Plastic Bottle "Stained Glass" Candleholder

Turn those old soda bottles laying around into beautiful "stained glass" candleholders perfect for your next garden party, or a great gift, and made from materials and tools you likely have laying around the house already and would wind up getting thrown out instead of being turned into a beautiful light.

Remember to never leave candles unattended! We've burned ours for hours on end with no problems- actually we were hoping the plastic edges would curl more than they have, and we feel ours to be perfectly safe to use indoors but I keep an eye on it. You might prefer to use it outdoors because of burning a candle inside of plastic, but it could easily be made into a lamp if you wired a led into it or filled it with Christmas lights.

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Step 1: What You Need

2 Clean used clear plastic soda bottles with a compartmentalized base
Sharpie pens of whatever colors you want your project to be
Tea light
Glass tea light holder
Scissors
Elmer's glue (or any other glue you want) (optional)

Step 2: Destruction of Plastic

The first bottle you cut saving the base of the bottle to become the base of the candleholder. The pieces are layered on top of each other with the opposite side from cutting out becoming the second layer.

The second bottle is cut just from the center part with no base or top. Each layer will get sandwiched on top of each other to become contrasting layers of stained glass

I just cut them all freehand but if you wanted to you could easily trace a pattern on with a whiteboard marker and use that to cut then wipe it off before coloring in the design.

Step 3: Coloration

First test your colors to make sure you really want to use the ones you have decided on. I used a piece of the cut top bottle to test how the colors would work on the finished product to see which colors of sharpie I was going to use for best contrast.

Next color in whatever pattern you find suitable, I decided on a simple design with one color for each wing that I had cut out. I colored each piece in the same fashion and with the same basic design.

Step 4: Slide It Together and Light It Up

Slip the second ring inside the one with a base and keep doing that keeping an eye on the colors and patterns of the overlaps being pretty as you do so. If the pieces don't seem secure you can use a few dabs of Elmer's or any other glue you have lying around that dries clear to hold the pieces together.

Place a small glass tea light holder in the center- you can glue it down if you feel so inclined. Light a tea light and place in the holder. Enjoy your new stained glass enhanced ambiance.