Reuse & upcycle: water bottle to pencil holder |Keeping it Real

Monday, August 11, 2014

Reuse & upcycle: water bottle to pencil holder

 reuse, upcycle, water bottle to pencil holder

Ok, after the pants and the pillowcases, I'm still in closet cleaning mode, hoping to either find new uses for things that have been stored for a long time or to just toss them and reduce clutter.

I could not, however, bring myself to throw away this water bottle.

reuse, upcycle, water bottle to pencil holder

It was the first water bottle we purchased when my daughter went to pre-school, but either the plastic was poor quality or it degraded with time (or both) and a couple of months ago we noticed the water acquired a plastic taste after being in the bottle for a few hours. We bought a new water bottle and put this one aside.

After some brainstorming, I finally found a way to reuse it. First, I cut the top half of the bottle, and then punched several holes around the (new) rim, at regular intervals.

reuse, upcycle, water bottle to pencil holder
 
reuse, upcycle, water bottle to pencil holder

 Once this was done, I crocheted around the rim, inserting the hook in each of the holes successively.

reuse, upcycle, water bottle to pencil holder
reuse, upcycle, water bottle to pencil holder


After a first row of single crochet I added a second row for a bit of flair (four sc in one hole, slip stitch in the next hole and so forth).

reuse, upcycle, water bottle to pencil holder

And the water bottle was turned into a cute pencil holder:

reuse, upcycle, water bottle to pencil holder


reuse, upcycle, water bottle to pencil holder

reuse, upcycle, water bottle to pencil holder

Here it is already in use at my daughter's "work" desk: 

reuse, upcycle, water bottle to pencil holder

This shows that most things can be reused or upcycled if you put your imagination to work. And that sometimes the simple ideas are truly the brightest ones.

So, what items do you have in your closets that could really use a second life?





12 comments:

  1. This is adorable, Teresa! Thanks for sharing the great idea!

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  2. Aww this is so sweet :)

    Thanks for linking up #CreativeMondays

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  3. How cute! Love the added touch of the crochet on top.

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  4. so awesome! upcycle and crochet makes fab!! Thanks for sharing at our new creative challenge!

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    1. Thank you, I loved your challenge and I'm hoping for many more of these, I'm in recycle mode this year! Have a wonderful 2015!

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  5. Adorable! I would never have thought to crochet around the rim. You're so creative! Thanks for sharing with our new Craft Challenge Creative Link Party.
    Glenna @ My Paper Craze

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    1. Thank you Glenna, and have a wonderful 2015!

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  6. It's sometimes hard to throw away some of their things isn't it. You found a cute way to hold onto something for a bit longer.

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    1. you are right, some things are difficult to discard, but finding them new purposes is a great way to justify keeping them...

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  7. I love how you have finished this off, I'd have never thought to make the top like that with the crochet parts to it. I think this is a wonderful transformation and I'm already thinking of ideas with plastic bottles and floristry ribbon through the top that I could adapt for our Fairy Gardens. I love how yours matches so perfectly on your daughter's desk and a great way to keep those early preschool memories alive. Thank you for sharing a great upcycle idea with me on #Trash2Treasure.

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    1. Thank you for hosting, and for your kind words. I love upcycling!

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