The Art of Upcycling Glass Vessels: A Hoarder's Creative Journey

As I sit in my small apartment, surrounded by glass vessels that have been collecting dust for years, I am reminded of the importance of creativity and resourcefulness. My partner, Andrew, and I have decided to take on a project that will not only declutter our space but also give new life to these forgotten containers. We are going to transform them into textured planters using air dry clay.

To begin, we rolled out the clay in our small kitchen, using a water bottle as a makeshift rolling pin. The goal was to create a uniform thickness, about a quarter of an inch, which will serve as the foundation for our planter's body. As we worked, I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia wash over me. These glass vessels had been collecting dust in my apartment for years, and it was time to let them go. But, as I looked at them now, I knew that they still had life left in them.

Once the clay was rolled out, we covered the vessel with it, creating a seamless bond between the glass and the ceramic material. To smooth out the seam, we applied a small amount of water to the area, allowing us to shape and mold the clay into a more refined finish. The seam was now invisible, thanks to our careful technique.

As we worked on our planter, I couldn't help but think about the imperfections that would become its character. We were going for a textured look, using a fork as a stamp to create a repeating pattern. The zigzag design was almost random, with each pass of the fork leaving behind a new mark. It was both chaotic and beautiful, much like our hoarding tendencies.

As we applied more clay to the planter, I realized that this project was not just about creating something new; it was also about embracing the imperfections of the past. The glass vessels had been holding onto us for years, each one a reminder of a memory or experience that we couldn't quite recall. But now, as we worked on our planter, we were turning those memories into something tangible and beautiful.

The drying time was 24 hours, which gave us plenty of time to relax and contemplate the project's progress. When the clay had dried completely, it was time to add a coat of paint. We wanted our planters to look like they had been in a kiln for years, so we applied a rough, textured finish that would give them a worn, antique look.

As the paint dried, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement about what our next project would be. The world of upcycling was full of possibilities, and I knew that with Andrew by my side, we could create anything we set our minds to. And so, as we added a sealant to protect our planter from the elements, I couldn't help but feel grateful for this newfound hobby. It had brought us closer together, sparked our creativity, and reminded us of the beauty in something that was once discarded.

The final touches were applied with ease, using craft cubes to create a stand for each planter. The blocks were glued onto the bottom of the vessel, providing stability and support without adding too much bulk. As I finished the last block, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at what we had created. Our planters were now ready to bring some life into our apartment, and with them, a new chapter in our creative journey.

