Show your appreciation with a crafty apple bottle

by Elmer's | 199 days ago | 1163 page views
Topics: Family & Lifestyle
Channels: Classroom Crafts, Elmer's

This teacher appreciation day, say thanks with a homemade apple bottle container

Teachers play a huge role in the lives of students. Help your child show their appreciation for their child with a nifty apple bottle container.

Designed to look like an apple you’d leave on your teacher’s desk, these containers are made of recycled pop bottles, explains Elmer’s Canada product manager Alicia Buter, and can “be filled with candy to say thank you to your teachers.”

Depending on the size of apple you want to fill, you can use small pop or water bottles, or larger two liter pop bottles for a great big apple. You’ll also need foam, chenille stems, jiggly eyes, Elmer’s Tacky Glue, and some glitter to add some glam to your project.

Start by cleaning two bottles thoroughly, inside and out. Cut the bottom of both the bottles to create the apple, leaving enough room to trim down to make the top and bottom fit. Parents should help their children using an X-ACTO knife to complete this portion of the project. Buter says you’ll then use the scissors to trim the bottle and remove any jagged edges.

With a top that nests nicely on the bottom, your apple container is taking shape. Next, you’ll prepare the message you want to pass to your teacher. Buter uses peel and stick foam letter shapes to spell out “thanks” and “you’re a star” on her bottles. These are applied to the lid of the container and can be secured with a little bit of glue to ensure the letters don’t fall off.

To create the stem and leaves of the apple, use foam to cut leaf shapes and the stem. Glue them on using the Tacky Glue, “hold on to it a second to let it take tack,” then layer with leaves. “Just place them where you want them,” Buter says, “before gluing them down.” Elmer’s X-TREME glue stick can also be used for the foam-on-foam application “because it can be used on all types of materials.”

Add extra decoration to your apple by creating a worm out of chenille stems and jiggly eyes to come out of the side of the container. Use two stems, fold them in half, then in half again, then twist the stems together. Take the loops at the top and spread them out to create the worm’s head. Glue the eyes to give your worm some character and attach the worm to the bottle by gluing to the sides or poke a hole in the bottle and feed the worm through that way.

All that’s left to do is fill the apple container with candy and give it to your teacher to show your appreciation!

For more fun, crafty ideas, visit Elmers.com.

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