How Do I Make Fish From Pop Bottles?

You can make a cute craft fish out of a soda pop bottle.

Making a fish out of a soda pop bottle is a fun craft with an unexpected look at the end, since most of the work takes place inside the bottle. When you're done, you can hang up several pop bottle fish as a mobile, attach your fish to the hem of a garden umbrella or even float it in a bathtub or pool if you've used waterproof paint.

Things You'll Need

• Empty soda pop bottle (2 liters)
• Black Sharpie or other permanent marker
• Several colors of acrylic paint (including some white)
• 1 ft. fishing line or nylon thread
• 2 small buttons
• Needle
• Several sponges cut into small pieces
• Stapler
• Scissors
• Small dish to hold paint
• Clothespin (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut off the bottom of the bottle.

2. Draw the fish's eyes inside the bottle, near the cap end. Fill in the iris and paint the rest of the eye white.

3. Pour one color of paint into your small dish. Moisten one of your sponge pieces with paint. Dab the paint on the inside the fish, starting at the bottle cap end and working your way out.

   Let the paint dry completely. Repeat this step with your other colors. Let each coat dry completely before moving forward.

4. Squish the open end of the bottle together so both sides touch. Flatten the crease at the top and bottom of your fish so the bottle is now as flat as possible. Draw the pattern for the fish's tail. Cut out the fish tail pattern along the lines.

5. Thread your needle with a double thickness of the fishing line, and tie it off at the end. Thread the needle through one of your buttons. Put the needle inside the bottle and push it outward through the bottle at the top of the fish, at the point where you want it to hang. The button should stay inside the fish. Pull the fishing line all the way through. Cut the line as close to the needle as possible. Thread the two pieces of line through your other button, and pull the button through till it touches the fish. Tie the button securely onto the fish. Attach the remaining ends of the fishing line to a clothespin for hanging.

6. Squeeze the tail end of your fish together and staple it along the edge of the tail. Add any scales or squiggle marks on the outside of your fish.