A spaghetti sauce jar makes a great vase, but not necessarily when it *looks* like a spaghetti sauce jar, you know? The best upcycled vases don’t look like you’ve just scrounged them out of your recycling bin, even though you have.
But the BEST upcycled vases, the ones that you can actually use to hold, you know, flowers, are also washable. That’s why you’re not going to find any hot glued, painted on the inside vases in this round-up. I’m only interested in REAL vases, really upcycled.
Here are some great ways to update, embellish, or just plain redo those recyclables to turn them into gorgeous flower vases that look like nothing they once held yummy tomato sauce:
1. crushed can vase. The key here, obviously, is to make sure that your can is really, really, REALLY cute. This is a great use for that fancy foreign soda from the international market across town.
2. etched glass vase. Use this technique with any of the other glass vase ideas on this list–it’s a way to embellish your glass vase and keep it dishwasher-safe.
3. grid-top vase. A gridded top makes it super easy to create professional-looking flower arrangements.
4. light bulb. After you hollow out your light bulb, it will make a lovely vase when set in a holder–a shallow dish full of gravel, perhaps?
5. painted ceramic vases. Draw on thrifted white vases with ceramics markers
6. paper-wrapped bottle. This is another way to keep everything recyclable, and avoid even having to clean off the labels from a spaghetti jar or Snapple bottle. The pretty paper makes this vase easy to create in multiples, and so it’s great for weddings or baby showers, etc.
7. perfume bottle. Although it can be a pain in the butt to get the top off of a perfume bottle, it’s generally then pretty enough to be used without any further embellishments required.
8. plastic bottle vase. It looks beautiful, and it’s unbreakable.
9. soda can. Tape brown paper bag around the soda can, so that both paper and can remain recyclable after use.
10. spice jar wall frames. Upcycled spice jars make excellent bud vases, and since they hang in wooden frames, they won’t take up any table room!
11. tissue paper-decoupaged glass bottles. The tissue paper lends a stained glass effect, and it’s waterproof when sealed.
12. wine bottles. Although this specific tutorial is for making wine bottles into tumblers, you can also make a vase by cutting the bottle above the part where it begins to narrow–I really like a narrowed opening on my vases!
