Look and Find Bottles

 

These are so great to have for long car rides! I am saving these for the next time we take the 3 1/2 hour trip to visit Grandpa and Grandma :) They are very simple and you can get creative with what you choose to put in them! They are a great low-budget craft, so get your glue gun ready and lets get started...

First you will need to find a clear plastic container. I used empty vitamin containers (we weren't quite finished with all the vitamins so I put them into Rubbermaid containers with good sealing lids). Clean the containers well and remove the labels; I had to use more than just soap and water to get the labels off, and Goo Gone helped take them off and removed any sticky residue that remained.

 

Next go search around your house for small objects you can hide in your bottle. Everyday things like paperclips, safety pins, coins, little items out of the quarter machines, paper flowers, and other things work great. If you would like to get a little more creative with this part, you could do different themed bottles with different kinds of dinosaurs, or different colored buttons or whatever you get excited about :) I put about 25 different items to search for per bottle and threw a few other things in them just for fun!

 

 

After that, get a blank white piece of paper and your camera. Take close up pictur

es of each item. If you are doing a couple buttons or flowers you can put them in the same picture so your kids can see the differences in size or color. After I finished taking all of the pictures I moved them into a publisher document, cropped them if needed and re-sized them. If you are using the same objects as I did you can print the pictures below and skip this step. I also added labels to each of the small squares titling the items.

 

Now you will need to laminate the small pictures. I cut each one to the same size square and put them back to back. I made sure to leave plenty of room between each square to have a nice little laminated boarder. (I got my small Scotch laminator at Joann Fabrics when a 50% off coupon and I continue to go back there with coupons to get laminating sheets when I run out). Allow the laminated sheets to cool when they come out  because they will be very hot! (If you do not have your own laminator and do not want to purchase one, you can take your squares to any office store or print shop and have them done for you.)

 

 

Almost done now! Punch holes in the corners of the picture squares and put them on a key ring. Attach the key ring to the neck of your plastic jar/container with a piece of ribbon. Begin by alternatively filling your jar with rainbow rice and your "search and find" items. (If you missed the post on how to make Rainbow Rice, check it out). Make sure to leave a little bit of room at the top of the jar so that the rice will be able to move when the jar is turned or shaken (you can test your jar before sealing it to see if you want to add more or remove some).

 

 

 

Finally, put some hot glue around the rim of the jar and twist the cover on tight. You have finished a fun new toy that will hopefully impress and entertain your kiddos for endless car trips!