This one isn't for my Dad lol! I made this for my Brother after a comment he made when he and our parents came to visit me. We had a lot of good drinks ;) and by the time they left (a week vacation) I had an empty bottle. My brother then said "Hey! you should make me a lamp out of this!!" I didn't want a traditional lamp with a shade and all that, however, I wanted something he and his girlfriend would still want to use in their apartment. So, this isn't too tricky of a build, however it is possible you could break glass... so be careful.

Supplies:

Safety gear! -Safety glasses and water proof gloves.

Empty and clean bottle of your choosing - hopefully still with the lid/cap/cork in tact.

Strand of Christmas - ish lights. I went with the white base so that they didn't scream Christmas 24/7

Battery Drill

Masking/Painters tape

Diamond drill bit - this needs to be just a tad larger than your plug

a Flow of water - from either a water bottle, or sink.

Sand paper - any scrap will do.

Optional - something to add into the bottle with the lights

Step 1: Lights!!

Measure the female (the end where you would plug another strand of lights into this one) plug and make sure your drill bit is a tad larger than it. OR you could do like I did, use a bit that's large enough just to slide the lights through and leave the plug hanging out for future use - ie phone charger!

I like using Patron bottles or any square shaped bottle, because it makes it easier to lay the bottle down flat. Keeps the bottle from rolling around. Pick a spot to drill your hole (like the back center) and put a piece of masking tape or painters tape over your spot. I like to use the laundry tub (or a sink that isn't too popular) and place the bottle/tape spot right under a tiny trickle of water. Remove the cork so it doesn't get ruined.

Safety first - warning the bottle could crack or break so be careful! Slowly start with the drill bit on an angle and start drilling the glass. Be careful the drill bit might slip. The tape should prevent this from happening, but doesn't always. Once you have gotten a little through your bottle and left a little mark, you can angle your drill bit flat. Make sure a little water starts to pool around your bit, but don't allow more than a trickle to come down on your bottle. This is so the bit has an easier time going through the glass without breaking it. I've seen people take breaks and use a soaked sponge, which works, but it takes a little longer to do so. With the drill bit flat on the bottle, the indent on the hole completely circle, and water starting to pool around your mark, you can apply a little more pressure to the drill to get the hole completely cut through.

Make sure to clean out any glass that is left behind. Using a little bit of sandpaper - doesn't really matter what grit - just enough to sand down the edges inside and out so you don't scratch yourself or the wires running through the bottle.

Once the bottle was completely dried, I fed the lights through the hole in the back, making sure the plug to go into the wall outlet had some room to stretch. I also left the other end of the plug sticking out the backside of mine, so that my brother could use it as a charging station (this had nothing to do with the fact that my drill bit was smaller than I thought ;) lol). I slowly fed the lights through the new hole and poured some sea shells from our trip to Surfside Beach in Galveston, TX in the bottles normal opening. I did a little bit of lights, then shells, then lights again - alternating this so the bottle was varied. You don't have to use shells. You can use tiny marbles, or anything that will fit into the top of the bottle. You could also skip anything extra and just go with the lights. My brother actually requested the sea shells.

Place the cork back in the top and plug it in! Wahooo! Bask in the glow of your finished project!!