Send a Message in a Bottle!

When I was in college, my awesome youngest sister, Becky, would send me 2 liter bottles filled with all kinds of fun stuff-- letters, pictures, pom-poms, confetti, stickers... It was the best thing to get a "You have a package!" message in my mailbox and pick up up a plastic bottle filled with an explosion of happiness.

Fast-forward eight years. Because school has been crazy and the weekends are just as nuts, I've been subsisting on Diet Pepsi to get me through the days.  I realized I had a lot of plastic bottles (and normally I don't because I try to avoid soda as much as possible) and decided to surprise two of my favorite people!

If you're shipping one out of the country, you'll have to write out one of the one-pound-or-under customs form (it's small and green). You'll also have to endure the post lady looking at the bottles, up at you, and saying, "Honey, where in the hell do you get time to do this and put all this crap on them?" Just shrug and smile. She's kind of crazy.

Cost:

• $1.95 per bottle (for shipping)

Materials:

• clean plastic bottle with a twist-on top
• scrapbook paper
• stickers
• plastic packaging tape
• Elmer's glue
• letters
• hole punch
• small items that can fit down the neck of the bottle (pictures, clippings, pom-poms, small Tootsie Rolls, etc.)

Directions:

1. Cut a strip of scrapbook paper that fits the bottle where the label should be. Glue in place and let dry.
2. Fill your bottle with letters, hole punch confetti if you'd like to, add whatever else you think is cool, and decorate the bottle with stickers.
3. I wrapped the whole label in packaging tape after I wrote the addresses. This is an optional step, but I would recommend it. I also taped down the bottle cap with packing tape after twisting the top as hard as I possibly could.

This project is the perfect reason to splurge on some soda! Enjoy!