5 Creative DIY Projects for Upcycling Your Plastic Bottles {Video Tutorial}

In our garage right now, we have a huge tub full of plastic bottles to recycle. They accumulate pretty fast; I think that we did our most recent recycling run with them only about a month ago, and already the tub is starting to overflow.

But why recycle when you can upcycle? In the past, I’ve shared plenty of cool projects with you for turning ordinary plastic bottles into something awesome. You can use plastic bottles to make a magical fairy castle, or to create self-watering seed starter pots.

But what if you don’t want to do something so involved, and you just want to do a quick, easy DIY project which might be suitable for a gift or for décor around the home or office? For that, I present these 5 easy DIY plastic bottle upcycling projects. Check out the exclusive video below!

Video tutorial

Materials:

Plastic bottles
Scissors
Candies
Ribbon
Gravel, sand or dirt
Plant (fake or real)
Pasta
Twine
Hot glue and glue gun
Tea light
Googly eyes and small pom pom
Any other embellishments you want

Directions:

Candy Container

1. Get a plastic soda bottle and cut it in half just below the label.

2. Take the bottom section and cut vertically down so that you get a number of “fringes” around the bottle. You can also cut little bits out of the ends so that they are like petals.

2. Put some candy inside.

3. Fold over all the “fringes” toward the middle and secure them. You now have a closed plastic container.

4. Tie a ribbon around the outside to decorate it. Now present it as a gift!

Pasta Container

1. Cut a plastic bottle in half just under the label.

2. Cut another plastic bottle, but this time cut closer to the bottom so you get a shallower section.

3. Pour pasta inside.

4. Fit the smaller section on top like a lid.

5. Add twine and embellishments.

Planter

1. Cut a plastic bottle in half through the center.

2. Get the bottom section and glue googly eyes about two thirds of the way up toward the open end. Below those, place the little pom pom to serve as a nose.

3. Pour in your dirt, sand or gravel.

4. Add your plant (real of fake). If you add a real plant, make sure you poke some drainage holes through the bottom so that you can water it. Isn’t it adorable?

Candy Bowl

1. Cut the bottom section out of a plastic bottle. Do not cut halfway—go further down toward the bottom so you get a shallower bowl.

2. Pour in some candies.

3. Tie a ribbon around the side. You now have a clear, pretty container, perfect for presenting a gift of candies.

Candle Holder

1. Cut a plastic bottle so that you have the very top section above the label.

2. Do the same with a second plastic bottle.

3. Cut this second one down so that it is smaller—the right size to hold a tea light.

4. Use hot glue to stand the smaller one on top of the larger one (connect both the bottle necks together). The larger section now acts as a base.

5. Tie a ribbon around the narrowest section in the middle.

6. Set a tea light on top.

Ready for more check out our 20 Fun and Creative Crafts with Plastic Soda Bottles post for more upcycling ideas.