Cutting Glass Bottles (with Fire)

7 Posted by - May 1, 2013 - DIY & Crafts, Videos

I feel like it goes without saying, really, but this video is Not Safe For Work unless your boss doesn’t mind long strings of swears and blasphemes. It involves me attempting the bottle-cutting pin where you light things on fire. Spoiler: It did not go well. (If you can’t see the video, click here.)

And, of course, if you’re not subscribed, DO THAT!

83 Comments

  • Caren Helms May 1, 2013 - 9:10 am Reply

    Sonja, I seriously suggest that if you are burning things, you pull your hair back first. Seriously. Your whole head could have gone up in flames! Second, if you ever worked in a bar or restaurant with a bar, you might have witnessed drinking glasses exploding after being taken from the (very hot) dishwasher and filled with ice and water. Glass doesn’t like that. So this whole thing might have gone better (maybe) if: a) the glass was hotter (had burned longer); and, b) the water was ice cold. Not that I think you’ll try it again, but in case you do something similar…

  • Lynn Steffen May 1, 2013 - 9:20 am Reply

    OMG that was CraZy! Glad that you’re ok and didn’t actually die of scared, that would suck!

  • libraryofbird May 1, 2013 - 9:31 am Reply

    Oh thank Christ there was a video.

  • Ashley Chesson May 1, 2013 - 9:44 am Reply

    35 seconds of pure terror

  • Rea Verdon May 1, 2013 - 9:46 am Reply

    haha cat penis

    • Sarah Andrus May 1, 2013 - 10:32 am Reply

      I thought she said cat anus?!?

  • Lyndsey May 1, 2013 - 9:49 am Reply

    hahahaha omg so first of all– I can’t believe you didn’t wash your hands after tying the tshirt! Your hands were covered in flammable acetone and then you were holding a bottle that was lit on fire. I was waiting for an ambulance, honestly! Also, I tried this (like 5 times in a row) last year letting it burn for a LOOONG time and dunking it in a sink filled with ice water (literal ice. in water.) and it didn’t do shit. Except make my husband reevaluate marrying me. So yea— this pin sucks. But I’m glad you’re still alive and non-crispy!

    • Craig Thom May 2, 2013 - 5:30 am Reply

      Yes, it scared me, too, that she didn’t wash her hands and also that she had the open container of acetone sitting so close. This could have ended very badly.

  • that_music May 1, 2013 - 9:59 am Reply

    This could theoretically work! If, after suddenly cooling your bottle you kinda smashed the top of it, since the bit that was on fire should be the most brittle you *might* get it to break in the right spot… Slash you could just buy a tile cutter thing and use that to cut the glass without burning anything. (Also, unless you smooth the edges out with sandpaper you’ll probably cut yourself trying to drink from one of these bottle cup things)

  • Elizabeth Ann Taylor May 1, 2013 - 9:59 am Reply

    EPIC. I tried this one too with a corona bottle, i even did it with my sink full of ice and water. I think the only thing i was successful in was convincing my husband im psychotic lol

  • Dley00 May 1, 2013 - 10:12 am Reply

    So I can’t help but wonder after reading the comments if this would work if you used straight acetone from the hardware store. Up until a bad experience trying to remove gel nails last year I didn’t realize it wasn’t the same thing. I mean I know your not trying it again but I still want to know lol

  • LittleChestnut May 1, 2013 - 10:16 am Reply

    You react the same way to fire that I do. Drop that shit as fast as possible. I almost burned the chem lab down last week …

  • Didi May 1, 2013 - 10:21 am Reply

    Thank you for doing this! I WAS going to but since Im more of a scaredy cat than you, I’ve decided not to after watching this video haha! Hope you recovered ok, I think I screamed louder than you did LOL!

  • Alie May 1, 2013 - 10:28 am Reply

    OMG! Love the hair, loved the boob shot & you set things on fire. My girl crush is complete. FWIW, I tried this using cotton thread & it worked, only the edges of my cut bottle were all jagged and scary & I’m too lazy to sand that shit out.

