Total Time 1 hour
This craft is a great way to reuse a juice bottle while safely learning about the insects in our world. After your observations, be sure to return the critters where you found them!
by Amanda Formaro
What you'll need
- Empty plastic juice bottle with at least one flat side and lid
- Scissors
- Craft foam
- Hot glue gun
- Scrap piece of window screen or tulle
- Natural items like rocks, grass, twigs etc.
Helpful Tip:
Do not leave the bottle in the sun, especially with insects inside. The plastic can get very hot and cause harm to your houseguests. This same project can be made in miniature form by using a small plastic juice bottle instead - perfect for class projects. If you’ve lost the lid but have a juice bottle, cover the opening with tulle or screen and secure with a rubber band.
Some more interesting posts:
How to make it
- Remove all labels from juice bottle. Wash inside and out thoroughly with warm water and mild dish soap. Rinse well and dry. Be sure to save the lid.
- Lay bottle on its flat side and use scissors to cut on opening on the side facing up.
- Cut a piece of screen or tulle to fit over the opening, overlapping it by about ¼” all the way around the edge.
- Cut a piece of craft foam about ½” bigger (all the way around) than the screen or tulle you just cut out. Cut center out of foam to create a “window.”
- Hot glue the screen to the craft foam.
- Hot glue the screen window to the opening on the bottle.
- Place rocks, pebbles, dirt, grass, twigs, or whatever other natural items you choose inside the bottle through the opening at the top.
- To catch bugs with your bottle, place the bottle on the ground in tall grass where the insects can climb in. Alternatively, you can catch insects on your own and place them into the bottle through the lid opening, then secure the lid.
- If you have trouble setting an insect free, or if you need to replace the greenery inside, you can easily peel back the screen cover. To replace, simply add more hot glue and secure in place again.
