Decoupaged Bleach Bottle Piggies

This is my second year of homeschooling and I wanted to show the girls how to decoupage. After several hours of thinking of what they could do that would be fun as well as useful, I went into my laundry room. And there atop of my washer sat an empty bleach bottle. The bottle was laying on its side and from the front it looked to me like a piggy. And hence, this is where I got the idea.

Materials:

• clean, empty gallon size bleach or vinegar bottles
• newspaper
• flour
• hot water
• paper, such as scrapbooking or tissue
• egg cartons, cut into sections
• spray clear coat

Directions:

1. First wash the bleach bottle out good. You can also use those gallon vinegar bottles.
2. Then get some newspaper and rip them into strips.
3. Meanwhile make your decoupage glue. I used the basic recipe of 1 cup of flour to 2 cups of hot water.
4. Cook over low heat until no clumps and thick. You may need to add more water. If it's too watery add a bit more flour. Just be sure to let it cool before using.
5. Dip your newspapers in the glue mixture and begin layering on your bottle. We did the top part and let it dry, then did the bottom.
6. After several layers and being completely dry (we do a part each week for art class) then you can decorate. We used scrapbooking paper and tissue paper. We kept with a theme, but you can use anything you would like: newspaper funnies, music pages, etc.
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7. Let dry!
8. For the legs we used the holder from an egg carton and the ears we formed out of the paper.
9. After the entire thing is dry you can cut a hole in the top to put your coins in and then varnish. I use a clear coat in a spray paint can.
10. That is it! Now you have a cute little piggy bank that isn't just cute, it is also very useful.
11. In the photos, we haven't added the tail or the eyes. The eyes will be buttons and the tail will be a curled pipe cleaner.

By Melissa from Pine City, NY