Occasionally in the very mixed bag of bottles that ends up in my studio, there will be an oval shaped one. Oval shaped bottles slump well, there isn’t much chance of them rolling about on the shelf. But, they are also wonderful for making other things. If you get an oval shaped bottle, consider making flowers and hearts instead of just another cheese tray.
You’ll need an oval bottle tall enough to cut 8 rings (for a flower) or 2 rings (for hearts) Oval bottles come in different heights, so maybe cut the bottle first and see how many rings you end up with before you start.
Oval bottles:
Start with an oval shaped bottle, I’ve pictured two so you can see what type of bottle to look for. Cut the bottle into rings:
To make flowers, you’ll need 8 oval rings. Place the first 4 in an X shape with equal spacing.
Then place the other 4 on top in an X shape, to make the flower:
Fuse using a full fuse for 1/4″ glass schedule.
Flower before fusing
Fused flower shaped
I like the flower hung where the sun can shine through it, but it could also be slumped into a bowl shape.
Fused bottle glass heart
Heart shapes require two oval rings of glass. First you’ll want to mark a spot on the outside edge of the two ovals, just before they curve.
Mark before the curve
This is where you will cut the rings to make the pointed bottom of the heart. Now stack the rings with these marks lined up to figure out where to cut the top curves of the heart.
Stacked ovals for heart shape
It’s going to look like a pretzel, but focus on the outside edge, and mark where the ovals overlap when you have a heart shape you like.
Carefully cut at the marked points and fit the larger pieces together.
bottle glass heart pre fusing
Now fuse at using the full fuse schedule for 1/4″ recycled glass.
Fused bottle glass heart