Cutting Glass Bottles with Fire and String!

Remember the teaser I left you with on Thursday?  I read about this project on Pinterest and pinned it over a year ago:  Cut Bottles With Fire and String...I have to admit that the fire was the part that really hooked me!

We were a little bit hit or miss with this one, but at one point or another each of us broke into our "ugly cry laugh" so I think it was a success!  Want to try it?  I'll give you the directions (along with some tips and lessons learned) we followed and you can report back to let me know if it worked!

How to Cut Bottles with Fire and  String:

 Supplies:

Yarn
Glass bottles
Acetone nail polish remover
Matches or lighter
Scissors
Bucket of cold water

#1   Choose some yarn or poly-cotton string.

#2   Wrap the string around the area of the bottle you want to cut.  Wind the string around at least 5 times and tie into place.

#3   Slip the looped yarn from the bottle and place into a dish of acetone based polish remover. Let soak up the flammable goodness for a few minutes:

#4   Place the looped yarn back over the neck of the bottle and push into place.  (we found it worked better if the yarn was snug on the bottle)

#5   Put on safety glasses (we skipped this step and realized it while I was sitting on the ground with a flaming bottle in my hand).

#6   Rinse the acetone from your hands (an un-named member of our group lit her hands on fire!)

#7   Light the string on fire while holding the bottle at a 90 degree angle near the bucket of water.  Now turn the bottle slowly to let it heat evenly for about 60 seconds. (Shriek and laugh...I'm not sure if it was necessary, but there was a lot of shrieking and laughing during this part and I feel like it made all the difference.)

#8  Plunge the bottle into the water just before the yarn stops burning.  (Scream and cringe)  The top of the bottle will just pop right off!

Here is the video of my first attempt:

Now, here is an out-take video where things didn't quite work out:

Things we learned:

**Fire/crafts combo is really funny.

**DON'T attempt this with the cork in the bottle!  The pressure will build up and the whole thing will explode (this will seem very funny at the time, and you will laugh until snot runs out of your nose, but you also could get hurt.  Especially, if your hand is on fire from errant acetone and you forgot your safety goggles.  Just sayin')

**I might need to refine this to really use them because the edges are quite sharp with some hairline cracks around the edge.  Sand paper?  More precise flame time? I will soldier on!

**I came out of the whole thing unscathed by fire BUT I did cut myself with the scissors...go figure! 

** A circle of sharp glass was laying at the bottom of the bucket after my first attempt and my first thought was to make it into a bracelet...sharp pointy glass + major veins and arteries = dumb idea!

**I really missed my girlfriends**