Recycle Plastic Cups and Bottles into Attractive Woven Containers

We are always looking for ways to reuse or recycle things that are no longer useful. A while back I got a great series of books called The Family Creative Workshop that was published in the 70s. I was so fortunate find a complete set at a reasonable price. I pour through the books all the time reading about the various crafts and other activities but haven’t had a chance to do any of them until now. I decided to start small with a craft my kids could do too so I chose a woven plastic bottle craft which would allow us to create something cute for our home and recycle at the same time.

We each chose a plastic container, I myself chose an old (washed) Starbucks cup, and my girls each chose water bottles. The first step was to cut strips into the bottle/cup down to just a few inches from the bottom. We cut about 17 strips and stopped about 2″ from the bottom. Next we rounded the tops of each of the strips, not only did this make it look more attractive but rounding the tops made it much easier to weave. After the strips were cut and the tops rounded we just started weaving. Weave the yarn in front then in back and repeat forever until you consider the container done then simply slide the excess string behind the weaving and tie off. The containers make great pencil (and marble) holders!

This was our first foray into crafts from The Family Creative Workshop but certainly won’t be our last.