In a recent post I shared my visit to Artprize, a fun event in my hometown where all kinds of art is displayed.  One of the entries was titled Thousand Suns and was a field of sunflowers all created from water bottles!

Thousand Suns by Libby Hodges

 

I chatted with a helpful person at their display and they were very open about sharing how they made their sunflowers and how other people could recreate them too.  I gave it a try this week and am *almost* happy with my results.  After I was done I was left wondering . . . .

Are All Water Bottles Created Equal?
I was a little frustrated that my sunflower didn’t seem as “floppy” as I thought it should be.  After I cut my bottles they wanted to pop right back into the shape of the bottle.  I crumpled them and roughed them up a little bit which helped.  They also didn’t seem to be nesting together quite as easily as I remembered being shown when I was at Artprize.  But when I took a closer look at the picture above, some of the flowers are floppy and others not so much.  Perhaps all water bottles are not quite the same and there may some brands that use a thinner plastic than others or have slightly different tops.  Nevertheless, I was still pretty satisfied with my flower and will share how I went about making one.

I do want to emphasize that this is not my original idea, and I am simply using the inspiration of Libby Hodges, the artist whose entry I so admired at Artprize.

Here’s how to make a sunflower from water bottles:

WATER BOTTLE SUNFLOWERS

Supplies needed:
3 water bottles
Craft Paint: yellow, green, & brown (I used what I had on hand)
Paintbrush
Black Sharpie Marker
Exacto Knife or Scissors
Hot Glue Gun

2′ Bamboo Garden Stake

(I was able to buy a 25 pack  for $2.39 at a local garden store. If you can’t find them at a local store, here’s a link for purchasing them online:
2′ Bamboo Plant Stakes

Instructions:

1.  Remove the labels from the water bottles.  I also removed the plastic ring around the top but this might not be necessary.

2.  Cut the bottom off one of the bottles. I cut where the last ridge was, but then still cut an additional 1/4″ off the bottom piece.  You don’t want a very high edge.

3.  Use the Sharpie marker to make small dots on the inside of the bottom water bottle piece.  (This will be your sunflower center)

4.  Paint two of the bottles yellow.  Paint the third bottle whose bottom is already cut off with green.  Paint the outside of the bottom piece you put the dots on with brown.  I used two coats and let the final coats sit overnight to dry.

5.  Cut the bottoms off the two yellow bottles.

6.  Next you will cut the bottles into 12 strips, leaving about 1.5″ at the top uncut.  To arrive at the 12 strips I found it easiest to first cut the bottle in half, then cut each of those pieces in half again so you have quarters, and then cut each quarter into 3 pieces.  Fold them back a little bit if they are not flopping over  very well.

7.  Cut the end of each strip into a point.

8.  Now you will nest the three pieces together with the green first and then the two yellow pieces on top of that..  Use your hot glue gun to glue them together.  It is actually the inside of the water bottle that faces out with the color of the paint showing through.

9.  Glue the brown piece with the “open” side facing up onto the top.

10.  Finally put the garden stake in and use hot glue to secure it to the edge of the bottles.

My flower inside, and out in the garden

So there’s my attempt.  I think it worked :-)

Maybe I should spend my winter making lots and lots of flowers (maybe in different colors too) and when the warm weather rolls around again, I can be ready with a garden in full bloom!

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