DIY Plastic Water Bottle Patio Lights

Decorating with Recycled Plastic Bottles

Finding a cheap way to add ambiance to your surroundings with the use of light doesn't have to be hard. Here is one cheap and easy way to light your patio and give it an inviting atmosphere using recycled plastic bottles and ordinary christmas lights.

Supplies Needed
15 empty, cleaned, dried 1 liter plastic bottles
15 25 bulb strands of christmas lights
15 large round, ball-shaped beads
15 2 1/2 inch styrofoam balls
Clear fishing wire
30 Large bobby pins
1 permanent marker
A couple rolls of cellophane plastic. (can be clear or colored)
Scissors
Clear drying glue like super glue
*Optional - Decorative paper, self-adhesive contact shelf liner or fabric

Note About christmas Lights
For this project you do not necessarily have to use Christmas lights. There are lights on sale for various other holidays like Halloween. It does not matter if you opt for multi-color lights, flashing lights, big lights, little lights or solid color lights as long as they are on a strand. Even rope lights will work well with this project. If you are using Christmas lights you can add the flash bulb for extra oomph.

Instructions

The first thing you need to do is make sure you have removed the labels from your plastic bottles. You can soak them in hot water to remove the paper and then use rubbing alcohol to get rid of any remaining glue on the bottle.

Next you will need to create the shape you want the individual lamps to be. Turn the bottle upside down so that the top is facing down and draw a pattern on your bottle with a marker Make sure that you leave at least 6 inches from the bottom so that you essentially have an upside down bowl. One of the easiest shapes is to draw 5 large points so that it resembles an upside down flower. You can, however make your bottle into other shapes such as a wave or a straight edge all the way around.

Once you have the desired shape cut along the lines you drew. You should now have 15 individually shaped plastic bottle bowls.