If the ship’s hull is particularly deep or wide, you can use a sharp knife to cut the bottom and sides of the hull before smoothing the edges with the sandpaper. Choose a beginner kit for your first ship, which should include the model ship as well as any tools you’ll need to put it together.

If you’re not sure which piece is the bowsprit, check your ship in a bottle kit for clarification. It should be a long piece of wood that resembles a rod.

The thin wire should come with the ship kit. If it does not, use 18-20 gauge metal wire. You can find metal wire from most hardware or home improvement stores.

If you don’t have wood glue in your kit, you can buy wood glue online or from most hardware stores.

Although glass bottles are ideal, you can use plastic bottles to display the ship. A wine bottle, for example, makes an excellent container for ships in a bottle. You can also find empty glass bottles at some craft stores.

If the ship is larger or wider than the bottle, you can either choose a larger bottle or sand the ship to size.

You can skip this step if your bottle is already clean or if it came with your ship in a bottle kit. If swishing around the soap does not remove all of the dirty spots, push a washcloth through the opening to rub away stubborn debris.

The “bottom” refers to the side of the bottle that will eventually become where you place the ship over, not the literal bottom of the bottle. For a deeper blue color, paint the bottom of the bottle with 2-3 layers of paint, waiting 30-60 minutes between layers for the paint to dry.

You can line the bottle with a layer of glue or epoxy as an alternative, but you will need to place the ship inside faster before it dries. Painting the bottom of the ship not only creates the illusion that the ship is floating on water but also helps hide the wood putty.

The ship should unfold itself after you push it through the opening.

If the boat does not fit through the mouth, choose a bottle with a larger mouth or sand the hull to size.

If you don’t have a metal rod, a wooden stick or metal utensil can work just as well.

You can find corks online or from some stores that sell alcoholic beverages.