Pop/Soda Bottle

You'll note that I put "pop/soda" in the title. I don't think I realized that there was such a regional choice of names for carbonated soft drinks until Leanne moved to Texas where the generic name is neither pop nor soda, but Coke! For those of you who are as interested in trivia as I am, the Canadian statistics are here and the U.S. are here.

Trivia aside, until about a year ago I drank Diet Pepsi by the gallon! And therefore always had plenty of empty 2 litre bottles around. I thought I was quite innovative and thinking out of the box when I would cut the tops off, punch two holes in them, and use them for storing like items on the 4' x 8' pegboard that I have on my workroom wall.

At our meeting on Tuesday night, Joanne R. mentioned this blog she had seen on using pop bottles to enclose miniature scenes and keep them dust free! It is truly inspired!

One of the concerns with making a miniature vignette as a gift is the ability of the recipient to keep it dust free. There are some Ferraro Rocher containers that work for this but you can't always find them and they're not always tall enough.

Using a two litre pop bottle has SO many possibilities height wise so that's a great advantage. One thing I might suggest if you choose to do a shorter top from the pop bottle is that you mark your cutting line with a cutting guide of masking tape to ensure a straight, even line.

At this time of year, you might even want to pick up a box of appropriate size clear (or even silver or coloured) Christmas ornaments to keep on hand for use throughout the year for the top "bell" handle.

If you don't drink enough pop that you have access to empty 2 litre bottles, check with friends who recycle... maybe they can help. In my case, I know the people who look after bottle recycling in my building...I'm sure I can buy empty bottles from them for the recycling deposit.

Thanks so much to Marilyn in Regina for this incredible idea!