  • Dixie Lynn Deal May 1, 2013 - 10:39 am Reply

    LOVED the cat noise as you shoved the t-shirt into it’s anus!! Glad you didn’t die of scared because then what would I do without your posts to make me laugh?!?!

    • Sarah McMullin May 4, 2013 - 4:31 pm Reply

      If only there had been a sound for pulling the shirt OUT. Having the cat anus mental pic made my stomach lurch for removal.

  • Katie! May 1, 2013 - 11:10 am Reply

    I am SO glad you did this one! I was hoping you would be my martyr so that I wouldn’t have to try it. I was too scared. So, thanks! Also, this one is hilarious, and I’m sorry it was at your expense. Glad you didn’t burn the house down!

  • Sarah Stalcup May 1, 2013 - 12:17 pm Reply

    Omg. I LITERALLY lol-ed for 99% of this video! I love love love your hair. And please don’t die of scared. That would be terrible. But would also make a great statement on your headstone. “Pintester. Died of scared testing this shit. Penis.”

  • Val Satula May 1, 2013 - 12:40 pm Reply

    I tried this once with ice, no luck at all! Fake pin, boo

  • DaisyDesigner May 1, 2013 - 12:49 pm Reply

    I can just hear some stupid, drunken college kid say “Dude, we can totally make glasses out of all these beer bottles! Let’s use fire!” And there goes the frat house.

    Love the cat noise and the pink hair!

  • Dallas Holmes May 1, 2013 - 2:58 pm Reply

    My first thought on seeing the “cut a bottle with fire” pin was, “I really hope the pintester does this one”! Thanks for always exceeding my expectations.

  • Megan May 1, 2013 - 3:15 pm Reply

    Best soundtrack ever!

  • Jasi Lee May 1, 2013 - 3:23 pm Reply

    First, I seriously love that you went for the pink hair. I was a bit worried that you were going to dye it to match and be all boring, but I should have known better.
    Second, I’m not a video person, I don’t like them, I don’t like when people send them but please, please, please promise that you will always video when fire or alcohol are involved. Because that’s just good programming. So good I’m sharing on FB with people I don’t even like.

  • dar May 1, 2013 - 3:28 pm Reply

    I’ve done this and it worked! I had help from my boyfriend though because i too would have dropped the flaming bottle. He didn’t like the acetone so he decided to bring the tank of gasoline in the house. We were drunk. It was awesome. And we’re both still alive.

    • Havana James May 1, 2013 - 8:24 pm Reply

      please don’t try this with gasoline

  • Amanda England May 1, 2013 - 3:40 pm Reply

    I remember we cut and bent glass rods in high school chemistry, but even then, we had to etch all the way around where we wanted to cut. Perhaps it would work if the glass was etched before fire was applied, but considering how many of those hollow rods exploded that day, still not a good idea.

    I’m with you on hating this pin. It’s a disasterous time bomb in the making.

  • Jessi Wohlwend May 1, 2013 - 3:50 pm Reply

    Yeah, that’s exactly what happened to me when I tried cutting a bottle that way! It went crazy on fire right away, and then didn’t do anything to the bottle once I put the fire out after like 40 seconds… I did end up making some gorgeous goblets out of beer bottles, but I definitely had to use an actual commercial bottle cutter to do it. 🙂 http://practicallyfunctional.net/2013/03/recycled-beer-bottle-goblets/

    • Chelle Crew May 2, 2013 - 7:30 pm Reply

      You could have called it the goblet of fire…*puts on sunglasses dramatically*

  • Piggie4 May 1, 2013 - 4:18 pm Reply

    i about died of laughter when you lit it on fire… We could’ve died together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Quincy May 1, 2013 - 4:20 pm Reply

