5 Easy Ways to Upcycle Old Ink Pots

Most of us will have an old ink bottle which is now empty and waiting to be thrown out. Wait! Don't throw it out yet! In this post, learn how to upcycle this old ink bottle so you can reuse it in your house and do your part for the environment. 

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Listen to the audio version - 

5 easy ways to upcycle old ink pots
5 easy ways to upcycle old ink pots


    Materials you will need 


    Materials needed to upcycle an ink pot
    Materials needed to upcycle an ink pot


    How to upcycle the ink pot

    Step 1 - Clean the inside of the ink pot

    The ink pot will most likely have ink stains inside and a dirty cover on the outside. Rinse the inside a few times with cold water. This is what my ink pot looked like. 

    Old Ink Bottle
    Old Ink Bottle


    Step 2 - Remove the residue stains

    Fill a mug with soapy lukewarm water and put the ink pot in the mug. You need to fill the ink pot with some of the soapy water as well. Leave it as such for 15 min. 


    Remove the residue stains
    Remove the residue stains


    Step 3 - Remove the label

    After 15 minutes, you will find that the label slips off the bottle quite easily and the bottle will look extremely clean. Just pat dry with a rag cloth. 

    Remove the label
    Remove the label

    Step 4 - Paint the bottle (optional)

    Some people prefer to leave their ink bottle as it is; but I wanted to give it a nice coat of chalk paint. I used my normal brushes to paint the ink bottle and left it to dry. Just random brush strokes will do. 

    One advantage of chalk paint is that it dries pretty quickly. I left mine to dry for about 15 minutes.  

    I also added some cute stickers on it, to reduce the monotonous chalk paint colour. 

    Paint the bottle
    Paint the bottle


    About the chalk paint 

    I had already purchased teal coloured chalk paint from Itsy Bitsy previously for another project and thought I would give it a try on the ink bottle. Chalk paint, as the name suggests, gives a chalky texture to the surface being painted and can be used on almost anything, whether it is glass, metal, wood or even fabric. 

    By the way, you can get 5% off on your purchase at Itsy Bitsy craft store, if you use the code CREATE5.


    5 Ways to repurpose old ink pots 

    1. Organization

    Use the ink pot as a storage container. I use my ink pot to keep my paper clips in, but it can hold any little object, such as beads, thumb tacks, and so on.  

    Old ink pot as an organizer
    Old ink pot as an organizer


    2. Aroma Diffuser

    I got these reed sticks and diffuser oil as a gift and I thought it would be a great way to save money. You can buy the diffuser oil as a refill pack and the reed sticks separately (consider it as an initial investment, since they can be reused). 

    Now, you just have to pour a few drops of the diffuser oil into the ink pot and put the reed sticks in (as I have shown in the picture). You have your own aroma diffuser!


    Old ink pot as an aroma diffuser
    Old ink pot as an aroma diffuser


    3. Flower Vase

    An up-cycled ink pot would make for a great flower vase. You can add in a few fresh flowers, or even add dried flowers. A quick home decor fix, I guess?


    Old ink pot as a flower vase
    Old ink pot as a flower vase


    4. Desk Accent

    If you feel your table needs a pop of colour, this up-cycled ink pot would be a great addition. Since mine is an all wooden desk, the bright colour stands out and reduces the monotone look. 


    Old ink pot as a desk accent
    Old ink pot as a desk accent

    5. Time Capsule

    You could write a message to your future self and bury it somewhere in the back of your house. Dig it up after 15 years and reminisce the past. An upcycled ink pot makes for a cute little time capsule.  

    Old ink pot as a time capsule
    Old ink pot as a time capsule 

    Please note that it is advised not to re-purpose this ink pot as a candle because the neck of the ink pot is very narrow and will likely cause the glass to shatter. 


    Reel of the process - 

    I made a similar kind of upcycling project with an old nail polish bottle and I made a reel of the process on Instagram. You can watch it here!



    I hope you enjoyed this quick upcycling. Let me know in the comments if you have any other alternative uses. Keep creating! Keep planning! ❤

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