Craft Project: Yarn-Wrapped Bottle

For my first craft post on Blue Giraffe (yay!), I thought I’d show how I repurposed a sentimental item. My former roommate Amanda got married a year ago, and her wedding favors were bottles of wine with custom labels featuring her new last name. I didn’t know what I was going to do with the now-empty bottle, yet I felt badly about throwing it away. It just so happens that I’ve been working on adding more color to my living room, so I decided to turn the bottle into a decorative vase. Here’s what I did:

Yup, it’s really that easy. Some notes, though: It’s important to paint on the glue only about an inch at a time—otherwise, it dries up!  Also, if I were to do this again, I’d start winding the yarn from the top-down (rather than the bottom-up). Once I hit the neck of the bottle, the yarn kept sliding up with the wet glue.

Now when I see this bottle on my fireplace mantle, I think of my friend Amanda! :)

BONUS: Want to make your own billy buttons, too? I tried making these two ways—felted wool and yarn pom-poms—but thought the former looked most authentic. Purchase mustard-colored wool roving at a craft store (I found mine at JoAnne’s) and cut it into pieces slightly bigger than you’d like the balls to be. One piece at a time, rub in a dime-size portion of dish soap into the wool and roll it between your hands to form a loose a ball shape. Then, cup the ball in your hands and sweep them under hot water (as hot as you can stand) and roll the wool some more. It will get very sudsy, but you’ll want to keep sweeping and rolling, sweeping and rolling, until the soap is gone and the wool ball becomes hard. Make two final passes under cold water to shock the fibers. Let the felt balls dry for 48 hours, then insert floral wire.