    Hilarious video. My safety senses were tingling, though. I hate to be the asshole coming in here saying, “You did it wrong!” But there’s a difference between making a shitty cocktail and burning the whole house down. I would hate to see this site going away due to home insurance claims because it makes me laugh so fucking hard. Some things to consider IF you try this ever again (or if someone else tries it): 1) I don’t think the nail polish remover in the cat butt squeegee things is pure acetone, pretty sure there’s other stuff in there. You can get pure acetone for cheap though, it’s by the other nail polish removers and it’s like $2 a bottle. 2) The t-shirt spread the heat too much around the bottle, you want the heat in a very thin strip, which cotton yarn would do. It also created a much larger flame than yarn would. Cotton yarn is like $2 a skein at Walmart. 3) It’s the difference in temperature that makes the glass brittle, so you want to do ice cold water in the sink rather than a pitcher. Also another thing that I saw you considering is the fact that you have to turn the bottle to put it in the pitcher, which is no bueno. 4) Like you said, take the label off.

    I would love to see you retry this if you don’t die of scared.

  • Piggie4 May 1, 2013 - 4:23 pm Reply

    Nuf’ Said

  • Eileen M Coesens Mitsui May 1, 2013 - 5:59 pm Reply

    Cat anus sound effects made the video!

  • Katherine Horejsi May 1, 2013 - 6:28 pm Reply

    Girl, you posted a photo of you in Ikea buying glasses, you really don’t need to be making them out of beer bottles….but I’m bloody glad you did, best laugh in ages.

  • misplacedeuropean May 1, 2013 - 8:17 pm Reply

    The only thing I kept thinking throughout this entire video was “Would you light my canddddlllleeee” from Rent.

  • PENdesigns May 1, 2013 - 8:50 pm Reply

    angry orchard or sierra nevada?

    • Craig Thom May 2, 2013 - 5:27 pm Reply

      Fat Tire. It’s a mild beer for those who want something better than Budweiser but not that much better. It’s like a training beer, a first step into the world of craft beer.

  • Gina S May 2, 2013 - 4:30 am Reply

    BTW, in some circles, your polish remover thingie is called a vagina dentata. I just thought you’d like to know.

    • Jennmarie68 May 3, 2013 - 4:38 pm Reply

      Wow, I just learned something… I can’t believe that’s a real thing (well it’s a myth, but it’s still a thing.) But now that I know what a vagina dentata is, the nail polish thingy does resemble it.

  • Von May 2, 2013 - 4:48 am Reply

    Jesus Christ, Sonja, you scared the shit out of me with that one! I’ll be the cranky old safety officer here; I don’t care if everyone goes “boo” and gives me the finger. You had flammable goo, fire, and potentially breaking glass. You should have been wearing some heavy cotton or wool gloves and SAFETY GLASSES. Your eyes, your eyes! And yeah, tie your newly-pink-flashed hair back. Fuck that pin.

    • katykersh May 7, 2013 - 9:34 am Reply

      I agree!!!!!!!! I was totally shitting bricks hoping that that glass didn’t explode into her eyes!!! Sonja, next time wear SAFETY GLASSES

  • Jessie May 2, 2013 - 8:49 am Reply

    Oh my God…that was so funny. I laughed so hard!

  • Holly May 2, 2013 - 9:49 am Reply

    I never leave comments but this was by far the best video that you have ever done! I sat here laughing and yelling “Don’t do it. Don’t light the string.” You had to go and do it. Nothing will ever be better then this one so you might as well go out on a bang and retire!

  • Llama spit May 2, 2013 - 10:24 am Reply

    I tried taking off my nail polish in the cat anus thing. It didn’t work and now my cat is PISSED!

    • Jenelle W. May 3, 2013 - 4:26 pm Reply

      Llama spit, for the win! Still crying laughing……

  • EmmaBeEmma May 2, 2013 - 11:46 am Reply

    “I don’t always catch stuff on fire,”… but when you do it’s fucking epic.

  • sstarling May 2, 2013 - 11:53 am Reply

    Holy effing hell – I don’t think I’ve ever clenched my butt for that long. I sincerely hope you got very drunk when you were finished. That said – and I hate to do this to you – this pin totally does work. I made an entire window for my bathroom out of the bottoms of beer bottles. I am the most craft-impaired person around (I’d challenge you to a sucky pin-off any day) and I was able to do it. True story.

