How to Upcycle a Pill Bottle – Christmas Cracker Ornament

This is a quick and easy DIY Christmas ornament made from a pill bottle and other upcycled items you might have lying around your home.

It’s so super easy it would be a great Christmas craft to do with kids and show them how you can make something ‘new’ or decorative out of things you might normally through away!

Scroll down for printable instructions.

Materials Needed – Upcycled Christmas Ornament

• Empty pill bottle
• Scraps of Christmas wrapping paper – 3 times the length of your pill bottle
• Ends of ribbons x 3 
• Sellotape 

Step 1: Cover the Pill Bottle

The base of your ornament is the empty pill bottle – basically, it is what is going to give the ornament its shape.

I’ve used a long thin prescription pill bottle but it would work just as well with a fatter empty bottle of off the shelf medication, depending on the size of the scrap piece of wrapping paper you are using.

To start, find a piece of scrap wrapping paper that is roughly 3 times as long as your pill bottle on both and wide enough to wrap all the way around it.

Just like with wrapping presents, it will look neatest if you fold the end of the wrapping paper under before taping it down.

Step 2: Ribbons to Form the Christmas Cracker

Once you’ve taped the wrapping paper closed in the middle you don’t need tape for the ends. Just find two bits of ribbon and tie them tightly at the top and base of the pill bottle – like a Christmas Cracker.

Step 3: Attach your Hanging Loop

Clearly, you don’t want anyone to mistake this for an actual Christmas Cracker and try to pop it open.

So to turn it into a decoration you need to add a hanging loop.

I used a piece of green ribbon to attach my hanging loop.

This way it becomes a Christmas ornament that can be hung on a tree or a door knocker.  

To make the loop simply tie two ends of the ribbon together as pictured. Then loop it through one of the pieces of ribbon used to close your ends and pull the ends through the loop of your green ribbon to secure it.

Step 4: Hang your ‘New’ Christmas Ornament Made from a Pill Bottle!

Looking to upcycle even more this Christmas?  

Check out our list of 10 DIY Personalised Gifts you can make from your upcycled stuff!

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More Christmas Upcycling Ideas:

• The Upcycler’s Guide to Gift Wrapping
• How to Upcycle a Shoe Box as a Gift Box – Easy Upcycle Project
• DIY Christmas Gift Tags from Cardboard & Scrap Fabric
• How to Reuse Christmas Cards as Gift Tags
• 16 DIY Christmas Gifts that they won’t know are Homemade!
• DIY Christmas Angels from Upcycled Jewellery
• Upcycled Gift Ideas