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HALLOWEEN
TREASURE BOTTLES |
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This project is great to
make for a child's Halloween party, to give as Halloween
gifts or to make and use as a game for a Halloween
party. They are simple to make and fun as well! With
just a few things that you can pick up at craft stores,
dollar stores and mass retailers, you can put these
together quick and easy.
A treasure bottle is
basically an empty water bottle that has been filled
with trinkets, small toys and household objects and
filled with bird seed. You make a list of everything
that you put in the bottle and let the kids find each
item by shaking the bottle and rolling it around to find
the objects buried inside. These are also fun for
adults, believe me, I've spent hours searching for
things in a bottle I made myself.
You want to use a certain
shape and size bottle, one that is smooth, cylindrical
and not too wide. I've found that the best bottles to
use are "Smartwater" brand bottles. We drink bottled
water in our home, so we occasionally buy this brand and
save the bottles to use for this craft project. They
come in two sizes, a large liter size or a small size
four pack. Both work great, it just depends on how big
you want to make them. If you were making a bunch of
these at one time, you might want to go with the smaller
bottle and use half the items.
What You'll Need:
Empty and dry water bottles with caps
About 40 small Halloween related items per bottle
10 pound bag of Parakeet Seed or other fine bird seed
Funnel that fits bottle mouth
Measuring Scoop
Craft Glue
List of Items
Stretch ribbon or cord in orange or black
Halloween Pens or Pencils
Make sure that your water
bottle is completely dry inside or the bird
seed will sprout and mold. I've tried using
paper towel and a chop stick to dry it out,
which works or just sitting them in the
dishwasher over night works fine. Take the
label off the bottle by soaking it or using
Goo-Gone to remove all traces of glue and
wash the outside with soap and water.
Find about 40 small items to
put inside the bottle. Make sure that the
items that you pick out will fit through the
bottles opening. You can use any little
Halloween related toys that can be found and
add in other items like buttons or beads of
different colors and sizes. Write down each
item or type them into your computer and
save for making the check list later.
Next, using a funnel that
fits the bottle, scoop some of the seed into
the bottle. Add about five items, add more
seed, doing this until the items are all
added and the bottle is filled. Leave a
space of about three inches at the top. You
need room to be able to shake. roll and move
the seed around inside so that the items can
move to the surface of the bottle.
Use a small amount of glue around the threads of the
bottle cap and cap the bottle. Use a craft glue that dried transparent so you'll
know when it's dried. Do not shake bottle until glue has dried or you'll get
seed stuck on the inside of the lid.
Print a list of all the items
inside the bottle. I like to use a program
that has tables to I can print four copies
of the list at a time. Eight pages of lists
is enough for one bottle. Cut them apart in
equal sizes. Line them up and use a hole
punch to put a hole in the upper left hand
corner. Run an orange or black stretch
ribbon through the hole and tie around the
neck of the bottle. You can include a
Halloween themed pencil if you like.
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