Recycled Water Bottle Fabric Vases: A Kids' Craft
81An easy and fun 'earth friendly' craft for kids.
Earth Day Crafts for Kids
Ever wonder how you can reuse those water bottles that seem to consume landfills? Here is a fantastic craft for kids to do and save the environment at the same time! This is a perfect gift to give at Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or just as an Earth Day activity. This craft is perfect for elementary aged children. Younger children can certainly finish the project with some additional guidance from an adult. Make sure that you have plenty of water bottles on hand. Making the vases becomes contagious!
Materials Needed for Recycled Vases
- Cleaned and dried water bottles
- Fabric selection of your choice
- Ribbon
- Beads, jewels, or any other adornment
- Tacky glue
- Flowers of course!
More Green Tips!
- Use the water bottle caps for the glue. Children can then dip their Q-tips in the cap and spread the glue along the material. It uses another part of the water bottle and keeps things just a little cleaner!
- There are many ways of choosing your fabric. You can find some that you have left over from other projects, look for seasonal material to fit your gift giving. For example red or hearts for Valentine’s Day or flower prints for Mother’s Day.
Attaching the Fabric to the Plastic Bottle
- Cut the material into 6.5 x 8.5 pieces.
- Place the tacky glue in container if the child is too young to squeeze the glue bottle. Tacky glue is very thick and it takes some strength to get it out of the bottle. Use the Q-tips to apply the glue to the short side of the fabric.
- Place the water bottle on its side on the glued edge of the material and secure.
- Glue the rest of the material on the bottle by either spreading the glue on the bottle or squeezing it on the rest of the material and roll the bottle to cover it completely. Add more glue at the seam if needed.
- Add a ribbon the length of the fabric to cover the seam.
Photos of Wrapping the Bottle with the Fabric
Click thumbnail to view full-size
Decorating the Water Bottle Vase
Now the creativity begins. Put a selection of beads, jewels, glitter or any other decoration that you want to offer your children on the table. Allow the children to decorate the fabric vase in any way that they choose. If they want to add bows, you may need to assist them in creating the bow and attaching it.
Finished Vase
Once the vase is finished and has dried, you can add water and flowers to the vase. They are perfect gifts for Moms, Aunts, Grandmas or Teachers for any occasion. My children decided that they would make one for each of their teachers for Valentine's Day. It is a great, inexpensive gift from the heart and earth friendly too!
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This is a really great task that you can give to your kids. You dont just allow them to explore their creativity, you are also able to teach them how to be good to the environment by recycling waste materials like plastic bottles. More than that, i think those crafts can also be sold in Garage sale or something. This can also be an ideal gift for special occasions like Mother's, Teacher's or Father's days. :)
This is great. I may send this link to my husband so he can use fabric from my stash to help the kids make some for me. Now that I think about it, maybe not a good idea. I would spend the rest of the day cleaning up their mess.
But I love this idea. And you really do a good job of going step by step and providing additional ways of being green. Thanks.
I love this! We could make some for Valentine's Day and spruce up the house with a few flower bouquets. Great idea!
What an awesome, easy and inexpensive craft and gift idea that kids can do independently. Voted up across the board except for funny.
This is a fabulous idea. Nice pics and a great Hub!
Cara-cute hub and definitely a wonderful way for kids to become environment aware. Loved the photos.
Fantastic craftdrawer! I hope that you enjoy making it and that she loves it!
Thanks for your comments Rob_Allen. I agree that it is a two-fold project. Fun and a lesson at the same time. Glad you stopped by.
Stephanie your comment made me chuckle. I could just see a scene like that in my own home! :) Not sure how old your kids are but maybe you could share the link with their teachers. It would be a great classroom activity. Glad you found the pictures helpful.
We are doing the same thing. They are already starting to collect around our home!
I'm always on the hunt for easy and inexpensive Gail. No reason to make life any more challenging! Thanks for the comments and votes!
Thanks Little Light. Glad you found it useful.
Glad you liked it Mom. Thanks for reading.
A fantastic idea. My daughter will love making this as she loves all things craft. Thanks so much for sharing. I guess I will be buying some flowers at the weekend as I know someone that will be busy on Saturday. Voted up and useful. Pics are great too.
Thanks jacqui2011. Have fun with it! My daughter LOVES crafts as well and my son keeps pretty interested as well even at his young age. Glad you found the pics useful and thanks for your comments.
What a super craft - I am thinking Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, or any holiday. Just think of all the different fabrics you can choose from depending on season. My kids will love this craft. Bookmarking and also rating up across the board. Thanks, Steph
Funny you should mention that because it started out as a Valentine's Day craft and moved into a "could be for anything including Earth Day" craft. Glad you found it useful and hope your kids like it too!
Great idea for recycling those plastic bottles. These could also be used as centerpieces at a garden part or tea. Looks simple but lots of fun to make. Voted up!
Thanks teaches12345. You are right, they would be PERFECT for a tea party!
This is a great idea and so easy! I love that you can make these with things that you have around the house. These would be perfect for a tea party. I love your idea of using them as teacher gifts, too.
Great idea for using up those water bottles (although I use mine over and over even when Sam yells at me about the BPA). Voted up.
Thanks randomcreative. It was fun coming up with this one. When I have more than 5 minutes I can be creative! :)
YUCK Aunt Danette! Mom does the same thing and it drives me CRAZY! I try to use the aluminum bottles when I can but sometimes there is a need for the plastic ones.
Great idea. My ten year old granddaughter is always on the look-out for new ideas. I'll pass this along. Thanks.
My niece is 11 and is the same way. Thanks for passing it along to her and I hope she likes it!
This is awesome, useful and creative. Your ideas are excellent, recycling is invovled and is a great fun time activity for kids. Loved it.
Thanks so much Vellur! We had a great time making them. I love to find new uses for old things. Glad you came by to read and comment.
What a cute craft for kids (and adults too, really!) These are my favorite type crafts. I like how it teaches kids to reuse/re-purpose things. Thank you for sharing! Voting up and useful :)
Thanks Jamie! I appreciate you stopping by to read and comment. I love reusing/repurposing objects as well. Glad you enjoyed it.
Super idea! I'm going to share this with a few elementary teachers I know who might do this craft with their kids!:)
What a wonderful craft idea for kids and a great way to use up plastic bottles.
Voted up.
Awesome Sunshine, thanks for the share!
My kids had lots of fun making them Movie Master. In fact we ran out of bottles they made so many! Thanks for reading and commenting.
Wow, these are simply adorable! This make a great project for any elementary class and also uses some of those bottles up. It'd be great for Mother's Day gifts, too. Brilliant and voted up and sharing! Also, I love that you shared pics of your students actually doing these. Awesome!
Thanks prairieprincess, they were great fun to make! It was actually my own kids that made these. I may do this with my students for Mother's Day. Thanks so much for the votes up and share! I appreciate your visit.
This is really beautiful and decorative craft. Perfect for gifts. Sharing it and a vote. Thanks.
Thank you so much for the compliments. I appreciate the visit and the vote and share!
craftdrawer Level 3 Commenter 4 months ago
Great idea for kids I will be using this one for my grandson to make for mom this year!!!