I am not the most creative person. I don’t normally look at things in stores and think, “Pshaw, I can make that.” (I don’t ever think “Pshaw” at all, actually. Seriously, who does that?)
However, once in awhile, I see something on the Internets and convince myself it’s easy enough that even I can’t screw it up. Such is the case with these jute-wrapped recycled bottles.
What’s jute? It’s pretty much just twine, or, to put it even simpler: rough string. But it has a cool texture, and it instantly makes everyday household items a little more interesting. Take, for instance, these bottles that had outgrown their usefulness and were on their way to the recycle bin:
I sometimes drink light Mexican beer and eat peppers. Is this why I have no friends? Possibly.
First, I washed the bottles out, letting them soak in water for a short while to get the leftover packaging and sticky stuff off. Then I let them dry while assembling my materials: the jute (about $2.50 for a roll at the hardware store), a hot glue gun, and a pair of scissors.
So fresh and so clean, clean.
At least 80% of this you already have on hand. Maybe not the teal chair.
When everything was ready, I got to work, placing a small glob of hot glue where I wanted the jute to begin. I held the jute to the glue until it was set (a few seconds, max), then started wrapping like Eminem on a cold day in Detroit (whatever that means).
What’d the glue say to the beer bottle? “Baby, I’m stuck on you.”
Really, this could not be any easier. You simply wrap the jute round and round the bottle, keeping the line level and pushing it down so the bottle doesn’t show through the fibre. When you’ve wrapped as much as you want to, cut the jute and hold the end to another glob of hot glue. Voilà.
The only difficult part in this process is when wrapping a bottle with sloped edges, like the beer bottle. This requires constant glue application as you’re wrapping to keep the jute from sliding up the sloped edges. Other than that, this is a simple project you can knock out in less than 20 minutes, easy.
Now get to wrapping! Not you, Eminem (whatever that means).
LOL!! I say “Pshaw” and I often say “Pshaw I can make that!” Thank you for sharing this idea!
Imagine what you could do with colored yarn!
True!
What a cute project! I love it so much that I decided to feature it in our roundup of recycle crafts! Check it out here: http://www.favecraftsblog.com/recycle-crafts/
Thanks for featuring us!