I have a secret.
Okay, not really. But I did make a secret-message-in-a-bottle necklace. :) Are you intrigued?
After the Tiny Terrarium Necklace I made for Earth Day, I still had another glass bottle to find an idea for – and a message in a bottle is already a classic idea, and the cuteness factor of miniatures is, of course, off the charts. ;) Some people have wanted to know where I got my bottles and I actually found mine at Hobby Lobby, they are the Jewelry Shoppe brand along with the findings. If you don’t have a Hobby Lobby or yours doesn’t have these, you can always check Etsy or Mindy Mae’s Market.
This is a super easy piece to put together. I can hardly call this a tutorial. To keep it rolled up, you’ll want to tie a piece of thread or small twine around your secret message. In fact, the hardest part of the whole thing is tying a string around such a tiny piece of paper.
You’ll want to make sure that your paper is short enough to fit inside the bottle with a little room to spare, and that it’s rolled up tighter around than the bottle neck. If you picked up these same bottles from Hobby Lobby, then you can trim your paper to around fortune-cookie-fortune size (and in fact, using a fortune might be a fun idea anyway). Go ahead and write a secret message to a friend, a love note (guys – even you can do this one!) or something uplifting for yourself.
Once I rolled it up, I found it easiest to pre-tie the knot, and slip the paper into that loop.
You may want to sort of curl the edges back a little to give your note some added dimension.
Then I just popped it into my bottle. I found a charm while perusing Hobby Lobby that was a tiny set of keys. So I put one of those in there. You know, to add intrigue. Then I just corked it, and added a jump ring and chain.
I’m off to see what else I can stick in a tiny jar. I’m becoming a bit of an addict, I fear. And then I’m dropping by Embracing Messy to remind Kelsey that this tiny jar addiction is all her fault. Check out her gorgeous wish necklace, if you’re looking for more little jar ideas!
I link up to these great parties!
~ Adrianne
How do you attach jump ring to cork top?
The bottles came with rings attached, but if you found a very small screw-eye (the ring part of a hook and eye set) or even crafted your own from a bit of wire, and poked it in with a bit of glue to secure it, that would also work. Alternately, you can wrap wire around the neck of the bottle and form a loop there.
I just wanted to leave a quick message to everyone looking for tiny bottles… I found my tinys on eBay!! They were super cheap. I think I paid $5.00 free shipping for 20 tiny bottles with tops on them! Be careful because many bottles do NOT have the tops attached and you will have to pay extra for them
Hi Adrianne,
I was intrigued by your message-in-a-bottle necklace because I am publishing a book where the hero sends the leading lady a necklace just like this only the bottle is shaped like a classic wine bottle. I had thought about finding a way to make some as gifts, giveaways and/or promo items for the story and there was your article. I wonder if this same type of tiny bottle is available in a wine bottle shape. I’ve checked online and the jar shape is all I can find so far.
Regardless, you’ve shown me how simple it can be to make a necklace like this. I especially appreciate the advice to pre-tie the string and slip the note in after.
Very fun and helpful :)
Chana Keefer
(btw, if you’d like to check out the book, One Night With a Rock Star, you can see the brand-spankin-new cover on the front page of my site as well as a couple advance reviews and the first chapter.) http://thepassionfields.com/
I remember having one of these when I was a kid. :)
I LOVE this! Such a fun idea!!! I need one! Thanks so much for sharing this too at Thursday's Temptation.
Jill
Oh, so cute!
I've seen lots of message in a bottle necklaces but the key that made yours stand out WAS the key! Too cute! Love the name of your blog. Love the theory behind it. Thanks for sharing!
OMGEE! This is so cute! LOVE!!
Thanks for sharing the other site because I needed to know where the little jars came from. So cute. I need to think of something I can do with it. Cool! I clicked over from the May Day link. I love your blog title and that's why I made the random click. So glad I did.
Cute!! I can't wait to show you what I'm putting in my jars. They are fun to play with!!
Hey! Stopping by from the blog party. New follower here:)
Such a cute idea!
I love the idea of curling the edges of the paper back – that definitely gives it more texture. Super adorable as usual.
Haha I literally laughed out loud when I read that last part! This is another great idea! There are so many things you can do with these little jars. I'm thinking tiny seashells and sand might be pretty cute too. Thanks for the shout out, and sorry for the addiction.. kind of ;)
Oh my, this is SO very cute!! I love the little key inside.
So cute!
That is so cool!! I love tiny jars :)
Very cool Adrianne!