i spy bottles

i know, i know.... for those of you who read a zillion blogs, or at least read tip junkie, (i was a guest blogger there a couple of weeks ago), then you may have already seen this post. but for those who didn't, & for my own personal reference, i wanted to repost it here. the boys & i had so much fun making these "i spy bottles" for our friends over the holiday season, & the best part? unlike the i spy bags, there is absolutely NO sewing involved. anyway, back to the subject or rather post at hand....

i spy bottles

prep: 1 large plastic bottle (i used the 33.8 FL OZ smart water bottle), a mr. clean magic eraser, goo gone, approximately 30+ small doo-dads & findings to fill bottle (peruse craft stores, etc. for "little" stuff. buttons, scrapbook stuff, household odds & ends. for ex: paper clip, button, penny), poly-pellets (you can find this at craft stores, it's usually used for doll stuffing) or you can also use bird seed or rice as the filler, funnel, super glue, clear contact paper or packing tape & confetti (although this is totally optional, it just makes it look pretty... alphabet & number confetti works really well, & adds a fun component - find all the letters of the alphabet, etc.).

for a step-by-step picture tutorial, simply click on the pictures at the right to enlarge...

1. start with a clean & dry bottle
2. using the Magic Eraser remove any black printing on the bottle
3. remove the label from the bottle & use the goo gone to remove any of the residual stickiness.
4. fill your bottle with all you "goodies", don't forget to make a list of what you put in!
5. using the funnel, fill the bottle about 2/3 full with your filler (the poly-pellets, rice, or bird seed). you want it full, but not so full that when you shake it, your items don't move around.
6. if you are adding confetti, you'll want to do so at this time.
7. at this point you'll want to screw on the bottle cap & shake, shake, shake! (i tend to start singing shake senora at this point.) mix everything up really well... plus it works well as a trial run. if the "goodies" aren't moving around, you may have to take out some of your filler.
8. once everything is shaken up & you're pleased with the amount of filler, etc. it's time to super glue on your bottle cap - you definitely don't want little hands & fingers getting it unscrewed! & don't forget to cut off that little "extra" part of the cap that is floating around now... you know the part that you "unscrew" the bottle cap from, when you first open the bottle.
9. print up your list "can you spy a..." with all of your goodies listed. tape or glue it to the bottle & cover it with clear contact paper or packing tape, so it doesn't get lost. (you can also laminate the list & tie it to the bottle, if that works better for you.)
10. at this point you can be done, or you can add some colorful curling ribbon to make it pretty.

ta da! your very own i spy bottle. now it's time for the fun to begin. i spy a...