7.10.2012

Daddy Treats

I made this for my husband for his first Father's Day this year.  I got part of the idea off of Pinterest, by putting different things in old bottles, but I added all of the photos and labels to personalize it.  I think this project would work well for a great deal of holidays and recipients by changing the ingredients (think of putting in dried herbs for a cook or beading for a crafter).  So, here's how I made it!


Step 1: Buy a 6-pack of something in a bottle.  I chose these Smirnoff cocktails because I wanted to try them (not a huge fan, though) and I also thought clear bottles would be much nicer than the dark bottles beer usually comes in.

Step 2:  Drink all six drinks!  Make sure you use twist-off caps and keep them somewhere so that you can re-cap the bottles.  Once you've finished all of the bottles, wash them with soap and hot water.  I'm sure you could run them through the dishwasher, but I didn't think to do it until I was already done.

Step 3:  Dry the bottles.  I put this as a separate step because you need to make sure they are VERY dry.  I did one bottle before it had dried completely and the candy stuck to the bottom, so I had to re-wash it and get new candy.


Step 4:  Color the caps.  I did this, simply to remove the smirnoff logo.  You could spraypaint the tops, cover them with paper, or color them with a Sharpie, like I did.


Step 5:  Cover the cardboard portion of the 6-pack (I used brown craft paper).  Glue it either with a spray adhesive, or use Mod Podge, like I did.  No matter what you use make sure it is evenly distributed so that there are no bubbles in the paper.

Step 6:  Create labels.  You would want labels that can cover the labels on the bottle already.  I chose to make them as you can see in the photo above.  I also created labels to put onto the 6-pack.  Even though I could have just printed them at home on my personal printer, I was running low on ink, so I took mine to Staples and had them print it.

 

Step 7:  Affix all of the labels.  Again, I used Mod Podge, but you could use spray adhesive as well.  I sealed all of the labels with Mod Podge as well, so that they would be really stuck down.  As you can see above, I added some of the scraps of plain white paper over the small label on the neck of the bottles as well as the large labels.


Step 8:  Gather your fillings.  I did candy for all but one bottle, which I put peanuts in.  I had to end up getting extra Good n Plenty and Reese's Pieces, because they seemed to settle more than the others and took up less room.  Obviously, I chose treats that I knew my husband would like!


Step 9:  Using a funnel (or your hand, like I did), fill the bottles.  Twist the caps onto the bottles.  They will not make it completely airtight, but they will keep the candies from going stale and they will keep anything from coming out if you have to carry the gift anywhere.


Finally:  Place the bottles back into the cardboard 6-pack holder and it is ready to present!