How many 20 oz bottles does your family go through in a week? Youre not throwing them away are you? Why would you do that? The bottles can become everything from baby toys to workout weights. Theres another thing you can make from the bottles, in fact, from any bottle. Cute character kids are loads of fun to make and will cause anyone who sees them to grin. The characters, when finished, can sit on a shelf, a desk or anywhere else in the house.
Theres no need to remove any labels on the bottle but do remove the cap. Take strips of double-sided tape and place them, vertically, around the bottle. Place each piece next to the first one to ensure the entire bottle is covered. Cut separate pieces, if needed, to attach to the neck of the bottle. Do not overlap any of the tape pieces. Instead of the tape, you can use hot glue to affix the yarn, but that is more time consuming than using the tape.
Begin at the bottom and start wrapping the bottle with yarn. Dont have any yarn? Lightweight cord or twine will work fine. Continue making row after horizontal row until youve covered the entire bottle. If using hot glue, add a dab, put the yarn in it, then add another dab. Slowly work your way around, keeping the yarn taught but not pulling it tightly. Change the clothing color any time you want by tying on a different color of yarn. Wrap half the bottle in blue yarn, to represent jeans, then tie off and wrap the remainder of the bottle in a different color, to make the shirt. In the center, tie off to a black or brown color, to make a belt. Or, tie off several different times when making the shirt, to create a striped effect. When youre finished wrapping the bottle drop some pebbles, rocks or dry beans into the bottom to keep the bottle from tipping over. To create a head for the bottle person use an ordinary wooden spoon. The spoon should be the type that is almost flat and has a long handle. Use craft supplies or paints to make a face on one side of the spoon. Glue on wiggly eyes or just use paint markers to make the face. Attach yarn hair or make a hat from felt. Give one character long, braided yarn hair, and another character, feather hair that sticks straight up. Use a piece of black yarn to make a man with a moustache. Make one spoon a girl by gluing a small bow to the edge of the spoon. Each character will take on a different look when you add various embellishments to the spoon. Since one side of the spoon is rounded, and the other is somewhat concave, you can make different characters depending upon which side of the spoon you paint. When youre finished making the head and face simply drop the spoon handle into the bottle. When the bottle is lifted or bumped, the spoon will move back and forth, making the character seem to nod. Give each character his or her own style by using various craft supplies. Wrap a piece of lace around the neck of one bottle to make a collar. Wrap a length of strung beads around another one to create a necklace. Glue on a tiny star button to make one bottle a guy with a badge. There are no limits to the different characters you can make. Eyes can be made from markers, beads or pom-poms. Noses can be made from a piece of felt, button or pom-pom. Mouths can be cut from felt or the whole face can be a sticker set from a craft store. Hair can be made from foam, feathers, yarn, string or even paper. Clothing can be made from the wrapped yarn or you can simply glue on scraps of fabric. Use plastic spoons as faces for smaller bottle people. Make the characters from empty spice bottles and theyll be much smaller than the 20 oz bottle people. Youll have lots of fun making the whimsical characters that look great on a desk, mantle or shelf. Theyre not just for kids; even adults can appreciate the humor of the cute little characters.
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