The Straw Holder

I have this weird thing where I do not like to put my mouth on the edge of a glass. I guess maybe it's an OCD thing, but whatever it is, it makes me need a straw. I know they're so bad for the environment, but I figure all the other good stuff I do will balance it out, right?

I keep my straws in one of those soda fountain style clear holders on the counter. I had a clear acrylic one that my husband gave me when we first were dating in 2000, but I've been searching for a glass one to replace it. I've seen them at antique stores, but no way I was paying $15 - $20 for a straw holder!

Finally, a few months ago, I came across this at Goodwill for $3 and did a happy dance:

It's an old barber's disinfectant bottle. It's glass and stainless steel, so I knew I could clean it properly in order for it to be used. I had visions of using acetone to remove the screened on enamel lettering and replacing it with cute vinyl that I would cut with the Silhouette. There was just one problem though.

That enamel was NOT coming off. I used nail polish remover. I tried scraping it off with a razor blade. I bought graffiti remover and tried that. What you see in the above photo was how much I got off after three days of trying different things. I decided to set it aside while I thought about what to do with it.

Well, of course then I had my little "vacation," and then we moved, so it has sat waiting. Finally, I decided to tackle it again. I gave up my visions of cute vinyl and took to it with a really rough (like for acrylic nails) emery board.

That did the trick, but as I imagined, it scratched the glass pretty badly. I busted out the Frog Tape and a few cans of spray paint instead and ended up with this:

I made a chalkboard label! Now it sits on my counter happy and full of straws and I just love it. The old one is currently in the Goodwill box. :)