    Here’s the thing – you need 100% acetone and you MUST use string. It’s much narrower & can put much more pressure on the bottle than a wet t-shirt. (Insert boob joke here). You soak the string, wrap it tightly 3 or 4 times around the bottle, light it, let it burn out on its own, dunk it COLD water for about 5 seconds and then tap the bottle with a butter knife (or similar instrument) and it falls right off. I had to do it 36 times for my window so trust me – this method works for real.

    Also, take the label off, wash your hands before lighting anything, do it OUTSIDE and keep that sweet dog of yours far, far from the action. I’m all for a good pin fail but safety first! Besides, if you end up all dead (either from fear or crafticide) we’d all be way sad. Don’t do that to us. 🙁

    • IHaveNoticedTickles May 27, 2013 - 9:33 pm Reply

      I’ve done this to make glasses out of my favorite wine bottles, chosen for the pretty labels. I kept the labels on and they weren’t even singed. It helped me to use a glass cutter before using the fire, if only to help me keep the string level.

  • Chelle Crew May 2, 2013 - 7:28 pm Reply

    After seeing your facebook post the day before this that read,”I just did a pin test that almost made me cry, guys. Video tomorrow.” Then I come here and it’s about glass and fire. I was contemplating on watching it, cause I don’t want to see you maimed. But awesome hair! Terrifying video!

  • LadyRita May 2, 2013 - 8:04 pm Reply

    Jesus H. Christ, I spent that entire video saying “nononononononono!” Scared the crap out of me. No more fire. Oh, and the background music should have been “Ring of Fire.”

  • Terrilynn Emberly May 2, 2013 - 10:18 pm Reply

    OMFG!!! I am sitting on my couch with tears literally streaming down my face right now and my cheeks hurt really bad from laughing so much at this video!! BEST ONE YET!!! My boyfriend asked me if I was going to live because I am laughing so hard. Thank you so much for putting your life at risk for our pure entertainment!!! 🙂

  • Jenny May 3, 2013 - 12:28 pm Reply

    At least your flaming pink hair matched the crafty theme…Oh my God, if you could hear the sounds I was making as I watched. Holy crap. You are amazeballs.

  • Logann Graham May 3, 2013 - 1:30 pm Reply

    I both cried and peed a little during this vid.

  • Eleni Leal May 3, 2013 - 3:31 pm Reply

    Kudos to you for even attempting that! I would have been terrified the bottle would explode in my face!

  • Rebecca May 3, 2013 - 9:09 pm Reply

    Oh my goodness… This just made me sad all over again that you moved away from CA.

  • Lauren May 3, 2013 - 11:11 pm Reply

    I think I speak for everyone here when I say don’t ever apologize for a boob shot!

    …that sounds creepy.

  • golfpunk0r May 4, 2013 - 5:24 am Reply

    you had me at cat anus

  • Campbell May 4, 2013 - 4:26 pm Reply

    haha! I LOLed when it exploded. Glad you are okay.

  • brenaybrock May 4, 2013 - 10:18 pm Reply

    I think I will stay away from this pin AND cat anus’ after watching this. Which kills my favorite hobby…(I’ll let you figure out which I am referring to!)

  • Guest May 5, 2013 - 7:18 pm Reply

    I made you a gif so you can forever see the burn 🙂

  • Siaci May 5, 2013 - 8:04 pm Reply

    The cats sounds were my favorite part, and that’s saying a lot, as all of this was hysterical. Did you sample the sounds by sticking a rag up a cat’s ass?

  • Pintester May 5, 2013 - 11:23 pm Reply

    How cool! Thank you!

  • Guest May 9, 2013 - 2:55 pm Reply

    Oh my god I laughed so hard I snorted. I love Pinterest screw ups

  • Sumthyme May 10, 2013 - 5:48 pm Reply

    Your hair looks great! And there was fire.

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  • Bwabbit May 14, 2013 - 4:42 pm Reply

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sFXngPx3w3M A way to cut the bottles without using fire.

