Message in a (Teeny Tiny) Bottle

December 22, 2014 11:14 AM

What would you put in a tiny glass bottle pendant, sealed with a cork? I'm making them for Christmas presents and so far, one pendant contains tiny fossilized shark teeth and gold glass glitter. Another was filled with tiny river stones. Help me find other fillers!

I have white Sculpey (polymer oven-bake) clay and would be open to ideas for making tiny things for the inside. Otherwise, make it something easily findable in Richmond, VA, ideally in my apartment, over the next couple days. Have at it, MeFites!

posted by sparringnarwhal to Grab Bag (24 answers total)

I filled a jar necklace with mini chocolate chip cookies. It's super cute. Another has moss and shells. Another one I did had rhinestones and moss layers. I also made one with a golden ticket. A final one had shells and sand. Not sure how large your bottles are but mine were a set from the craft store. All other materials I got at the craft store too.
posted by Crystalinne at 11:20 AM on December 22, 2014

Rainbow sprinkles! Hell, I'd wear that.
posted by rachaelfaith at 11:23 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

Since it's Christmas, how about a hydrocephalic elf fetus preserved in formaldehyde?

Just kidding, a'course... when I was a little kid I had a miniature bottle with a pair of dice inside. I think a relative had brought it back as a souvenir from Atlantic City.
posted by XMLicious at 11:23 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Nice salt crystals.
posted by ladybird at 11:39 AM on December 22, 2014

Diamond Powder
posted by Confess, Fletch at 11:41 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

A little note that says "You are Lisa Simpson."
posted by bondcliff at 11:44 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

How about words cut out of an old book? Sort of like found poetry, but 3-dimensional.

For a specific type of person -- dirt from a cemetery.

Do you have the kind of moss that hangs from trees in Richmond? That would be cool.

Tiny buttons, like the kind that hold down collars.

Small pieces of dry pasta? The alphabet kind would be really cute.

Any little hardware bits you have laying around -- springs, wires, tiny screws, bolts

Tiny googly eyes.
posted by OrangeDisk at 11:45 AM on December 22, 2014 [4 favorites]

Here's one more idea: beads made from rolled magazine images.
posted by OrangeDisk at 11:51 AM on December 22, 2014

I have one in which a tiny silver star is suspended from the cork, and I get a ton of compliments on it.
posted by natabat at 11:54 AM on December 22, 2014 [3 favorites]

Miniature origami models?

Silver-ball cake decorations? Or ball-bearings, I guess, if you can't get those in the States.

Layers of coloured sand?

Tiny beads?

Seeds?

Tiny pompoms? (You might need to trim them down a bit to get them to fit, if you use that method to make them rather than buying some from a craft store.)

Coloured liquid? - I don't know if water with food colouring mixed in would be sufficiently long-term stable, but it's my first thought.

Sequins?
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 11:54 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

Sprinkles. Definitely sprinkles.
posted by Mchelly at 11:56 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

If you can find them outside, a few dandelion seeds or small downy feathers could look interesting.

Fortune cookie messages.

Interestingly shaped or colored spices, like peppercorns or turmeric.
posted by fifthpocket at 11:59 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

Perfume/cologne
Messages to the recipient ('you are loved', whatever)
Liquor
Sand from a favorite spot
Poetry
Literary quotes
posted by easily confused at 12:15 PM on December 22, 2014

I've made a few of these including one that holds graveyard earth and a small metal skull for catching ghosts. Another version had a wire wrapped crystal in orgonite for dealing with chemtrails.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:24 PM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

tiny buttons! Joann has a wide assortment, so would Hancock Fabrics if you have those near you.
posted by fanta_orange at 1:02 PM on December 22, 2014

Ooh, or these snowflake buttons...
posted by fanta_orange at 1:04 PM on December 22, 2014

A galaxy in a bottle--either water + dye + glycerine/laundry soap + glitter, or water + dye + cotton balls + glitter. I like the cotton ball one better, and you could tear the cotton off of q-tip swabs for tiny balls.

Make cute labels and fill them with colored liquid, and now you have potion bottle necklaces, which I think would be kinda great.

Sand, maybe a teeny-tiny shell, and a aged-looking piece of paper with either a message or a tiny treasure map on it.
posted by MeghanC at 1:10 PM on December 22, 2014

Faceted crystal beads (maybe Swarovski)

Other beads - there are some in the shapes of tiny animals, sports equipment, flowers, body parts, etc.
posted by amtho at 2:16 PM on December 22, 2014

Broken safety glass. You can always find some outside in the street.

Also, bits of colored tinfoil and cellophane from candy wrappers.

I'd probably just be making stuff from the Sculpey... milagros?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:35 PM on December 22, 2014

Dandelion fuzz, for a wish necklace. (I have a jar of dandelion fuzz waiting on my to-be-crafted-with shelf; memail me if you'd like me to put some in the mail to you.)
posted by Lexica at 4:17 PM on December 22, 2014 [5 favorites]

Words or names written on rice grains or on another tiny thing.
posted by clearlydemon at 6:46 PM on December 22, 2014

A tiny scene - felt or something fuzzy for grass or snow, a miniature tree cut from a twig, a creature - you can get miniatures from a hobby store or draw one on cardstock. You could add white glitter and make it a tiny, dry snowbottle...
posted by k_tron at 6:51 PM on December 22, 2014

Make these shapes with the clay: pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers. You now have little lucky charms!
posted by dogmom at 6:55 PM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Oil and water? Especially if you could color one or the other.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 8:13 AM on December 23, 2014