Soda Bottle Vase

Hi everyone! Today I’m going to present you a very simple upcycle project – perfect for your DIY home project or perhaps school activities. I’ll show you the steps of turning a used plastic soda bottle into a vase. I’m going to use the normal 1.5-litre soda bottle for this project, however you can use any bottle size that you like – as long as you finish the soda first. Let’s carry on then.

Material:

• 1.5L Plastic Soda Bottle.

Tools:

• Scissors and Cutter.
• Marker Pen.
• Soldering Iron.
• Acrylic Spray Paint – White & Gold Color.
• Masking Tape/Paper Tape.

• The very first step is of course, to clean the bottle and remove the label.
• Then use the marker pen and draw your desired pattern on the bottle. I choose a simple flower motif with four “petals” or sections.
• To do this first divide the bottle’s circumference into four equal sections then start to draw the motif on the bottle. I use about two third of the bottle’s height for the vase. The top part will be removed.

• Cut the bottle to remove the upper part.
• Use a pair of scissors to cut the petal’s outline. I prefer to use a small scissors for this part because it’s easier to cut the bends and corners.
• Caution: be careful when cutting the plastic, it can be quite sharp.

• While cutting the flower petals are easy, the hole patterns are not so. Plastic bottle is quite thick and you cannot cut it with cutter or craft knife without losing a finger or two.
• So, the next best thing is to use a soldering iron to cut the holes. Heat the iron then carefully make a hole and slowly drag it to create the pattern.
• While it does the job, the outcome might not be that pretty. The holes you cut with the solder iron can be quite a mess, you’ll need a little bit of practice to make it right.
• You also need to clean up the excess melted plastic using cutter/scissors. That’s why I use the scissors for the flower petals in Step 2 because it gives a cleaner cut than the soldering iron.
• Caution: Be extremely careful while cutting the holes with the hot soldering iron. And do it outdoor or in a well-ventilated space as it produces fumes.

• Final step is to paint your vase with acrylic spray paint. Apply a few layers of white paint on the vase, letting it dry in between adding the layers.
• To add a second color on the bottom of the vase, use paper to cover the top part and tape it all around. Add the gold color paint for the bottom. Once dried, remove the masking tape.

Some might comment on how dangerous or hazardous it is to burn plastic (to be honest it might not be a good idea), so if you have other idea on how to cut the plastic do let me know in the comment section. And thanks for reading!