  • Bitsy May 16, 2013 - 7:59 am Reply

    almost peed my pants laughing at this one!! I’m glad you’re ok tho… Be safe, Sonja!!! 🙂

  • Marchel May 21, 2013 - 1:26 am Reply

    Did you really apologize for a boob shot? That is one of the few things in the world that never requires an apology!

  • Miss Ginger Grant May 24, 2013 - 10:52 pm Reply

    You may have been a few seconds short… but it doesn’t work anyway! Check out my post on the right way to do it! http://missgingergrant.blogspot.com/2012/10/cutting-glass.html

  • amandarashell May 28, 2013 - 12:18 am Reply

    You silly lady! The water has to be ice cold then it works fine. Even with wine bottles

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  • DeepFriedYankee June 14, 2013 - 11:34 am Reply

    Thank you for taking one for the team and doing this so I don’t have to. I don’t care how many people say it works – if it doesn’t work for you it won’t for me either! I’ll stick to glass cutting without fire.

  • Po not he panda June 22, 2013 - 8:15 pm Reply

    OMG, that was the funniest thing I have ever seen in a looooong time. I loved your reaction, thanks for that, still laughing cos, it’s sommat that wud happen to me. Love your blog x

  • Leslie Caron- Knipp July 4, 2013 - 3:37 pm Reply

    Oh that was hysterical. My husband did it and it did actually work. It was not a smooth cut and on a thicker bottle it won’t work.

  • Bethany Leigh August 7, 2013 - 8:05 am Reply

    I tried this same exact thing last week! My boyfriend didnt believe me that it would work.. He was right.. I tried 3 times in a row and, nothing — The 4th time I tried, I guess I had left over acetone on my hands because the satan like flame ran up my hands and I dropped the bottle into the sink (where the cup of acetone was) and set my whole sink on fire. luckily I had the bucket of cold water next to me…. (a fair amount of bloody mary’s were in my system at this point) — I tried it on a wine bottle, thats probably too thick, I’m going to try it on a thin beer bottle again..

  • Shavone Carter September 8, 2013 - 8:46 pm Reply

    Thank you for trying this. I could not laugh because I myself was freaked out too. I screamed at my laptop. Goggles and gloves!! I am sure you heard me right. I really want or wanted to try this but I am a HUGE chicken shit.

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  • Lindsay Lovstrom September 18, 2013 - 6:49 pm Reply

    Props on the beer choice. 🙂

  • Lindsay Greene September 18, 2013 - 9:16 pm Reply

    I actually have done this and have gotten it to work you need to use like a large bucket with really cold water even put ice in it yarn works best as long as it’s cotton and the flame dies down and that’s when you dunk it in the water and viola make sure you sand it so it doesn’t cut you. Practice makes perfect too, took me a few try’s to get it, plus when I did this outside wasn’t the best since it was very windy so did this in my garage.

  • Crisco Candle | Pintester September 19, 2013 - 1:13 pm Reply

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  • Nancy Weaver October 3, 2013 - 7:45 pm Reply

    That is scary!!! It is really not good to try something which you are not ready and you don’t know the entire process well most specially that it is dealing with fire. I believe that it was wrong to use pitcher to cut off the fire because the space is just too small and the water needs to be cold as well. Though, I hope that you will still have the guts to try it again. -http://www.jordonglass.com/

  • vickidew March 7, 2014 - 10:03 am Reply

    WOW!!! What happened to “safety first”? You certainly didn’t think this one through first. You certainly shouldn’t be testing something you don’t understanding. (and what is with the profanity)

    I subscribed this morning, I’ll be unsubscribing this morning.

    • thatpandabitca April 16, 2014 - 4:53 am Reply

      Don’t forget to take the stick in your ass with you.

  • Elizabeth Chesnut September 4, 2014 - 8:32 pm Reply

    oh my gosh! this is the most stressful tutorail i’ve seen! lol! so glad i’m not alone in being terrified and curious for this diy project! glad you didn’t burn the kitchen down!

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