Scratch built: Bottles

Making bottles out of toothpicks and paper.

Start with cutting a toothpick to the right size. For 28-30mm figures I go for 8-12mm length.

cut toothpick to desired length

Next I cut out a bottle wrap shape and a thin (2mm) strip for the top of the bottle. Here is a file with some shapes to try.

Wrap around shapes for the bottle

Then I start with the main bottle shape part and glue it on with white glue.

Glue the wrap shape on

Next I use white glue and wrap the shape around the toothpick, thus forming the body of the bottle.

Forming the body of the bottle

When finished with the body I glue the top strip on.

Adding the top strip

I don’t use much of the top strip as the bottle top doesn’t need to be as thick as the body. When you have enough “shape” for the top, cut the remaining strip off.

Finishing the top

Make as many bottles as you need and experiment with different shapes.

Different bottle shapes

Next color the bottles. I use markers but you can use any color you like, like acrylic paint. I leave the top part of the toothpick uncolored as it looks like the cork, so be careful when coloring that area.

Coloring the bottles

Finally you can cut out small rectangles for bottle labels, add some text or images (like a skull for poison) and glue them on.

Finished bottles

And you have a nice set of bottles now. Make as many as you need to dress up your sets with detail!