# What to put in potion bottles??



## BevAnn (Aug 7, 2007)

Here I thought I was doing so good, but now I'm stumped!

I got my bottles Friday, and have labels too - was plannning to put water in the bottles, with some food coloring - but now I realize I need to put SOMETHING in the water!! 

True, not all HAVE to have something in them, but I'd like to have something in most them. AND, I bought bottles with small openings, not even thinking in advance!  

Besides the obvious, plastic options (fingers, toes, etc..) what do you guys use?


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## october31 (Aug 24, 2009)

when party city or something has those little 1-2$ bags of halloween eye balls and such
u can buy some and put them in the bottles with maybe some green water or something


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## halloween_sucks_in_the_uk (Sep 28, 2008)

You could use tonic water, it has quinine in it. So it glows under UV light. maybe put some props inside floating in the water...fake frogs, plastic bat wings etc.


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## BevAnn (Aug 7, 2007)

yeah! the I have 2 bags of those plastic rings (kids are too old for them now) I can cut off the ring part and use the spiders in one bottle! Great idea!!

I will also use the tonic water - didn't know that about it!


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## Herman Secret (Oct 1, 2007)

OK, I just posted this in another thread not noticing this one, so its repeated here 

Last year, Dollar tree were doing packs of assorted internal organs (Heart Lungs Brain) that I will be using for The rats and bats organs.

Also Have the ones that expand in water - these will be for larger animal organs (and maybe human ones)

Also the snakes and insects that expand are also good contents

packs of plastic flies and bugs are also good contents

So what about liquid contents.

Food coloring added to water, Highlighter pens (soak them in water - these will also gow under blacklight - warning though, wear plastic gloves when working on these as hands tend to get stained and also glow !!)

For my Troll Snot, I used liquid soap that has the cleansing beads in ... can add some plain old dish washing liquid (different color) but dont mix it together - just swirl the contents. Believe me, it can look gross!

Tonic water is good if you have a blacklight.

A couple more ideas

Quaker Oats = dried skin
Hearth Ash = Ash of Witch etc
Pepper = Graveyard Dust

Herbs and Spices also make good contents

With the stores starting to put out Halloween goodies, body parts (eyes, fingers, toes, etc) make great contents also

Hopefully these ideas will get you started


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## Spats (Sep 21, 2006)

Here's some I thought of, and some I've learned from fine folks around here...

I would bottle or jar these alone, not with water.

Other ingredients-

Fur of Bat - Dryer lint
Spider's eggcases - The ends of Q-tips
Fat of the Unbaptised - Crisco
Eyes of Newt - dried lentils in clear dish soap
Legs of the Scarab - Dried grapestems painted black
Ground Heretic's Bone - Corn meal
Suicide's Shroud - shreds of stained cheesecloth
Eyeball Ichor - Apple butter


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## CaliforniaMelanie (Sep 8, 2008)

almond slivers: werewolf fingernails
"grow-an-animal"...any type: seamonster babies/fetuses
shrunken apple heads: gnome heads
tiny novelty skeleton: shrunken man
novelty snakes, newts, frogs, etc. (call this anything you wish)
puffed wheat: elf brains
dried chicken bones you could call this "anything" bones (any tiny monster you choose)

My article...I'm so proud (sniffle): How to Craft a Witch’s Kitchen | Halloween Alliance Scroll down for a list of more stuff to put in your bottles. (There is a bulleted list.)

Oh, and...here is my witch's kitchen from last year:


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## Tumblindice (Aug 19, 2008)

Dead Spider's blog has a whole section dedicated to filing the bottles:
Witches Kitchen


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## BevAnn (Aug 7, 2007)

omg - I go to lunch, come back and LOOK at all the amazing ideas!!! 

And 2 more Witches Kitchen sites for me to go look through!! 

You guys rock - thanks so much!!!

I love this place!
Bev


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## BevAnn (Aug 7, 2007)

one other question - corks - I need corks of various sizes and I know I've seen them in stores before, but can't for the life of me, remember where.

I noticed some potion bottles had burlap tops with twine tying it on the bottle - a good idea if corks can't be found in the right size I guess.


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## TK421 (Mar 27, 2009)

I get a lot of fun looking dry goods from the bulk section of our local market. All sorts of things can be put into jars and named something awful!

