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How to upcycle glass bottles and jars | How to weave rattan basket

How to upcycle empty glass bottles and jars, and turn them into beautiful home decor. Check out this post to learn how to DIY wicker covered glass bottle vase with rattan reeds.

How to upcycle glass bottles and jars with rattan reeds

DIY Rattan Wrapped Vase Video Trailer

Here’s a video trailer of this project so you get an overview on what I did. 

You can watch the full length video which is embedded in the middle of this post. If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. I’m posting DIY videos on my channel on a regular basis, so subscribe if you like to see more videos like this!

Upcycle glass jars and bottles to repurpose them into beautiful home decor

Do you have unused glass bottles at home? If so, this project is for you. I upcycled my old glass bottle and  wrap it in rattan to serve as a beautiful vase. 

The same DIY techniques can be used for glass jars too. If you have used jars and bottles laying around your home, it is a great idea to repurpose them into something beautiful.

With the quarantine situation, I buy a lot of condensed coffee to keep myself awake during workdays, since I no longer have access to those free coffee at my work. Over a short period of time, I have accumulated a lot of glass bottles. 

how to upcycle empty glass bottles

It’s kinda wasteful to throw them away so I was trying to find ways to repurpose my glass bottles and jam jars. So I came up with this idea to cover glass bottles with rattan and turn them into a beautiful vase. 

Repurpose glass bottles and jars
glass bottle craft ideas

DIY rattan wrapped glass vase is actually easy

Working with rattan may sound intimidating if you haven’t tried it, but I promise you it is a lot easier than you thought. With knowing just a few simple rattan weaving techniques, all you do is to repeat. 

That’s why I think this DIY project is actually really mesmerizing. I like listening to a podcast or playlist while doing this. 

For this DIY tutorial, I’m making a rattan bottle holder to decorate the glass bottle. Once you learnt it once, you can make your own adjustment to create more variations. You can make aset of glass cup holders to add natural textures to your drinking cups, or you can use rattan reeds to wrap a glass jam jar and make it a little lantern for your tealight candles.

Sounds good? Let’s get started 🙂

wicker covered glass bottles

Repurpose glass bottle with rattan video

I made a video of this DIY process because I know sometimes it is a lot easier to learn things visually. For this wicker covered glass bottles project, it certainly is the case.

My recommendation for this project is to watch the video first, then you can use the DIY materials and instructions below to understand how to choose the supply and a steps breakdown.

If you like this video, be sure to subscribe to my Youtube channel for more DIY decor ideas.

Upcycle glass bottle with rattan materials

How to upcycle glass bottles and jars with rattan

Rattan round reed

There are multiple sizes of rattan reed available. For me personally I used #2 round reed for this project as it is more flexible. This project is smaller and requires bending the rattan a lot.

 Another great size is #3 round reed which I use for making baskets, as it is slightly thicker.

Glass bottles or jars you’d like to upcycle

I’m using a used glass bottle in this example, but you can use empty jam jars, drinking glass, glass vase, or any types of glass vessels.

Wire cutter

You can use a scissor to cut rattan reed, but a wire cutter makes it so much easier. Also the sharp point allows you to have a very clean cut. I actually use it for other types of DIY projects too.

Upcycle glass bottle with rattan instructions

glass bottle craft idea - rattan covered vase

Prepare rattan reeds and your glass bottles

To prepare the rattan reed, soak in water for 10 mins to soften them up, until you can easily bend a reed with your finger without much resistance. 

how to weave with rattan round reed

For this project you need 16 round reeds as the “stake” which will form the bottom of a basket and then fold up to become the frame of the sides. You’ll also need several long reeds as the “weaver” which weave through the stakes, usually follow an “S” shape around the stakes.

I also prepared the glass bottle I’d like to upcycle. I just peeled the label off from my coffee bottle. If it is hard to peel off labels from the glass bottles and jars you want to upcycle, you can use a hair dryer to flow heat to the label for 10 seconds, which will melt the glue and make it easier to peel. 

When I encounter stubborn glue residue, I use Goo Gone which is truly magical to remove any ugly residue left by stickers and labels!

Cut rattan read and form weaving structure

Now it’s time to build a base that your upcycled glass bottle will sit on.

I started by cutting those 16 rattan reeds to size, which are also serving as “stakes”. each one is about 22 inches in my case. 

