Vintage bottles look lovely on display at clusters on a table or revealing the light on a windowsill, but true antique bottles can be tough to find and expensive. Save time and money by making new bottles look antique. You control how old and dirty you need your bottles to be. Pick up plain bottles at thrift or discount stores or dig through your recycle bin for bottles wanting a makeover.
Wash the exterior of the bottle with rubbing alcohol and a paper towel. This will remove grime and dirt and fingerprint acrylic.
Mix 1 teaspoon white glue, 1 1/2 teaspoons water and 3 drops of liquid food coloring in a small dish. Use a craft stick to stir the mixture. This is your tint mixture. If your chosen shade requires mixing two or more hues of food coloring, mix the shade in a small dish, then drip the three falls required into the tint mixture.
Put a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface. Stand the bottle at the middle of this paper. With a sponge brush, apply the tint mixture to the exterior of the bottle. Stroke the tint from top to bottom. Put a finger inside the bottles neck to hold and flip. Permit the tint to dry.
Dampen a sea sponge with water. Dip the sponge into the rest of the tint mixture. Randomly dab the mixture to any area you believe would have accumulated mineral deposits in era. Permit the tint to dry.
Dip your fingers into spackling plaster. Gently apply a coat of this plaster to the entire surface of the bottle. This does not need to be evenly or absolutely applied. Apply thicker areas of plaster in which you feel mineral deposits would have naturally occurred over time.
Pour a teaspoon of fresh coffee grounds onto a paper plate. Dip your wet-plaster fingers to the coffee grounds. Randomly apply the grounds into the heavier areas of plaster. Dip your fingers in much more plaster and continue to manipulate and spread the java color to era and stain as desired. Permit the plaster to dry.