Who loves Fall? I know it’s a season I look forward to every year! Okay, maybe I miss the beach and swimming and I never really look forward to being cold. But! I love fall anyway. The lack of bugs, the colors on the trees, pulling out my cozy sweaters and it’s boot season. I love my leather boots! Fall also brings with it the holiday season, it’s a time of year when we get to spend time with loved ones, eat good food and be thankful. There is no doubt that fall is a wonderful season and all good seasons deserve decorations! Everybody who follows this blog knows how much I love the Dollar Tree so this fall dollar store craft should come as no surprise!

I was ecstatic when I walked into the Dollar Tree last weekend and found an amazing assortment of fall (and Halloween) based decorations and crafting supplies. I might have squealed in joy, just a little bit. But I can’t really help it. There are just so many crafting ideas swirling through my head for this time of year. If you’re still trying to figure out a few decorations for the fall then hopefully this will help!

Fall Dollar Store Craft – Putting Autumn in a Bottle

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I love to create crafts that are both pretty and simple! We are all pressed for time and not all of us have been blessed with the crafting equivalent of a green thumb. I have burnt my fingers enough times with my glue gun to thoroughly respect those wonders of the crafting world who can whip up complicated creations without trouble. But! For the rest of us simple is the way to go. Since this is a fall dollar store craft then it’s not only simple but exceptionally cheap to make too. Double win.

For me, the season of Fall is all about the colors of the trees and leaves. Although I tend to prefer a cooler palette of green, blue, and purple most of the time, Fall is the exception. I’m all about the golds, reds, and oranges when it comes to fall.  Contrast these warm tones with a bit of black and you just can’t go wrong. This fall dollar store craft brings it all together with just a touch of sparkle to make it pop. Putting autumn in a bottle will bring the season to any mantle or table.

Fall Dollar Store Craft – Supplies

From the Dollar Tree

• 1 bottle of choice – preferably with a lid.
• 1 Pack of Assorted Fall Leaves
• 1 Pack Multi-color Glitter Glue
• 1 Bottle Black Nailpolish (one with a detailing brush is best!)
• Small Paint Brush

From Your Home

• Water
• Red & Yellow Food Coloring

Total Cost – $5 assuming you have food coloring in your home and need a paintbrush. A bit more if you need to grab some. A bit less if you have an old art brush laying around.

Fall Dollar Store Craft – Directions

Paint your Bottle

Use your black nail polish to paint trees (or any pattern you prefer) on the outside of your chosen glassware. I chose trees because I love the nature connection – and they are easy to paint. Tree’s are never perfect and branches grow in all sorts of directions. Which is why they tend to show up in a few of my crafts! It doesn’t matter if you hand wobbles a little bit and mistakes can just be turned into thicker or new limbs. Don’t be afraid to add small details like grass or shrubs to your bottle.

When I first came up with this idea I expected to use simple black paint for this step. The black poster paint available at my Dollar Tree store, however, proved to be too thin. You want the black painted parts of your bottle to show up as they provide the contrast that will really make your bottle stand out.

At first, I was a bit perplexed but then I walked past the make-up aisle. Nail polish is basically black paint. It’s thick and aside from the smell easy to work with. Thankfully I’m happy to say that it worked perfectly! It is probably easiest to look for nail polish meant for detailing however as they tend to have a finer brush. You could just use an old fine paintbrush if you can’t find this type at your store.

Add the Glitter

Once your nail polish art has dried use your paintbrush to spread the glitter glue over the outside of your bottle. This part can get a bit messy (it is glue!) so make sure your workstation is protected by plastic. You can use all one color if you like or vary it a little bit. I used three colors for my bottle – blue at the bottom, red in the middle and yellow near the top. The glitter glue will dry pretty clear but the glitter itself will stand out and provide just a little bit of tinting and sparkle.

It doesn’t matter if you get glitter glue over the top of your nail polish art, it won’t stand out much on the black so don’t spend a lot of time being really picky here. Just do your best to spread out the glitter clumps. Although a slightly streaky look can make a nice effect too. Set your bottle aside and let it dry completely.

The glitter glue can take some time to dry and it will look extra streaky and clumpy as it does. Just let it be for a few hours or overnight.

Create your Colored Water & add Your Leaves

Once your bottle is completely dry its time to fill it up with Autumn. Use your food coloring to tint the water to your liking (for my orange I used 5 drops of yellow and 2 drops of red). Fold up a few of your assorted leaves and push them into the bottle.

Just add a few, you don’t want to push them in to tightly or they will just wad up at the bottom. Carefully add your tinted water. The glitter glue doesn’t really like to get wet so a funnel might be useful here if you chose a narrow bottle like I did. Otherwise, just pour carefully and if your glue gets a bit damp just pat the water off carefully and let it dry again. You can always paint more on afterward if needed!

Add a few more leaves if you want too, just fiddle with it until you like the way it looks!

Display and Enjoy!

What’s your favorite fall craft? Let me know in the comments below!

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