Introduction: This Is a Christmas Ornament

About: I am a paper engineer, writer, maker and chemist wannabe. In addition to pop-up cards I design and build furniture, lights, costumes or whatever I happen to need at the time. Lipstick, a mixing studio, all-pur…

You may think it looks like an empty vitamin bottle, but the truth is, this is not just one, but many different Christmas tree ornaments waiting to happen....

All you will need is a box cutter, some ribbon, and possibly a small soldering iron plus scrap wrapping paper, depending on which version(s) you plan on making. Goo gone might also be necessary to remove all traces of your label from the bottle.

Step 1: Remove the Label

This is the most difficult step, unless your vitamins are manufactured by a "green" company which prints labels on recycled paper with soy ink and bio degradable glue -- otherwise be prepared to soak the bottle in hot soapy water, scrape, and finally rub it with goo gone before you remove all the sticky residue.

Step 2: Cut

Use a box cutter to cut circular slices of about 1/4" in width.

The top and bottom of the bottle help the plastic hold its shape as you cut it, so make your first cut in the middle of the bottle. This way the plastic won't bend as much when you cut subsequent slices.

Cut as many slices as you can from both the top and bottom of your bottle.

My bottle was unexpectedly thick, which made it hard to cut smoothly. After slicing them off, I smoothed my slivers with a strong pair of scissors.

Step 3: Experiment

At first I thought I would use all the strips to make a single ornament, as shown in the picture below, but finally I decided I preferred the ornaments described in the next steps.

Step 4: Version 1

For this ornament I used just two rings attached together with a short piece of silver ribbon (about 5" long). I wound and knotted the ribbon around the bottom of the ornament, then the top. I used the left-over ribbon to make a loop which could be strung over a branch.

Step 5: Version 2

This ornament uses three rings. Attaching them with a ribbon like the previous ornament would have been tricky, so instead I used my soldering iron to melt them together. I burned a small hole through all three layers on the top and bottom. I strung a ribbon through one of the holes to attach the ornament to the tree.

Attachments

Step 6: Version 3

The clear green plastic next to the branches, though festive, was a bit too discreet, so I crinkled up some left-over wrapping paper and stuffed it inside ornament #2. The glittery paper reflects the lights nicely and gives the ornament more presence.

Step 7: Version 4

I kind of liked the crinkled paper look, so I stuffed some more into the left-over bottle bottom I had, and strung it up through a small hole I'd made with my soldering iron. The hole boring tool (not sure if that's the official name) on a Swiss army knife would work just as well if you don't have a soldering iron.

Step 8: Alternative Use of Rings

The plastic from my bottle was thick enough to be able to use the strips as fairly decent bangles -- though if I had wanted to use them in this incarnation I would have spent more time finishing the edges, either with a fine file or with the heat of a candle to melt the edges and smooth them down.


Check out my other ideas for having fun with bottles, or read about the book I would be working on if instructables weren't organizing so many great contests to distract me!!! It's called Make Anything, a Handbook for Saving Money, Living Green and Having Fun with Trash.

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