BOTTLE OF BOOs

Easy Halloween craft or gag gift made using recycled items for free!

I had originally seen something similar about 10 years ago on a co-workers desk and loved the idea and have make made several over the years not only as a decoration for Halloween, but also great as gag gift (especially for uptight co-workers that are worried they are going to be involved in a HR moment when they hear you say that you put a bottle of "Boos" on the desk.  I usually use a smaller bottle and fabric and fabric paint, but for this one I decided to go with entirely recycled items  and it is  easy enough for school age children to make.

Items used

• 1 clear bottle
• White plastic bags
• Black Marker or Sharpie
• Scissors
• Straw (optional)

Carefully remove the label from your clear bottle.  I used a 2 liter bottle and used soapy water and an old toothbrush to clear off the residue that was left after I peeled off the label.  

Cut circular to rectangle shapes out of the white parts of a plastic shopping bag - they don't have to be perfect.  Cut out the parts with lettering and set in separate pile to use for stuffing for the head.  Use the handles and and other strips as needed from other parts of the same bag or a different bag.  I used 2 plastic bags total on my project.

After the basic shape for the Boo is cut out, wad up bits of the lettered portion of the bag into a ball and stuff into the center of the Boo.   It should be about the size of quarter - you don't want to go too large as you have to stuff it through the neck of the bottle.

Tie a strip of plastic that is about 6-8 inches long and about and inch or so wide around the neck into a knot below the wadded up ball to form the head.  I left the ends on the tie to form spooky arms, but you could snip it at the knot for a neater look.

Draw faces on the "boo"s with a black marker or Sharpie. I just colored in a two circles for the eyes and one for the mouth to keep it simple, but you could draw them however you would like.

Stuff the Boos into the bottle.  On the longer and thicker ones, it is easier to twist the bottoms to get them to go in.  If you want to adjust them once inside the bottle you can use a straw to push them around.

Use a Black marker or Sharpie to write "BOOs" on the outside of the bottle.  If you wanted to go for a fancier look, you could create a label and print it off and stick it on the front.