Bottle/can painting or recycling crafts

Spray paint made for the surface, or acrylic with a primer first. Glass and metal are smooth and non-porous, so ordinary paint just peels, but a dedicated glass or metal spray paint, or acrylic over a coat of primer, grips properly. I clean the bottle with rubbing alcohol to remove grease before painting, since a single fingerprint of oil stops paint adhering in that spot.

Thin coats and patience. The classic mistake is one thick coat, which runs and drips, so I build colour in two or three light passes, letting each dry fully between. Spray paint gives the smoothest result on a curved bottle, sprayed from about 25 to 30cm away in steady sweeps. Rushing with a loaded brush is what leaves streaks and pooling.

Yes, for anything that will be handled or hold water. A clear sealer or varnish over the dried paint stops it scratching and chipping, which matters on a vase or anything touched often. For a bottle holding water or flowers, I keep paint to the outside only and seal it, since unsealed paint inside contaminates water and peels when wet.

Vases, lamps, candle holders, planters, and storage. A painted wine bottle becomes a vase or, with a drill and a lamp kit, a bottle lamp, while cleaned cans turn into pen pots and herb planters. The transformation is real: a bottle worth a fraction of a cent as recycling becomes something you would happily display or gift. The only limit is what shape the container suggests.

Worth it when you make something you would actually use or display, less so if it just becomes new clutter. I aim for pieces with a real purpose, a vase I will fill, a planter I will plant, rather than decorating bottles for the sake of it. Done with restraint and a good finish, the results genuinely look bought. Done aimlessly, you just move clutter from the bin to the shelf.