So, I had this patch of bare soil directly behind some paving stones I put in my patio garden to extend the patio a little. I didn’t have enough rocks or bricks to cover it, and I didn’t want to plant anything there because the area is shaded and small. However, I did want some color and interest in the corner. I opted for these cute, easy to make little plastic bottle flowers.
Here is what I used…
NOTE: Not all supplies are in the picture!
- One plastic water bottle per flower (soda bottles can be used but they’ll need proper cleaning)
- Acrylic craft paint (I got mine from Michael’s)
- Plant wire ties (I got mine from the 99c store)
- Clear spray paint (optional)
- Scissors
- Paintbrush
- Glue gun/glue sticks
- Needlenose pliers
Here is how I did it…
First I cut the top of each bottle just where the label stops, then I unscrewed all the caps. I saved 1 bottle body for every 6 tops and put the rest in the recycling bin. I removed the labels from my bottle bodies and rubbed the glue off of them with some fingernail polish remover. I gave all the tops, lids, and bodies a quick wash in warm soapy water. to remove any grease or dirt on them and I let all of that air dry before screwing the lids back on as tightly as I could.
I cut the bottle tops from the cut bottom all the way to where the neck of the opening was. I cut some just 8 times and others as much as 24 times. I then bent them back making sure to crease them so they stayed in that position. Then I either cut the ends into rounds, points or left them natural.
I cut the bottoms off the bottle bodies and added them to the recycle bin. Then I cut as many leaf shapes out of the bodies as I could. It was more than enough for 2 to 3 leaves per flower.
I painted the backside of the flower petals and the inside of the bottle caps in various colors. I used three shades of green for the leaves and left the tip of each leaf unpainted so I could glue them on later.
I took one plant wire tie per flower and curled about an inch of one end with some pliers.
I hot glued the curled end of the plant wire tie onto the bottle cap, and I made sure I added a little hot glue over it to make it extra secure. I glued the leaves on the plant wire tie so that the painted side was facing the same way as the painted (backside) of the flowers.
Once the paint was dry and the glue was fully set, I gave the painted side of the flowers and leaves a spray on clear coat. If you choose to put them outside, be sure to seal the painted sides with something waterproof, and hold them close to the bottom when you put them in the soil or they’ll bend. I wet the soil first, then put them in and when the soil dried they were pretty secure in there. Since “planting” these I’ve gotten them wet and they’ve been in 100+ Fahrenheit weather (38c+). So far, they’ve held up well. I’ll store them away when colder weather hits and see how long they last… or I’ll make new ones.