I then divided them into four groups and bended the middle of each group so that I know where the center is. And I overlay them into a “#” shape with each group on top of each other. 

wicker covered glass bottles

The next step is to secure this structure by weaving through this “#” shape. I placed a weaver(long reed that will weave through the stakes) behind one group of reeds and folded it over. Then I just have it go over and under each group of reeds. I did about four rounds before I broke each group into two so two reeds per group, and continued the over and under weaving.

how to weave with round reed

Build wicker glass bottle holder base

Once I completed a full round with the weaver, I inserted another weaver to do a “chase weave”. 

diy wicker bottle vase
How to upcycle glass bottles and jars with wicker

Basically what a “chase weave” does is: The two weavers begin on the same side with one just above the other, and weave in a spiral shape. The upper weaver never passes the lower one. So it is like two spirals going around the stakes. 

This is Because the stakes are in an even number, adding another weaver will ensure that each stake will be weaved over and under. 

upcycle glass bottle decor with rattan reed

And then I just continue with the same pattern alternating the two weavers to form a large enough circle until it is almost the size of the bottom of the glass bottle.

Btw, it is super helpful to have a spray bottle on hand to keep the reed moist while you weave.

So at this point, it’s time to add another weaver to “triple weave”. This is to stabilize the base, and form a more sturdy structure for your rattan bottle holder. 

upcycle glass bottle decor with rattan reed DIY

So what you do is for each reed you want it to go over two stakes and then under one stake. They will do this in alternation, while twisting them around each other. I went around the whole circle and stopped at where I inserted the third weaver. 

I didn’t bother tucking the end in because this side is the inside. Then I placed it on the glass bottle and gently pressed the stakes so they follow the shape of the bottle.

Weave upward along the upcycled glass bottle

DIY wicker bottle

So now we are down to two weavers and all we need to do is to follow the same weaving technique called chase weave which is two weavers going in a spiral way. 

wicker bottle vase DIY

Whenever you reach the end of a weaver, you can tuck the weaver behind a stake and begin a new one at the same place. Once it dries it holds its shape really well. 

So I just keep going around and around until they reach the desired height which is about 2 inch in my case. To finish that off, I twist the two reeds around each stake(which is called twining). Once I finish the full circle I just tuck them into the pocket underneath.

DIY rattan bottle holder

Use round reeds to create open patterns

And now it is time to create the open pattern. Open pattern is great because it not only creates an interesting pattern, but also saves time and material.

I folded a long weaver in half. make sure to fold it in a gentle curve so it doesn’t break in the middle. 

round reed rattan waving

Then I brought two reeds together that were two reed apart, and secured them with the weaver twisting at each intersection. I did it for two rounds. And to finish it off, I tucked the weavers into those pockets underneath. 

DIY rattan bottle holder
DIY rattan bottle holder

If it was hard to push them through, simply cut the tip at an angle and it will be much easier.

 this is looking pretty good and you can totally stop here, but I wanted it to be slightly taller because my glass bottle is quite large. So I did another round of this pattern and I’m quite happy with how it turned out. 

DIY wicker bottle holder

Finish off the top rim of wicker bottle holder

To give it a nice finished touch, it’s always a good idea to form a rim. For each vertical reed you’ll want to fold it sideways so that it would go over three other reeds and under one. 

Then I cut off the extra length using a wire cutter. So each stake will do the same – over three and under one. and I just go around the entire circle and trim it along the way.

DIY glass bottle craft idea - rattan covered vase

For the last few stakes, I follow a similar weaving pattern but also weave them through the pockets below so make it look more cohesive. I also trimed all the extra bits at the end. 

That is all the weaving work! Now just be patient and let the rattan bottle holder dry overnight with the glass bottle you want to upcycled inside. 

Rattan will shrink during drying and that will create a very snug fit to the glass bottles and jars. 

How to upcycle glass bottles and jars with rattan
DIY rattan wrapped glass vase

Repurposed glass bottle craft finished look

So this is what this repurposed wicker bottle looks like: 

Repurpose glass bottles and jars wicker crafts
wicker covered glass bottles DIY

I think the pattern looks very classic with a boho twist. It looks nice with a lot of different interior styles. You can simply use it as a vase for flowers, or just by itself for decoration. 

Because there is a lot of repetition so once you get going it will definitely get easier and easier.

How to upcycle glass bottles and jars with wicker

Thanks for following along and I hope you like this project just as much as I did! 

The techniques from this project can be applied to other decors, such as candle holder, or drinking glass. Let me know what you think about this project in the comment!

Other upcycling home decor ideas

Upcycle vintage cigar box | cigar box craft ideas

Old coffee table makeover

Vintage Dresser Makeover

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How to upcycle used glass bottles and jars with rattan reed - basket weaving for beginners

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4 Comments

  1. Hi, this is a lovely idea! Is there any chance that you can link to a UK reed provider? I’m from the UK and the link on your YouTube is for outside of the UK. I know that there’s a brand called Rayher that provide a similar product, but I’m unsure of the size. Thanks, Henna.