12 Ways To Reuse Crystal Cut Glassware From The Thrift Store

Vintage cut glass or crystal glassware is a common sight in thrift stores, sometimes available in large sets of stemware, plates, saucers, bowls, and serving dishes. You may also see a selection of candy dishes, butter plates, decanters, pitchers, and canisters in beautiful faceted glass. The internet is filled with fun and beautiful DIY projects for vintage glassware, turning them into everything from storage to purely decorative objects for your home and garden. From pretty vintage style bird baths to exquisite tiered trays, thrifting old glassware can be a great way to create unique accents with a vintage vibe.

Not only are these glassware pieces only a few bucks or less each, you get the eco-friendly benefit of reusing old pieces in new ways. Most of these use the dishes as/is or involve some simple adhesives. Others may require a drill bit that can drill through glass. While most of the projects below feature clear cut glass, they also work for colored glass or ceramic pieces in equal measure.

Make a beautiful addition to your holiday décor with stunning glass trees created from vintage crystal. Use a pillar candle or taper holder and place the largest bowl upside down over the top, securing it with some sturdy adhesive like E6000. Build upward toward the top to create the tree. You can also enlist some battery-operated twinkle lights inside this DIY Christmas décor to add a festive glow. Use the tree alone or as part of a centerpiece to light up your holiday table. 

Use vintage cut glass pieces for stylish bathroom storage. You can repurpose a candy dish to hold small things like cotton balls and makeup wipes, while a crystal tumbler or rocks glass can hold toothbrushes or cotton swabs. Fill a pretty crystal bowl with decorative soaps or use a crystal decanter for your bubble bath or mouthwash. You can also use a crystal platter as a container for all your pretty perfume bottles or a spot for a vignette with a plant or candle. 

Shallow crystal dishes make excellent mini trays to hold your sink-side essentials in the kitchen, like soap dispensers and bottles. Putting them in one place can help organize and keep the counter neat. This works especially well with smaller serving pieces that have a completely flat bottom. You can also add a couple small holes with a drill bit designed for drilling glass to allow water to drain off. Or use a deeper dish to hold sponges and scrubbers. 

Turn a crystal glass container into a beautiful planter to give your plants a stylish new home. Use larger pieces like punch bowls for bigger plants, or enlist small pieces like bowls, cups, and candy dishes as holders for small succulents. Just fill with dirt or pebbles and add your plants. You can drill some holes in the bottom for drainage if necessary and add a clear saucer underneath as a tray to catch excess water.

Stack various pieces of glassware together to create a unique and creative birdbath. Start with a large piece with a wide top as the base. Add additional pieces with an adhesive, including bowls, cups, and other items. Top with a large shallow plate to hold the water. You can even add another crystal piece, like a small animal statuette in the middle. Make sure to use a bird safe adhesive if the water comes in contact with the glue.

For an adorable cottage-style accent for your garden, create mushrooms out of crystal vases and glass bowls. Turn the vase upside down and affix the bowl with some glue on top. For a few bucks, you can put an array of mushrooms in your yard or garden for a whimsical touch. You can make them any size, and even add some LED or solar lights inside to help light up your outdoor space. You can also make glassware pieces into flowers for beautiful bespoke DIY garden décor.

Vintage crystal dishes or small trays make gorgeous additions for holding jewelry and accessories in a pretty way, whether it's a tiny butter dish to put your rings in or a lidded candy dish to store and display earrings in on the top of your dresser. A cut glass reamer makes an excellent holder for bracelets, watches, and bangles.

You can make luscious handmade candles inside of crystal glassware for an instant luxe look. Or, if you don't want to add wax, insert a votive candle or tealight inside. Small crystal pieces look especially beautiful when paired with a dinner table centerpiece since the faceted glass casts a cozy glow. You can also make elevated candle holders by melding different pieces with adhesive to raise the height of your candles or holders.

While you can find crystal lamps occasionally in thrift stores, you can make your own using glass pieces like canisters, ice buckets, and bowls. Or layer smaller pieces together. Drill the pieces to add a lamp kit with a brass pole for center support. Or glue pieces together and use a battery operated LED light on top. Glass decanters can also be filled with string lights for a pretty bar light.

You can buy hardware to create a tiered tray out of vintage dishware and crystal glass pieces that only require a small amount of drilling to thread the piece through the glass pieces You can also use an adhesive to layer pieces like pillar candle holders, taper holders, and goblets with flatter or bowl-shaped pieces to create the levels. Use them as part of a centerpiece, to hold accessories for your coffee station, or as a place to serve up baked goods.

Create a boho-style romantic candle plate using vintage cut glass pieces to hold several taper candles. The wax will melt as the candles burn, running and dripping down over the glass pieces to create a beautiful sculptural way to light a table or room that you can allow to build and grow over time. Use colored candles or all-white for a Victorian look. 

Turn an ordinary small glass window frame into a pretty suncatcher by adding a few vintage crystal shallow pieces to the surface with adhesive. You can also mix in other small glass accents like pebbles or pieces of mosaic glass. The result is a textured glass suncatcher frame to hang in your window that reflects the light beautifully.