Friday Flowers: Plastic Bottle Flowers Revisited

I was eating corn chips for breakfast on the back porch this morning (don’t judge me) when a little boy and his mother walked by on their way to the main road. As he ran his pudgy hands along the ragged tips of the bottle flowers on the fence, he belted out, “MOM. MOM. MOM. THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE MUST DRINK MORE POOPING JUICE THAN GRANDPA. DON’T YOU THINK, MOM? MOM?” to which his mother replied, without a hint of sarcasm, "Gee hun, I'll bet you are right."

Sigh.

I was hoping the new neighbors would designate this the flower house or the recycling house ...now it’s the pooping juice house. And, as if that were not bad enough, we are in competition with a Grandpa.

Joy.

Actually, one of my very first blog posts was about making flowers from plastic bottles to cover the bars on the windows of my old apartment. It was pretty neat. The flowers, that is. Not the bars. But I used spray paint for that project which is something I am trying to avoid these days. Random: Do you know that it is illegal to buy or sell spray paint within Chicago city limits? Word.  So I'm doing this with regular craft paint. This not only makes the project kid friendly, it makes it easy to layer up and get some nifty results. I have a trick for making the craft paint last in the great outdoors...read on!

The stubby little stretch of chain-link fence between the back door and the garage has been annoying me for months. One day it will get replaced, but seeing as it is perfectly functional, why mess with a good thing? Especially when you can cover it with flowers. And for zero money, no less. Can't beat that.

The only word to describe it is cheerful.  It's hard for anyone to walk by without touching them. I think that's a good sign.

There is absolutely no reason why you need to layer the paint colors, especially if you are impatient, but I suggest you try it at least once (see my old Fourth of July / patriotic bottles).

After everything is dry, snip off the bottom and cut slits along the sides (I explained this better in the old tutorial), then pull back to reveal your flower. I like to pull up a few skinny strips and trim them short to give dimension. Cool beans.

Couple of Tips

1. Drying Rack: Painted bottles have a tendency to tip over and make a mess, so I made a support structure by jabbing bamboo skewers in a cardboard box. Presto, instant drying rack!

2. Water Proof Paint Extender: I added a small amount of Martha Stewart Multi Surface Paint to each blob of my regular craft paints. Sort of like adding gel medium to acrylic paint, but instead of gel medium, I used MS paint because it sticks to everything (glass, fabric, wood, plastic, everything.). I wanted to be sure the flowers would last a few months outside, and after running one of these flowers through the dishwasher, I am confident this paint is staying put!



I love the way they look side-by-side with the day lilies. I can't tell which one is prettier :)