Black-Eyed Peas - Dried Frog Eyes
CousCous - Spider Eggs
Rice Noodles - Tangled Webs
Gummy Worms - Lizard Tails
Rice - Sticky Lice

And then there's all types of spices you can use and label.


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## Bliss3333 (Sep 18, 2008)

Here are some of the ones I have used...

Instant potato flakes for dandruff.
Stringers of hot glue in olive oil for phlegm... VERY gross... lol
Pickle relish for toe jam.
Dried meat strips for 'cadaver jerky'.
Flour with some pieces of cheese cloth mixed in for mummy dust.
Green dishsoap for pond slime.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

brown rice with a little liquid looks like maggots 

tapioca pearls (like used in bubble tea) come in large sizes and can be soaked in food coloring... for frog eggs, fish eggs, blind cat eyeballs (soak them in sugared mixes and drop some into drinks too... tasty and GROSS looking).


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## wilbret (Oct 8, 2004)

Flourescent lighter juice, of course, and tonic water.
Also bought some powder stuff from a site a couple years ago in various colors that worked well.

Plastic spiders, flies, ants, worms, snakes, sand, etc.... depends on what the potion is!

you can use burlap, cheesecloth, etc... and tie a piece of twine around it like posted above.
You can find bags of cork at Michaels or in the Walmart craft section. They probably won't fit bottles with openings much larger than a finger, though. I bet you can find all kinds of corks on ebay or just google around.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

I'd suggest spending some time in a place like DOLLAR TREE (or whatever local chain you have in your area). Look through the toy section. You'll probably find lots of great "specimen" samples for just a buck each. Go shopping with a list of labels you have to help guide you. 

I also bought some nice squishy, realistic looking frogs last year in Target's toy section and they were on sale for $3-$3.50. They looked so good it was worth the price for me. Hate to spend a lot of money on things like that. Places like Party City, will have novelty bags of things like spiders, flies, worms, etc. which might fit the bill.


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## CaliforniaMelanie (Sep 8, 2008)

BevAnn said:


> one other question - corks - I need corks of various sizes and I know I've seen them in stores before, but can't for the life of me, remember where.
> 
> I noticed some potion bottles had burlap tops with twine tying it on the bottle - a good idea if corks can't be found in the right size I guess.


I ordered a bunch on ebay last year.


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## Pumpkin Torture Guy (Aug 8, 2008)

Rice makes good maggots and I think that Orientel Trading had those small bags of ants and other small critters.


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## Deadna (Oct 19, 2002)

Someone mentioned herbs and spices and I thought why not see what's out in the garden? Grab up any flower seed pods or petals and let them dry out and it won't cost a thing. Right now I am even finding lots of those dried brown shells/skins from cicadas all over the place...a bottle of those would be gross!


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## 13ghosts (Aug 16, 2008)

I know michaels sells corks in various sizes, I bought rubber stoppers from ebay instead since I was using them for bottles with hilighter water.

Another place to shop for gross things to put in your potion bottles is the fishing lure aisle! I got some great looking worms and things from there!

You can tint the water with any of those grow in water animals too. 

I made a head in a jar for one of mine last year and it was great!


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

I would think that a place like Ace Hardware, Lowes, Home Depot might have cork stoppers.


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## CaliforniaMelanie (Sep 8, 2008)

This is giving me a serious itch to get out my last year's witch's kitchen stuff from the garage and set up!!! But I promised this year...not until October with the real Halloween stuff.....................(sitting on hands)


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## Holyhabanero (Aug 16, 2007)

Here's the labels and the actual contents from my Voodo/Witch jars inspired from Dead Spider's blog:

