My aunt is really crafty and can make all these cute ideas. I have never been all that crafty. I can be creative but in the last couple of decades, actually making cute crafts myself or with my kids has been lacking. And then… I started drinking POM juice. No this isn’t an ad for their product, but I’m serious that every time I puled out a bottle to drink I would see a new craft we could do with it.
And thus our Juice Bottle Vases were born! The most obvious two designs were holiday inspired – stacked pumpkins and a snowman.
Easy fall and winter holiday centerpieces
This craft is perfect to do with a group of students to make centerpieces. It’s also a fun little way to store a couple of pens on your desk with little flowers on top. (Especially a little red flower for the snowman so he can be Frosty!)
Juice bottle vase supplies
As an Amazon Affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
- POM Juice Bottles of any size [We used 48 oz and 8 oz]
- Acrylic paint, here’s what we used:
- A fan or some patience
- Flowers – real or fake
- Paint Brushes
- Optional: pens
- Optional: small light to illuminate the whole vase!
Learning objectives and how to make it educational
Students will be able to mix primary colors to make secondary color and experiment with shades.
We didn’t buy paint pre-mixed into colors for two reasons. First, it’s more expensive. Second, this gave us a great opportunity to talk about primary, secondary, and tertiary colors plus shades.
Questions to ask when mixing:
- How much of black does it take to actually achieve your desired result?
- Does adding in a metallic react like you would expect?
- How do you make _____ color?
Students will be able to apply knowledge of texture as well as pumpkins and gourds to make them realistic.
Let your children explore with different style paint brushes, sponge brushes, etc. to see how they create different textures. In the process, ask them to figure out how to make their brush make even more textures from doing more than just moving the brush back and forth.
- Bring in a few real gourds to let them see how they have bumps and lumps, grooves, and spots.
- Discuss how plants have imperfections and no plants are the same.
- Ask what small details can be added o either the pumpkin or the snowman craft.
- What technique can you use to make your strokes look more like snow?
How to Make Pumpkin and Snowman vase and pen holders
The smallest POM bottle is best for using with pens. It will only store one or two though. The larger bottles are good for real flower vases, centerpieces, or if you have some school supplies all of your kids use that could fit there with a flower attached. Maybe like a few pairs of scissors.
We made them both together. But you don’t have to obviously!
First, mix together white and silver for the snowman. What’ve left over from this can be added to what you use for the pumpkin. Otherwise, add some bronze or another metallic. While you don’t have to use a metallic, it helps cover the POM logo.
For the Snowman, it tends to look better if painting with a sponge brush and to paint horizontally. The Pumpkin, it adds character and is important to paint vertically with a paintbrush.
We only used ONE coat of paint because we want to add lights inside. We also painted faces and designs on the side opposite of the logo just in case it shines through.
Craft Hint: Mix some green and black into your leftover orange paint to paint the hats and stems brown!
Let dry. For us, the project was done even with juggling a bunch of kids and newborn in about 45 minutes to an hour. I started with the snowman and moved to the pumpkin and by that time with the help of a fan, the snowman was dry. The pumpkin dried overnight because I left clumps to make it look more textured and realistic.
Add details after that coat dries like a face or a vine.
Find some flowers to add to pens or just place in the bottles. And enjoy or give as a gift.
Join other parents and teachers who love hands-on activities!
Get news and resources by subscribing to our mailing list. It’s a great way to join the community and get updates, offers, and more!
How Periodic by Genius Games makes learning Chemistry more fun