source: www.youthwork-practice.com | 2000 Games, Devotions, Themes, Ideas and more for Youth Work
only for private using

Bottles elegantly decorated with beads

Material:

You will need the following craft materials:

A bottle
Metal wire (choose steel, brass or copper wire according to taste)
Beads
Pliers
Sticky tape

The bottle decoration is made from approx 1mm metal wire. The wire should not be easily bent. The best way is to select a wire which matches the holes in the beads you have selected so that two wires fit through the bead. Depending on which type of wire you choose, whether it is steel, brass or copper, the net will have a silver- grey, yellow or red colour tone. Wire is available in DIY stores and in selected department stores. You will find beads in different materials in craft stores.

Make sure that you only use bottles which have lightly concave bottoms so that the wire can be hidden inside. Now wrap some wire around the neck of the bottle several times so that a ring is formed. When this is placed on the bottle, you cut four pieces of wire which are twice as long as the distance from the ring to the bottom of the bottle plus 20cm. You then bend each piece of wire in the middle and hang the ring on it. The wires are tied together in pairs and a bead is attached to each pair. Now you can add more bead balls so that a kind of net is formed over the bottle. Finally you can bend the four ends of the wire under the bottle into the concave space, wind the ends together and trim off any excess wire.

Instructions in detail:

First of all you wrap the metal wire to the ring by wrapping it around the bottle neck four times. Take the metal ring from the bottle and wrap the wire evenly several times in wire.
Place the ring back on the bottle neck. Cut four pieces of wire at a length twice the length of the distance between the ring and the bottom of the bottle plus 20cm. The wires are now bent in the middle and all are fed through the ring.
Each piece of wire which is folded in the middle must be twisted around itself several times. Tape the ring with sticky tape so that this and the wires do not slip. Tie two wires together and slide on a bead.
The next step is to bend the two wires apart so that the bead cannot slip down the wire. Now thread the next bead onto the wire. Make the ring around the bottle in the same way.
Put the wires together in pairs and slide on the beads so that a net is formed. The wires are separated under each bead. Depending on the type of bottle, each process can be repeated approximately four times.
Finally you bend four wires around the bottom of the bottle inside the concave space underneath and wrap them together. The exact same thing is done with the other four wires. Any excess wires can simply be trimmed off.

The fantastic bottle decoration is already finished. If you invite guests round you can use the bottle as a practical water carafe. The net decoration is suitable for a decorative idea for your homemade juices.

Extra tip:

Nets on glass bottles can be applied in different forms. Instead of using steel wire you can use red and white string to make the net. Wooden beads in a wire net look very decorative too.