*Black Lagoon Swamp Water *- Just dirt & water
*Siren's hair *- a bunch of hair from my daughter's hairbrush
*Bat Wings* - Wings cut from package of bats from the dollar store
*Porcupine quills* - real quills from my old scout camp box
*Goblin Brains *- squishy brains from dollar store
*Frog Livers *- Craisins
*Fermented Harpy's Milk* - Water mixed with glue and some glycerin
*Pygmy heads* - dried apple heads
*Basalisk venom* - just water in a dark jar
*Phoenix Ashes* - charcoal ashes with a real red feather from my fly tying kit
*Tincture of Absinthe Wormwood *- tonic water with blue food coloring (tonic water glows under black light)
*Pixie Blood* - My daughter made this "lava lamp" in school and it glitters just and moves like blood
*Jellyfish tentacles* - Made just like DeadSpider reccomends but in a jar of tonic water and green food coloring
*Snake Oil* - tonic water with yellow food coloring
*Wolfsbane* - Just some poupourri
*Dried Boomslang Skin *- Rawhide chew strips from pet store
*Dried Spiders *- real spiders I collected over the past couple of months yuck!
*Vampire Ashes* - Harwood charcoal crushed
*Grave Dirt *- dirt from garden
*Love Potion #9* - water in colored jar
*Sasquatch Musk* - water in colored jar
*Dried Eye of Newt *- round dried chiltepin peppers
*Bear Claws* - real claws from a bear my father got back in the 60's

Here's a picture of my at Voodoo/Witch jars as they sit on my china hutch. 


(Click to view larger)

For the labels I printed them out on a laser printer and used the font: Hannibal Lecter. I then stained the labels with an oak stain, then after it dried, sprayed it with a matte shellac. Then I cut them out and crumpled them up and glued them on.

Here's a closeup of the labels: 

(Click to view larger)


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## CaliforniaMelanie (Sep 8, 2008)

Oh wow, Holyhabanero. (Your username is making me laugh.) Nice work. Come over to my house to help me pull together my Witch's Kitchen this year!!!

I love your label work.


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## tms327 (Aug 9, 2009)

Here are a few of the ideas i had for things to put in the bottles, I was trying to stay away from things that would spoil.

spices- last forever if they are sealed and kept dry
bay leaves- hemlock
parsley- knot grass
whole black peppercorns- doxy eggs
whole white peppercorns- dried tes**cles of an albino wolf frog
take your pick and give them any name you want
sesame seeds- spider eggs
poppy seeds- belladonna



also- instead of oil in my snake oil bottle i used
liquid hand soap (amber in color) and floated some rubber snakes in it.

fake liquid blood ( the kind you buy)- blood of the undead
won't go bad like the corn syrup/food coloring make your own kind 

pine cone pieces (dried well)- troll teeth

ashes (i burned a charcoal briquet) vampire ashes

go to the dollar store and look at the bath product isle- they have all 
kinds of different liquid soaps, shampoos, lotions etc. that come in lots of
different colors and wont turn stale in your bottles. 


I hope this helps- let your imagination run wild- and if all else fails ask a kid they come up with great ideas!!

Happy Haunting!!!


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## Azrielle (Aug 24, 2009)

I used different colored flarp and rainbow moon goo


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## Muffy (Sep 25, 2006)

Boy this thread sure came in handy for me too! I made all those jars & bottles for a witches kitchen & I stuck them away in a cupboard where they would stay in one piece until we get closer to halloween.

Meanwhile in the back of my mind I'm thinking ....where am I gonna find all the stuff I need to fill those bottles. I mean I been looking in a lot of places for suggestions but then made no notes so waking up to this find this morning sure took a lot off my mind. Thanks Guys!!

Corks>>>>>yup i found mine at the local & very large hardware store.


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## Deadna (Oct 19, 2002)

My Dollar General store(toy dept) has these little barrels with black slime in them that would look cool in a potion bottle. 
One awesome bottle I spotted today was at my grocery store which is a part of the Kroger chain so they might have it as well. It is Star brand white wine vinegar that comes in a long neck bottle with a ball shape base..might also work as flask for lab scene. It cost $2.69...I wish I knew what to do with the vinegar so I could talk myself into buying this


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## Spats (Sep 21, 2006)

We might suggest making a sticky of this thing.

Is there a library of resources on this forum, 'cause this is the sort of thread that should be in it.

Hint.


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## Skulkin (Jul 27, 2005)

Laundry detergent glows under the blacklight, too. Deadna, you can use vinegar with newspaper to clean windows, clean your coffee pot and put some in boiled potatoes to keep them white. Just trying to help justify the purchase!


