inspired ideas

Believe it or not, the base of this fancy May Day doorknob vase is a water bottle!

To make this project, you'll need at least 3 yards of wired ribbon, a water bottle, a hot glue gun, upholstery trim, an assortment of ribbons, Crop-a-dile hole punching tool, and a special jewel or button.

Begin by cutting off the bottom half of the water bottle. Don't worry about jagged edges...you can go back over the cut to make it smooth. Set aside.

Cut your ribbon into 1 yard sections. You will need 2 to 3 yards, depending on how full you want your "skirt" to be. We're going to make the ribbon into a ruffle by pulling one of the wires and gathering the ribbon along the way.



First you'll need to secure the end of the wire to make sure you don't accidently pull it through. Do this by gently pulling just a bit of the wire from one end. Fold this bit of wire into itself. Continue folding the end of the ribbon as shown in the photo.

Now, find the opposite end of the ribbon length, making sure you locate the same wire end that you secured previously.

Begin pulling this wire and gather the ribbon as you go. You'll pull approximately 18 inches of the wire or more to obtain a full ruffle.


Once you are happy with the ruffle you've created, trim the wire to just 5 inches longer than the ruffle, being extra careful to hold the wire end. If you lose it, all that work is gone. Pouf!

Secure the end in the same way you secured the other end...bend the wire into itself and continue this fold with the ribbon a few times.

You're ready to glue the first length to your base.



Using hot glue (on low setting and with care not to melt the plastic bottle) start securing the ruffle to the bottom edge of the water bottle cup. Continue gluing the ruffle around the bottle, leaving about a half inch between ruffle layers. When this length of ribbon ruffle is finished, repeat the steps for creating another ruffle and gluing it where the first ruffle ended.

Repeat until the ruffle layers reach the top edge of the plastic bottle cup.
Glue a length of upholstery trim around the top edge.

Using your Crop-a-dile, make two holes, one on each side of the top of the bottle. Punch through the trim, plastic and even ruffle. That's the beauty of a Cropodile...it'll punch through it all!

Cut about 18" of three or more ribbons. Thread one end of the ribbon bundle through one hole, from the inside of the vase out. Tie a knot to hold it in place. Repeat with the other end of the ribbon bundle.

Add your special jewel or embellishment to the front of the vase.


Now you're ready to add flowers, a Happy May Day message, and surprise a friend with this fun May Day treat!