Introduction: FUN LITTLE PURSE: Recycle Crafting

By Belle of Killarney Etsy
About: My life is busy. My days are full. I go to bed at night tired. I am HAPPY!

These fabulous purses are so adorable that even I have a hard time believing that they originally were slated for the recycle bin.   This project does have some steps that have to be done by an adult, but the beaded handles are fun and easy for children to do.  As a matter of fact, my five year old did the ones you see here.

SUPPLIES:
  Oval shaped plastic shampoo or conditioner bottles.
  Wire
  Beads
  Leather punch OR a drill with various sizes of drill bits
  Needlenose plyers
  Xacto knife
  Scissors
  Ruler
  Dry Erase marker

Step 1: THE BOTTLE:

As was mentioned under supplies, the bottle you pick should be oval in shape.  Any variation on oval will work.  It is just the perfectly round bottles that you want to stay away from. 

BE VERY VERY CAREFUL OF YOUR FINGERS, PLEASE.

First cut off the very top of your bottle so that you can give it a good cleaning and peal off any advertising stickers.

Step 2: CUTTING OUT THE SHAPE OF THE PURSE:

The purse design is simple.  The bottom of the bottle will form the body of the purse.  The back part of the bottle will become a fold-over flap to close the purse.

Using a ruler, measure up the sides of the bottle.  Place a small dot at your desired height.  Do this for both sides and then draw a straight line across the front.  Now add one half inch to each side of that line.  Stated another way, you are going to be cutting one half inch into the back side of the bottle.  Refer to the picture for the visual.

BEING CAREFUL, start cutting along the line you have drawn.  Don't try to cut through on your first time.  Make a score mark and then slowly cut through.

When you have the front cut, then you will want to cut directly up the sides.  Most bottles will have a joint mark on the sides for you to follow.  You will still have the half inch slit into the back, but for right now just cut up the sides of the bottle.

Step 3: CREATING THE FLAP CLOSURE:

To make the flap closure, you can make a pattern to transfer onto the flap or just eyeball it.  The flap needs to be that half inch smaller than the front on each side or the handle won't fit properly.   Using a scissors or the Xacto knife, cut out your flap design.

Step 4: PUNCHING HOLES:

On each side of the purse, right at the side joints, punch a small hole.  This hole will hold the handle.  

Make sure that you are punching the hole at each side and not on the back part of the bottle.

Step 5: BEADED HANDLE:

WIRE:  I just tend to use what I have, but the best rule is that you want to be able to twist it and have it be sturdy.  You also need to be able to put the beads on it.  So, not too heavy and not too thin :o)

Stick one end of the wire INTO the purse through the hole and make a coil on the end. 
The next step is to use your creativity and bead away. 

When you have the handle complete and it is as long as you would like it, stick the other end through the hole INTO the purse and form another coil.  You can keep coiling until all the slack is out of the wire.

Step 6: BEAD CLOSURE:

For the closure, take one bead and string it onto a small piece of wire.  Form an X with the wire and give it a good twist.  You will have two pieces of wire twisted together.  Cut one off so that there is only one piece to thread through the purse. 

Punch a small hole in the center of the purse body and then string the bead through.  You will want to coil the end inside the purse to secure it.

Next, cut a corresponding hole in the flap.  This hole will be only slightly smaller than the bead you have used.  Now you will be able to push the bead through the larger hole to close your purse.

Step 7: SOME MORE IDEAS:

I made a wedding purse for a Bridal Shower.  The bottle I used had a white pearl sheen to it and the handle was Austrian Crystals.  I filled it with a spa gift card and some Godiva chocolate.

For the individual Easter egg basket, I used a round bottle.  I cut the bottle to look like a broken egg and hung them around the house filled with decorated eggs and candy.

I love Halloween and always give my girls a little gift.  This year I gave them these little Jack-O-Lantern purses with a prize inside.