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## Deadna (Oct 19, 2002)

Skulkin said:


> Laundry detergent glows under the blacklight, too. Deadna, you can use vinegar with newspaper to clean windows, clean your coffee pot and put some in boiled potatoes to keep them white. Just trying to help justify the purchase!


Thanks  I went back and bought it anyway and it even rang up 40 cents cheaper than priced! I use vinegar to kill weeds so I figure this will not go to waste.


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## Tumblindice (Aug 19, 2008)

Someone made mention to check out a fishing section. I went to Walmart and did and came away inspired. Slugs, leeches, worms, frogs, etc in all shapes and sizes. Goig back with $20 and will post picks soon.


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## 13ghosts (Aug 16, 2008)

Isn't the fishing section great! My potion jar of earthworms is one of my favorites, they look so real!



Tumblindice said:


> Someone made mention to check out a fishing section. I went to Walmart and did and came away inspired. Slugs, leeches, worms, frogs, etc in all shapes and sizes. Goig back with $20 and will post picks soon.


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## TXSpookyCemetery (May 14, 2009)

Here is a list of what I used
Academentia - specially formulated for college professors n – dark green jar
Black Widow Webs – faux spider webs green and white mixed (good glow)
Cat-a-tonic – Tonic water (good glow)
Chinese Dragon Teeth - 
Crow’s Feet – plastic feet
Cyclops Bellybutton Dust – Neon feathers stripped from the feather shaft (good glow)
Dr. Hotze’s Snake Oil – Canola Oil (eerie glow)
Dr. Van Helsing’s Saxon Serum – Purple Craft Foam Dragonfly Wings – Plastic wings from dragonfly bugs (painted to glow)
Extra Muddy Swamp Water— water with dirt and stuff in it
Fairy Fleas – Dried babies breath flowers (no glow)
Freeze Dried Hell Fire— Fake bleeding glass from Michael’s
Ghost Droppings – Small Styrofoam balls soaked in GID blue paint (good glow)
Ghost Tears — Aqua glow in the dark paint and water (good glow)
Ghoul Drool – GID rustoleum paint and corn syrup (good glow)
Howl at the Moon Repellant – GID spray paint (good glow)
Hydra Repellant – Corn syrup, green glitter, and GID paint (good glow)
Instant Love Potion— Corn syrup and orange GID paint (good glow)
Jellyfish Stingers – GID multicolor plastic strings (good glow)
Love Potion #9 – Woolite or Tide
Marie’s Moles - Brown mini pompoms
Medusa’s Baby Hair – Small snakes
Mermaid Scales – Different sizes of blue circular sequins in water
Moonbeam Mist – Dark jar 
Munchkin Powder – Black glitter with cornmeal
Neverland Pixie Dust – Snow glitter, white glitter and blue glitter (good glow)
Organic Pixie Tears – Small green candle beads and snow glitter
Pasteurized Werewolf Milk— Any white liquid
Penelope’s Putrid Potion – 
Pickled Liars’ Tongues— Fake rubber tongues in a yellowish liquid
Poe’s Organic Potion – Green GID paint with corn syrup and green plastic beads
Poison Ivy— Fake ivy vine pieces 
Pulp Fiction – Shredded paper
Romanian Dragon Scales – Different sizes of green sequins
St. John’s Warts – Mini marshmallows
Spawn of Jack O’Lantern — Green pumpkin seeds
Squid Ink— Water and black paint
Tail of Rat – Rats tails cutoff props
Tale of Rat – Story about a rat
Toasted Bat Wings – Original Recipe — Bat wings cut off fake bats 
Transylvanian Toadstools – Fake mushrooms
Tree Troll Ticks – Fake plastic plant with white beads
T.O.T. Repellant – GID blue paint and water (good glow)
Triskaidekaphobia Tincture – The number 13 in it
Unfiltered Vampyre Blood— Corn syrup and red food coloring
Very Lucky Charms – Lucky Charms cereal
Warlock’s beard— Spanish Moss 
West Indies Pirates Eye – Fake eyeballs 
Wicked Warlock Weevils - 
Withered Goblin gizzards – Gummy candy (body parts)
Raven Claws
Ghostess’ Ideas:
Dried Swamp Bottom-Dwellers— dried shrimp
Eye of Goblin— green pimento-stuffed olives
Eye of Newt — whole black peppercorns
Scales of a baby brown Gwardar Snake — Fennel seed 
Liver of Salamander— Turmeric (the one sold as pellets)
I posted a bunch of Halloween Potion Bottle labels that I designed. You can print them out, distress them with tea and cut and paste them on bottles. I'll post some pictures on my profile album 
Hope these ideas help 
Haunted Halloween Spooktacular


