Feathered Fairy Throne in a Fantasy Bottle – DIY

My uncle had a beautiful ship in a bottle. I would spend hours staring at all the details and thinking about what the bottled sailor fairies did every day. It was only when I was much older that I started wondering how the ship got inside that bottle. This feathered fairy throne in a fantasy bottle is based on the same concept. The only difference is I didn’t have to rig up tiny wires to make the throne fit through the bottleneck.

I did cheat a little to get that throne inside, though 😉

But you’d never be able to tell just by looking at the fantasy bottle.

Can you guess how it was done? It’s easier than it looks, I promise.

And when you turn the lights down low, that fantasy bottle casts a magical spell.

Right, before I show you how to make a feathered fairy throne and put it inside a bottle, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!

What you need

The bottle

The most important thing when it comes to putting a fairy throne in a bottle is……. well, the bottle 😀 Look for bottles with clear glass sides without flaws, raised lettering, or permanent labels. Make sure whatever you use has enough space to play around with inside. Lucky for me, I enjoy a good craft gin and had this one lying around.

Other bits

Besides a good bottle, you’ll also need:

• Twigs, moss, and bark offcuts
• Landscape forest image
• Superglue
• Cardboard
• Feathers
• Vermiculite
• Clear glue that’s suitable for glass
• Florist foam
• Texture paste

Tools

• Tea strainer
• Scissors
• Tweezer
• Glass cutter. I used my Dremel with a diamond blade.

How to make a feather fairy throne in a fantasy bottle

Prepping the bottle

Rinse out the bottle and remove the label.

Any time you work in a teeny, tiny space, make a cardboard template of your work area to use as a guide. To make the template, trace around the bottom and backside of the bottle.

Cut the template out and adjust taking into account the thickness of the glass and where the bottle will be cut. I’ll be cutting my bottle at the top where the blue tape is in the piccy below. Glue or tape the cardboard bottom to the side to create your work area.

Using a Dremel (or similar multi-tool) and a diamond blade, cut the top of the bottle off. If your bottle is round, I would suggest using this simple jig to help with cutting. Since mine was square, I didn’t have to worry about the bottle rolling around. Please remember to wear the appropriate safety gear and spritz water over the bottle to prevent the glass dust from flying everywhere.

Don’t worry too much about cutting the perfect straight line. When we glue it back together later, those wobbly edges give the glue more grip. Lightly sand any sharp points down with a tile file or a stone.

Rinse the bottle out to remove any glass shards and clean thoroughly to remove fingerprints or oily marks. Leave to dry before adding the image.

Adding the fantasy forest image

You can use any image you choose to create the background. I picked this stunning forest scene in Germany that I downloaded from Envato.

Resize the image so it fits around the back and two sides of the bottle. Print the image out and modge podge it onto the outside of the bottle.

I found it best to apply a medium layer of mod podge all over the bottle before applying the image and smoothing thoroughly with a finger wrapped in cling film or a brayer.

Once the mod podge dries, paint the back of the image white to block the light and protect the image. Put the bottle to one side to dry and make the fairy throne.

Making the feathered fairy throne

Grab a piece of sturdy cardboard and cut out a half circle for the seat of the fairy throne.

Test fit the size of the throne using the cardboard work area template to make sure it’s not too big.

Use thin strips of dried bark and glue them onto the cardboard seat. If you don’t have any bark strips, you can paint the seat or get creative with some texture paste.

Glue another thin strip of bark to the front of the seat to cover the wavy cardboard lines.

Cut three (or four if you’re that way inclined 😉 ) equally sized legs for the throne from a twig and glue them to the bottom of the cardboard seat.

You should end up with something like this.

Cut a small half-circle from plastic. I just used the lid of a takeaway dish. This half-circle will form a sturdy back for the throne and keep the feathers upright.

If you look very carefully, you can just see the plastic backing under the feathers in the picture above. Glue the feathers onto the plastic back until you’re happy with the look. Trim the bottom of the feathers and glue them to the seat. Place the throne on the cardboard work area template and trace around the bottom.

