling apple cider or juice.
This way, you can use these for bed parties, college acceptances, high school graduation gifts, sorority rushes, or just to show off that school spirit! These are the best handmade gifts because your college kid will keep them forever! You can make these for college but also high school, sports teams, clubs, or really…whatever! Either way, the apple cider bottles look just like wine bottles. Trust me!
Custom Bedazzled College Champagne Bling Bottles
That being said, let’s get to the good stuff. Today I am showing you the very best way to add rhinestones or any bling to a champagne or sparkling apple cider bottle. Spoiler alert do not use a hot glue gun! Hot glue and glass do not love each other. Hot glue can burn you, and crack the glass plus it is not ideal for use with rhinestones! Ok, so now that you’re way past college acceptances, let’s get to the fun part!
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What type of glue should I use to bedazzle liquor bottles or apple cider bottles?
Great question! There are so many glues to choose from, and if you’re making this for your best friend you’ll want to get the right adhesive. I’ve tested a TON of glues and I love using either Beacon Gem Tac or Liquid Fusion.
I used the wrong glue the first time I made a bedazzled bottle. Guess what? All of the rhinestones started chipping off. In addition to the two glues I recommended, I would also feel confident also using Loctite gel or E6000. However, Loctite gel glue tends to have a strong odor as does the E6000, so works in a well-ventilated space if you decide to use either of those glues. Check the toxicity, too!
Bedazzling different shapes onto the bottle:
Personally, growing up in New York, I saw these bling bottles all over the place. Now that I am a Midwesterner, I thought it might be a good choice to bring the trend here!
You can absolutely purchase these on Etsy if you’re not interested in making them. These are a labor of love and take HOURS to complete. If you’re not sure you’ll want to do a full bottle, you can always start with a mini bottle or just the logo! You can start your own bottle blinging business – I am sure you will be selling these like hot cakes around graduation season.
There are colleges all over the United States, and whether you’re graduating from Penn State or Tulane, your school choice only matters for one reason — to get the right colors!
Teen girls tend to love these, too, so if you do make one for them – use apple cider or sparkling grape juice. Honestly, no one will care or notice if there isn’t actually alcohol inside. I doubt that these are ever used anyway! Don’t do the stupid thing and sell these with alcohol you can get into big trouble without a liquor license. Also, college kids are much less likely to open these if they don’t have alcohol inside!
Now it’s time to add rhinestones to the entire bottle. There are many ways to approach this project, but this is how I like to do it.
What You’ll Need:
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Rhinestones I recommend using a mix of SS20, SS30 and SS40 because they’re the biggest sizes and easier to work with. If you want to end up with a more intricate design, you can use SS16, SS12’s and SS8’s. However, using smaller rhinestones will take forever and the end result looks great with just the bigger rhinestones!
Alcohol Prep Pad
Acrylic paint (optional but nice to paint first so that you have guidelines and a background). I used posca markers to draw on the design first and that worked well!
Rhinestone tray Glue I like using Liquid Fusion or gem tac for this project.
Cricut label (totally optional) or college sticker. You can totally use a waterbottle sticker, but I made them on my Cricut.
Small condiment cup for glue (you can also just put the glue onto a paper plate or bowl)
Sparkling grape juice bottle.
*I love ordering supplies on Amazon because there are tons of selection results, free shipping (typically ships within a few business days) and it’s never final sale so if you change your mind, you can send the supplies back. Check out my favorite items on my Amazon storefront.You’ll find a full page of all of my favorite things!
Steps:
1. Lay your glass bottle onto an old t-shirt or towel so that the glass bottle doesn’t roll
2. Take your alcohol prep pad and begin cleaning the bottle thoroughly. It is not necessary to remove the label, but you can if you want to.
3. Using a white crayon or colored pencil, mark off your design. I drew my design using posca markers just so that I’d have guidelines. You can also freehand the design. Alternatively, you can cut your college logo on a Cricut or purchase a college sticker to use as a guideline. Personally, the stickers are challenging to use if you do not use the proper glue. If you do glue the rhinestones on top of the sticker, be sure to only use Liquid fusion or Beacon or two part epoxy. Only use the E6000 in a well ventilated space.
4. Once you have your design, you can use acrylic paint to fill it in or just begin to bedazzle right onto the bottle.
5. Add rhinestones to your rhinestone tray. Only pour one rhinestone color into the sorting tray at a time. Do not mix colors – it is hard to sort the rhinestones once they’re all mixed together. Work on one section and make sure it is completely dry before moving on to the next section.
6. Add glue to a small cup or bowl. Using your toothpick, apply a small amount of glue at a time to the design. Work from the inside out – it is much easier than going back in later to fill in tight spaces. Be sure to work in a straight line. Because the glass bottle is round, you’ll want to work in small sections so that the rhinestones don’t slip down the sides.
Add rhinestones in small sections, working from the inside out.
7. Once the glue is slightly dry and the rhinestones don’t move, you can slightly rotate the bottle to add more rhinestones. Once you’ve filled in the entire space with your first color, go ahead and add your next color working slowly to give the glue time to set just a bit. Wait 24 hours until you rotate the bottle to the back. This is so the glue doesn’t stick to the towel or cloth.
Finished college bling bottles
Again, if you do not want to make this a DIY and prefer to purchase one, I have found that ETSY has some great options. Otherwise, if you want to make your life a bit easier, you can also bedazzle a smaller sparkling apple cider – this will go much, much faster! In all honesty, this project did take me 6-8 hours to complete!
Do you love bling and want to add rhinestones to other projects? Check out this post about the best glues for rhinestones.
But whichever route you go…show your school pride with one of these bedazzled bottles. I promise people are going to LOVE them! They make the absolute best gifts and I can say with confidence that the recipient will want to keep them forever!
College bling bottle that I made for my friend’s daughter’s bed party. These make incredible gifts!
