Create some spooky apothecary bottles to decorate your house! This craft can be made with little to no money and the customization possibilities are endless. So finish off those pickles in your fridge and grab your paint and let’s get creepy crafty!

These DIY apothecary bottles can be customized to your liking. You can choose the paint colors and how grungy you want them to be. Afterwards you can add labels or tags, or you can leave them plain. The directions below are merely suggestions. Get creative and make it your own!

Here’s What You’ll Need!

DIY Antiqued Apothecary Bottles Supplies:

  • Glass bottle or jar (I bought one from the craft store for $1 and the other is a pickle jar!)
  • Sandpaper (coarse grit or lower number is better)
  • Acrylic craft paint
    • Black
    • Brown
    • Gray (optional)
    • Moldy Green (optional)
  • Paint brushes
  • Paper towels or napkins
  • Cup with water

Step One:

Sand your bottles with coarse sandpaper. Go in different directions and focus on areas that would get normal wear and tear. Make sure you sand it enough that the paint has something to adhere to. (You could stop here if you like this look! It’s up to you.)

Step Two:

Mix your paint colors to your liking. They don’t need to be well blended, I think it looks more realistic streaky. Add in some water so the paint isn’t too thick and paint your jar. Don’t let the paint dry too much before the next step.

Step Three:

Wait a second for the paint to get tacky, but not dry. Wipe most of the paint off with a paper towel. You can decide if you want to wipe more or less off. For the pickle jar, I kept more paint on, while I wiped more off the smaller bottle.

You could stop here if you like this look, or take it a step further…

Optional Step Four:

Take a dry paintbrush (stiffer is better) or an old toothbrush and dip it in some watered down black paint. Use your finger to spray or flick black specks on the bottles. Do a little, or a lot by varying the distance between the brush and the bottle. It’s up to you!

(I also painted my pickle lid black)

And You’re Done! SpooOooky!