Recycled Soda Bottles as Hanging Seedling Rain Chains

Larose LoganOakes
by Larose LoganOakes
30 Minutes
Easy

Ok Folks! Here they are as promised!I used the top portion of the 3 liter soda bottles that I had left over from when I made the hanging planters last week.I knew they would come in handy for something.I got my inspiration from a teacher on hometalk that had her students grow carrots in 3 liter soda bottles.Last year I made the mistake of trying to grow my lettuce seedlings inside my house and my 20 lb cat decided to walk right through them and smooshed them all.Live and Learn!I have very limited sunshine in my yard because we have a lot of mature trees.These seedling rain chains will allow me to move them around the yard to follow the sun.I'm not a serious gardener but I do like to watch things grow.Plants are like our babies after all!This is an experiment.My husband wants to use them to grow strawberries but I already planted the strawberry plants somewhere else.I know that the pics are hard to see but tomorrow I will have the dirt and the seeds in the holders and I promise to take more pics so you can get a better idea of what I am trying to do.Hopefully I will have some carrot seedlings soon that I can transplant.This was extremely easy.Children would get a big kick out of doing this.I'm channeling my inner child! Ok. Not sure if this is the place to post instructions but I will give it a try. 1.) Take your empty soda or water bottle and cut off the top portion right above the label. I found it was easier to leave the bottle cap on while I was sawing and then just remove it and recycle it.I haven't figured out what to do with those yet.You can smooth out the rough edges with a pair of scissors. 2.) I cut a 3' long piece of 22 guage floral wire and I straightened it out from being wrapped around the card it comes on by rubbing a folded paper towel the entire length of the wire a couple of times. 3.) I then folded it in half, not breaking the wire, but you could if you wanted to, I chose not to.Just make sure you have enough extra wire at the top to make a secure loop to hang it with. 4.) I then fed over the bent wire(2) 1.5" buttons towards the u shape at the end of the wire.I found this size button worked well for my size soda bottle.You can use whatever size you feel comforable using. 5.)Next the I fed the top part of the 3 liter soda bottle with the neck part at the bottom that I had saved from making my hanging planters a few days ago. 6.) I then fed another button same size onto the wire all the way down to the neck of the plastic bottle. 7.) I then gave the two wires a good couple of twists. 8.) I then fed over the 2 wires together an extra large drinking straw to cover the wires and add some stability.Again you can use any size straws that is just what I happen to have handy at the time. 9.) I then added another (2)1.5" buttons and I continued in this manner until I had done this step 4 times.When you are finished you will end up with two buttons at the top, or however many you choose to use and I made a loop with the remaining wire to hang this baby on.I wrapped the excess wire around my loop to give it more security.This did not take very long and it afforded me the opportunity to utilize some of the items that I had been saving to recycle and I just came up with this idea when I wanted to grow my seedlings. And not have my 20 lb cat smoosh them or eat them like he did last year. If you want to make it smaller just use smaller soda or water bottles or you can not put as many bottles on your chain.If you choose to use fewer bottles then your chain will come out shorter. Like I said in my original posting, I am not a professional gardener. I just like to watch things grow and this is an experiment! I will post more pics with the cups full of soil and seeds later today.I had to go to the store to buy some potting soil.Thanks to all of you that have viewed this posting! Best of luck to all of you!

This is all 5 of the rain chains hanging together in my Japanese Maple tree. They are hung on a white plastic clothes hanger.
This gives you a better idea of what they look like. There are 2 rain chains hanging from a plastic coat hanger.There are 4 cups in each rain chain.
I used 4 bottle tops trimmed nicely with scissors, 4 large drinking straws,16-1.5" 2 or 4 hole buttons & 3 yards of 22 gauge floral wire per rain chain.It's really simple to do & it doesn't take long.I already had all of the stuff .
Here is the 4 bottle chain filled with dirt and seeds. Now all I have to do is water and wait.
Here is a different view of the 4 bottle chain filled with dirt and seeds. Now all I have to do is water and wait to see what happens.

DIY home decor using recycled plastic bottles

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