Use the outline as a guide and glue on a few twig trees.

Test fit the feathered throne using the cardboard template and trim the twigs or add more if need be.

Almost there 😀 Fairy queens need armrests. To make some armrests for the throne, I used tendrils from a vine.

Just cut and glue them into place.

Putting the fantasy bottle scene together

The image I used as a backing for this fantasy scene in a bottle has leaves strewn all over the forest floor. From past experience building miniatures, vermiculite is perfect for mimicking dry leaves or tiny stones.

For a scene this small, you just need to squish the vermiculite through a tea strainer to make the bits smaller.

Modge podge or glue the vermiculite “leaves” down amongst the twig trees.

Once the cardboard is completely covered, glue on a few mossy bushes. Keep the area where the throne will go free.

My bottle had a beveled bottom, so to make sure the throne wouldn’t wobble once it was inside, I cut a piece of florist foam and glued the vermiculite leaf-strewn forest floor on top. Use some of the vermiculite leaves and moss to disguise the front of the foam.

And finally, glue the fairy throne down on the forest floor.

Just for fun, I made the smallest fairy books ever.

Aren’t they adorable? Tiny things get lost very quickly around here, so I glued the books onto the fairy throne.

I’ve been told fairy queens are very well-read, so she can just wave her magic wand when she wants them unstuck. 😉

Ensure everything is glued down and the glue has had time to cure properly before proceeding to the next step. Just a word of warning when using super glue. The curing vapors or fumes from Super Glue will attach themselves to any surface, creating a foggy effect. So, make very sure your inside bits are fully dry and cured before adding them to the bottle and sealing everything up. I left my little fairy throne for a whole week, just in case.

Putting everything inside the bottle

Now to get all those bits and pieces inside the bottle. Clean the inside glass really, really, really well.

The last thing you want when you seal this baby up is to find a big fat fingerprint stuck on the glass. Carefully slip the feathered fairy throne into the bottle.

Double-check for dust or fingerprints and wipe again if necessary. If you look carefully at the picture, you can see a few small bits of dust on the glass and fairy throne. They will be soooo noticeable once you’re done, so it’s best to make very sure before closing the bottle. Once you’re happy, glue the top of the bottle on using clear glue that’s suitable for glass. I used Prately’s Quickset Clear, but E6000 should also work. Leave to dry.

When the glue dries, you can finish up the outside.

Decorating the outside

This bit is entirely up to you. You basically want to hide the cut bottle to keep people wondering how everything got inside. I made a clay arch through which the fantasy forest and feathered fairy throne can be viewed. Gluing on small flat pebbles will also work.

Wait for the clay arch to dry before gluing it onto the bottle. I applied a layer of texture paste over the rest of the bottle keeping the small arch window free.

Once the texture paste dried, I painted the arch and the rest of the bottle using water-down brown and green craft paint.

Feel free to dress up the outside of the bottle with whatever you have in your craft cupboard. You can even mod-podge a gorgeous napkin or give the bottle a metallic makeover.

Just experiment and have fun. Oh, and keep the top of the bottle sealed while you work.

It will be a catastrophe if a big dollop of texture paste or paint lands on the fairy throne 😀

Hiding the battery pack

While I love cork fairy lights, I’m not a big fan of the cork bit. It looks…… mmmmmmm plastic 😀

Easy enough to solve if you have a drill, 22 spade bit, and a broken salt and pepper shaker. Just drill a large hole in the bottom of the broken shaker and pop the battery pack inside. A wooden doorknob would probably work too.

So much better, right?

That salt and pepper shaker finishes her off perfectly.

And when you want to turn the lights on or off, just remove the modified salt and pepper shaker and flip the switch.

The fantasy bottle makes a great night light……

And will have your guests wondering how on earth that fairy throne got inside?

What do you think? Have you altered any bottles?

If you like the idea of making a fairy throne in a bottle, don’t forget to pin it for later.

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And if you prefer to buy rather than DIY, these beauties may appeal.

And as always, wishing you a wonderful, crafty week filled with lots of love. Thank you so much for popping in for a visit.