I saw this vintage apothecary matchstick bottle in the most recent issue of House Beautiful and thought, “I should try DIYing that!” It was simply a small glass bottle filled with matchsticks and etched on the bottom for lighting the matches. I already had a perfect little glass vase that I had found at Goodwill for $1 but had trouble scoring long {think 4″-6″} matchsticks to fit inside. I finally found these 4″ matchsticks on Amazon.
They come in a set of three. They were expensive for matches, but I planned on making two more of these matchstick bottles {for Mom and MIL for Mother’s Day} if the first one turned out okay so I figured ‘what the heck?’ and ordered ’em. One matchstick bottle for myself and two Mother’s Day gifts for less than $20 total is actually a steal, right? I tried etching the bottom of the glass vase like my House Beautiful inspiration had on it, but the etching turned out not to be coarse enough for lighting the matches. Scratch Plan A and onto Plan B which consisted of me cutting out the lighting strip from the matchbox, cutting it down to size, and adhering it to the exterior bottom of the vase with scrapbooking mounting squares.
I didn’t like the way the lighting strip showed through the glass when the vase was upright.
I cut out a circle of scrap fabric {from some leftover kitchen curtain material} and placed a folded piece of painter’s tape to hold it in place into the bottom of the vase. {I wanted to be able to remove the fabric easily if I ever need to clean out the vase.}
I filled the vase with matchsticks and tied a small tag {another scrapbooking product that I already hand on hand} around the lip of the vase with twine.
Yes, that’s computer text added to the tag. I didn’t want to write something on it just yet since I plan on gifting two matchstick holders to my mom and MIL for Mother’s Day. I don’t have the other two vases {which I plan on buying at Goodwill} yet and want to make ’em personal after I decide which one stays with me, which goes to my mom, and which goes to MIL. I might even switch up the phrasing to something else but I like this one for my own home.
The lighting strip really works, too! You just grab a match, hold the open mouth of the vase with one hand, and swipe the match across the bottom with your other hand. Oh, and it doesn’t budge at all with those super sticky mounting squares holding it in place. Just remember to keep it out of reach of little ones!
With the vase full of matches, you can’t see the fabric-covered bottom. But as the match supply begins to dwindle, it will be revealed…instead of the lighting strip’s ugly backside.
I’ll have to keep you posted on how I tweak this DIY project into a Mother’s Day gift when that time approaches. Wouldn’t it be nice to gift it along with a yummy-smelling candle? And to think that I’ll get 3 matchstick holders for the same price {$20!!} as the one in House Beautiful is pretty sweet. Nothing like taking inspiration from high-end products and dumbing it down into something affordable!
images: all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
budget decor, DIY, inspiration