To all my fellow hoarders out there, I need your support! If you have any ideas for upcycling glass vessels or other items, please share them with me. Let's create something beautiful together, and maybe just find a home for those dusty old containers along the way.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everyone welcome back to HGTV handmade I'm Andrew I'm Dennis and I'm living with a hoarder Andrew keeps everything he keeps every glass vessel every candle every jar we have tons and tons of glass all on top of our cabinets and we were doing some spring cleaning recently and I said we either need to throw these out recycle them or turn them into something new so today I'm forcing Andrew to make something out of our glass vessels and we decided on textured planters so we're gonna be using air dry clay for these and the first thing we're gonna do is roll them out in our small apartment we don't have room for a rolling pin because we'd probably use it once a year there's too many glass vessels that's why we don't have a rolling pin so we're gonna be using a water bottle so we're gonna roll these out to the size of our vessel of our jar and we're making it about I don't know quarter of an inch yeah you know I really don't know why I keep them I just feel like someday we're gonna need them yeah you know and that's true every time I go on a purging spree we had them throwing things out and like two weeks later we'll be like wait do we get rid of that one jar that we've never used and that's for the last three years and then all of a sudden we somehow need it once you have your clay rolled out we're just gonna cover the jar here and now I'm just going to cut where the seam is and then smooth out the seam yeah and then you want to smooth out the back just as best as you can if you want you can grab a little bit of water and that will help smooth it over but once this dries and we get our pattern on there it's gonna be pretty forgiving and we'll keep this part in the back and we're just gonna cut off the extra clay on the top there and save that for another project I like to just do it against the rim there and just kind of carve carve carve carve carve okay we're just gonna take this and wrap it up put it in some plastic wrap and save it for another project who's the hoarder now oh and now we're gonna add a repeating pattern using a fork yeah we want to add some texture to these pots and we're just using what we had in our kitchen yeah so I'm gonna kind of do like a zigzag pattern here I'm just gonna start by pressing in the fork like that and I'm gonna do alternating I'm just doing a repeating pattern there just pressing in just till I get my image and I'm gonna be using the back of my fork to do another repeating pattern as well and I'm just going to press it not too not too hard now you're gonna want to check the drying time on your clay ours are dry we'd set them for about 24 hours overnight and now we're just gonna kind of sloppily paint our jars yeah we want these to look not homemade but we want them to look kind of like they've been in a kiln mm-hmm yeah so that's why we're gonna kind of sloppily paint it and we're gonna try not to go into the grooves where we left our marks for the fork there and just kind of go over over and very rough because we think the rougher it looks the better it will look and then if you get any paint in the in the grooves there not to fret not to worry just because you can take a little sandpaper like Andrew said before you can send out anywhere that you don't want the paint and this is somewhere you can get a little crafty and creative you can use any tool you have in the kitchen you can try it with a masher or a whisk or a pizza cutter and just kind of create your own design your own pattern so now that our paint is dry that we want to add a little bit of sealant just to kind of protect our pots yeah and to give it a nice shine and I think using a lot kind of gives it that glazed effect yeah like a glassy look yeah just take it on keiki no home so it seems like the trend now is every pot or planter has a little stand and that give us the inspiration to add craft cubes to the bottom of our pots yeah we tried actually to make a stand and it was just way too complicated so we found the easiest way just glue the blocks to the bottom it's that simple little glue and then I'm gonna glue it on the edge just so it has a little feet and then I'm gonna go right across from that one and that'll be the front all right so our planters are done and we're actually gonna fill them with these little succulents that are already potted but they have a drain hole so we can just pop them right out and water them nice and easy all right all you hoarders out there I need your support right now please let me know if you something like candle vessels yes and give us a thumbs up and subscribe and we'll see you soon bye youhey everyone welcome back to HGTV handmade I'm Andrew I'm Dennis and I'm living with a hoarder Andrew keeps everything he keeps every glass vessel every candle every jar we have tons and tons of glass all on top of our cabinets and we were doing some spring cleaning recently and I said we either need to throw these out recycle them or turn them into something new so today I'm forcing Andrew to make something out of our glass vessels and we decided on textured planters so we're gonna be using air dry clay for these and the first thing we're gonna do is roll them out in our small apartment we don't have room for a rolling pin because we'd probably use it once a year there's too many glass vessels that's why we don't have a rolling pin so we're gonna be using a water bottle so we're gonna roll these out to the size of our vessel of our jar and we're making it about I don't know quarter of an inch yeah you know I really don't know why I keep them I just feel like someday we're gonna need them yeah you know and that's true every time I go on a purging spree we had them throwing things out and like two weeks later we'll be like wait do we get rid of that one jar that we've never used and that's for the last three years and then all of a sudden we somehow need it once you have your clay rolled out we're just gonna cover the jar here and now I'm just going to cut where the seam is and then smooth out the seam yeah and then you want to smooth out the back just as best as you can if you want you can grab a little bit of water and that will help smooth it over but once this dries and we get our pattern on there it's gonna be pretty forgiving and we'll keep this part in the back and we're just gonna cut off the extra clay on the top there and save that for another project I like to just do it against the rim there and just kind of carve carve carve carve carve okay we're just gonna take this and wrap it up put it in some plastic wrap and save it for another project who's the hoarder now oh and now we're gonna add a repeating pattern using a fork yeah we want to add some texture to these pots and we're just using what we had in our kitchen yeah so I'm gonna kind of do like a zigzag pattern here I'm just gonna start by pressing in the fork like that and I'm gonna do alternating I'm just doing a repeating pattern there just pressing in just till I get my image and I'm gonna be using the back of my fork to do another repeating pattern as well and I'm just going to press it not too not too hard now you're gonna want to check the drying time on your clay ours are dry we'd set them for about 24 hours overnight and now we're just gonna kind of sloppily paint our jars yeah we want these to look not homemade but we want them to look kind of like they've been in a kiln mm-hmm yeah so that's why we're gonna kind of sloppily paint it and we're gonna try not to go into the grooves where we left our marks for the fork there and just kind of go over over and very rough because we think the rougher it looks the better it will look and then if you get any paint in the in the grooves there not to fret not to worry just because you can take a little sandpaper like Andrew said before you can send out anywhere that you don't want the paint and this is somewhere you can get a little crafty and creative you can use any tool you have in the kitchen you can try it with a masher or a whisk or a pizza cutter and just kind of create your own design your own pattern so now that our paint is dry that we want to add a little bit of sealant just to kind of protect our pots yeah and to give it a nice shine and I think using a lot kind of gives it that glazed effect yeah like a glassy look yeah just take it on keiki no home so it seems like the trend now is every pot or planter has a little stand and that give us the inspiration to add craft cubes to the bottom of our pots yeah we tried actually to make a stand and it was just way too complicated so we found the easiest way just glue the blocks to the bottom it's that simple little glue and then I'm gonna glue it on the edge just so it has a little feet and then I'm gonna go right across from that one and that'll be the front all right so our planters are done and we're actually gonna fill them with these little succulents that are already potted but they have a drain hole so we can just pop them right out and water them nice and easy all right all you hoarders out there I need your support right now please let me know if you something like candle vessels yes and give us a thumbs up and subscribe and we'll see you soon bye you\n"