How to Make Fish Out of a Recycled Plastic Bottle

By cleverly cutting out segments from a recycled bottle of dish soap with a craft blade and scissors, you can make a simple yet attractive fish craft. The natural curves of the bottle suggest the fish's shape. You can display the fish anywhere you like, but it would make a particularly good splash in the bathroom or outdoor pool area.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Recycled dish soap bottle
• Scissors
• Craft blade
• Hot glue
• Wiggle eyes

1. Recycle a bottle of dish soap after your use the last of its contents. For best results, select a brightly colored, curvy bottle in blue, red or yellow. Wash the bottle out thoroughly using water and the small end of a bottle brush. Remove the label from the bottle and use a citrus-based cleaner and a clean cloth to remove any remaining adhesive. Wash the outside of the bottle with a sponge in soapy water.

2. 

   Cut out a large triangular section from the bottom of the recycled bottle with a craft blade. Set aside the cut-out section. The triangular opening in the bottle will become the fish's mouth.

3. 

   Cut off the top of the bottle just beyond the slight curve at the top with a pair of scissors. The remaining curve will serve as the fish's tail.

4. 

   Use a craft blade to cut one small slit in the bottom part of the fish's body on one side. Create another, identical slit in the opposite side.

5. 

   Cut off a triangular plastic piece from each side of the segment from the bottom of the bottle. These will be the fish's fins. Cut two tiny notches at the top of the longest point of each triangle.

6. 

   Insert the notched ends of the fish's fins into the slots in each side. Hot glue a large wiggle eye on both sides of the fish about two inches above each fin. Display the fish by balancing it on its fins and tail.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to make several of these recycled plastic bottle fishes, do each step on all of the bottles at once. This will streamline the process of making fish.

• Supervise children when playing with this fish to ensure they don't hurt themselves on the sharp points and edges of the plastic. Hot glue and craft blades are not safe for young children to handle. If you would like to do this project with your kids, use craft glue for the eyes and do all the craft blade cutting yourself.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Craft blades
• Citrus-Based Cleaner