Ideas to Decorate a Water Bottle

Decorate your water bottle to make it stand out among other bottles and to create a personal style statement. Stickers, paints and paper cutouts are all ways to customize the bottle to your liking. If you use the right adhesive, your decorations will stay in place, no matter how often you use and wash the bottle.

Personalize your water bottle with vinyl stickers that fit your activities and interests. For example, if you primarily use your water bottle on hikes, select nature stickers to decorate the bottle. Press the sticker smoothly in place on a plastic or glass bottle and smooth it down with your fingers. If using paper stickers, cover them with decoupage glue to protect the finish and hold them in place. Decoupage glue goes on white but dries clear. You can also use clear plastic packing tape to protect the paper stickers.

Cut out small images from your favorite photos or magazines to decorate your water bottle with a collage or decoupage. Cover a small area of the bottle with decoupage glue. Press the cutouts into the glue, and then smooth more glue over the paper with a paint sponge. Work in small sections so that the glue will not dry before you add the images. You can cover the entire water bottle with a collage or place random groupings around the circumference of the bottle.

Add a few ribbon stripes to decorate a water bottle with a pop of color. Cut strands of ribbon to fit around the water bottle. Select different widths of ribbons in coordinating colors to create the stripes, or overlap wide ribbon strips to add design interest. Glue the ribbons in place with decoupage glue. Cover the ribbons with the decoupage glue to protect them against water damage; avoid submerging the bottle completely when washing it to ensure the ribbons stay in place.

Paint your water bottle with glass paint to create a decorative bottle that resembles a stained glass window. Use a permanent marker to create the lead lines around the circumference of the bottle; you’ll be painting inside the lead line outlines. You can also use liquid leading to create the lines, but the surface of the lines will be elevated, which might affect your grip. There’s no right or wrong way to design your stained glass imagery; you can section the water bottle with the lead lines any way you like. Fill in between the lines with stained glass paint. After the paint dries, seal the paint with clear paint sealer or polyurethane spray.