12 Days of Post-Christmas Projects ~ Day 11. Lighted City Bottle

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Does anyone else have a hard time finishing all the Christmas projects on your to-do list AND complete all your shopping AND attend all the Christmas parties??? Every year I'm left with a list of projects that never happen and by the time next Christmas rolls around I've forgotten what I wanted to work on. NOT THIS YEAR! 12 Days of {Post~} Christmas projects continues.

I originally saw some Christmas Candle Jars over on Shabby Art Boutique but I wanted to support my hometown, St Louis. It was a little rough in STL the last half of 2014. And instead of jars I used leftover booze bottles. Copper Run has some of the best whiskey ever. I thought I'd do a test run and Three Olives has great frosted bottles so I started there.

I found an image of the St Louis skyline and traced the design onto my bottles. You can do this for just about any skyline you like or use the patterns provided over at Shabby Art Boutique if you want a a little town.

Instead of a candle I wanted Christmas lights inside the bottle so I picked up a glass and tile drill bit large enough to fit the bulb through and got to work. Success! I tested out the end of the strand and had successfully drilled through the bottle, without cutting myself and without breaking the bottle. One small problem... I only tested out the first bulb. Once you try to feed the 2nd light into the bottle you have to fit the bulb AND the wire. I didn't account for this. With a little help from the hubby we figured it out though.

If you run into a similar problem here are the steps I went through. 1. Cut your wire towards then end with a plug. 2. Feed the cut in into the bottle from the top and out through the drilled hole. It's actually not as hard as it might sound. 3. Twist the correct wires together and 4. Twist on a wire connector. Test the light to make sure your wires are connected correctly and then hold in place but wrapping with electrical tape.

 And now the bottles are ready to go!

A house divided. My hubby likes this bottle best. I think the Christmas lights mess up the view of the skyline. I'll be ordering a strand of Christmas lights with less than 25. I believe I saw a 10 count strand on Amazon for a couple of bucks.

12 Days of Post-Christmas Projects
Day 1. Crochet Christmas Tree
Day 2. Crochet Santa Apron 
Day 3. Crochet Spirit Bottle
Day 4. Crochet Santa Pillow
Day 5. Cork Reindeer  
Day 6. Pupcakes 
Day 7. Crochet Bottle Cozy 
Day 8. Crochet Stocking
Day 9. DIY Snowflakes 
Day 10. Crochet Christmas Pillow 

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***While I'm thrilled to share my step-by-step directions, the good and the bad, these are intended for your personal use. I'm always happy to hear and see what my bloggers have been working on. BUT a lot of work goes into these creations and while I have no issues sharing so you are able to create the work for your precious homes please understand that selling an exact duplication of my designs is highly frowned upon. :( Please always be considerate of another artists work. Thank you!***