How To Make An Upcycled Bud Vase For Mothers Day

Mother’s day is less than 2 weeks away in the UK, and while on the look out for handmade gift ideas (that my children could make the Grandma’s) I stumbled across this fantastic idea by Kirsty Fanshaw.

There’s a link to Kirsty’s site at the end of this post. I don’t want you to get distracted with all of Kirsty’s amazing creations before reading, as this really is a super simple, effective upcycling gift idea that the Kids will love to do.

We’ll be making ours this weekend!

And over to Kirsty:

This pretty bud vase is so useful and started out as … yep, you guessed it, a plain old milk bottle.
So what do you need? …
A clean, dry milk bottle (or any glass jar)
A set of Glass Paints (Can be purchased online for as little as £4 a pack)
A protective, plastic table-cloth or newspaper.
Wipes … (If you to have a very enthusiastic 5-year-old!)
A willing and creative little person.

How to …
1) Make sure your milk bottle (or Jar) is clean and dry.
2) Cover your table with a protective cloth or newspaper.
3) The instructions on the glass paints say to draw the outline of your design in black and leave to dry for two hours before you fill in with colour …

4) … But I have two impatient boys that can’t wait to get their hands on all the fabulous colours so we just say, go for it! … Be creative and use the paints like you would a pen. Just be aware that if you squeeze too hard the paint will start to run … but again we don’t worry about that and think it adds to the design.

*Little tip … For smaller children they will need two hands to squeeze the paint pens so they may need an adult to steady the bottle*
5) When you are happy with the design leave to dry for 24 hours. I always place them on the kitchen window sill so we can admire our work whilst it dries …Don’t forget if you have done an outline design you can go back and colour them in after 2 hours drying.

Ideas & Alternatives …
You can use anything glass, we have up cycled old jam jars and decorated plain glass tea light holders too. These can make great Mother’s Day gifts, and Nana’s and Grandma’s love them too!

… And why not bling them up with glitter and embellishments?

To visit Kirsty’s Website click here

Do you have any upcycling gift ideas for Mothers day? Please do share in the comments below and feel free to drop in links to your blog or others!