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## make them scream (Jul 2, 2009)

if you cut highlighters apart and take the felt ink tube inside out and cut a slit with box cuter down one sidde and throw them in water they will glow in black light


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## Skelly215 (Sep 22, 2004)

Lowe's has an assortment of corks in their hardware section. Check in the drawers that have "hard-to-find" items. They have a good range of sizes.


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## Raven & the Wren Studios (Aug 23, 2009)

Last year I found nifty spiderweb fabric to use for an old screw-top glass mason jar. It looked really cute. Also, try experimenting with coloring different oils of different densities- if memory serves me correctly, the different colors should stay separated if you pour carefully. Don't be afraid to go to a tackle and bait shop: they have all kinds of crazy-looking and brightly/oddly colored creepy stuff! (A small suggestion is to carefully clip off the actual fishing hook part) 
While you're at the bait and tackle shop, sometimes they have water-proof LED light bobber-things. It's really neat to be able to have a glowing jar of ickiness in the middle of a dark spooky pantry! Hope this helps get the creative juices flowing!


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## hallorenescene (Dec 28, 2007)

wow! i am glad i found this thread. i started doing bottles this year after my secret reaper gave me the makings. i've been having fun doing it but, after putting the labels on i don't always know what to put in the jars. great ideas everyone. i just did one up that i love, it has a vampire bite label, so i opened up one of those cheap packages you can buy with the plastic teeth and a tube of blood. i dropped the teeth into the jar and then drizzled blood on the teeth and down the sides of the jar.


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## Yubney (Sep 14, 2009)

Me and the wife like cherries. After one bowl we set aside I found the next day the little bits of red flesh left had dried on the pits and I thought "hey... bird eyes".

I now have them in a bottle labeled Foul. 

I also trimmed off a bunch of useless animal hair brushes labeled Whiskers.

Heck you can pretty much put anything you want in your bottles... a witch gotta have dry goods too huh?


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## Jeffhawk (Nov 16, 2009)

ive used the inside of highlighter markers in water with blacklights on them,they kind of look like glowing guts.


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## savagehaunter (Aug 22, 2009)

Wow. You guys have some great ideas


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## caju12831 (Nov 6, 2008)

*Fishing tackle works great*

 I opened my fishing tackle box, and found most of what I needed. First there were the Salmon Eggs, both real and artificial. Some were glow in the dark and high glow green/orange. Next I got my old lures with wiggle skirts, snipped them off. Next I got every kind of artificial worm. Some were short, bright, with arms, tails, gills, every color. I took a few old lead shot and put that in the bottom for sound as people picked them up. For texture, I cut up some old artificial flowers, and old plastic Onion bags. Made it look like sea weed. I found some 4 for $1.00 Halloween 'shrunken' heads at the dollar store, and put a few of those in their own Mason jar. Next a few drops of food coloring of your choice, and I always put some vinegar and salt too keep the liquid from spoiling. Cap it tight, hot glue the lid on, to keep it water tight, and THEN label it so the water doesn't ruin your labels. I try to stay away from anything organic, so it doesn't spoil, and use my jars year after year. You can also add glitter, it helps add some depth to the bottle as people peer into it, move it around.


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## westbatman (Feb 9, 2010)

Great thread with some great ideas!

Andy


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## Jeffhawk (Nov 16, 2009)

one year i got a few of those body parts that grow in water,a brain/nose, and a hand.i left them in the jars with the water for 2about 3 years,sealed of course!i was suprised that they actualy stayed together.


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## Chupa (Oct 31, 2009)

dry ice would make the water "bubble" and let off a nice little fog. But you'd have to replace it every now and then thought-out the night. 

YouTube - Dry Ice in Water


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## hallorenescene (Dec 28, 2007)

so did i miss reading it? what are some ideas for death root?


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