Christmas Gift Wrapping Ideas Using Soda Bottles

These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!blank630x20If you’re always on the lookout for unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas, we’ve got some that will blow you away! Whether it’s for a small gift for a family member or a next door neighbor treat, the packaging will put a smile on the face of the receiver as much as the contents. They are made from plastic soda bottles and are as cute as can be. We have three versions, a clear square and a small petal flap and a tall mixture of both. We’ve also got some fun ways to fancy them up. If you’d like one more awesome way to use a soda bottle for gift giving, check out our other Creative Gift Wrapping Ideas! FYI we put our Quick Healthy 3 Ingredient Chocolate Fudge Recipe in one of ours!

Christmas Gift Wrapping Ideas Supplies

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blank630x20Instructions

We have three styles! You can just start on down the list or click on of the links to jump to the one you want.

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Style 1: Tall Mixed Style Container

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We used a typical 2 Liter bottle for this one. Many of these have lines around them near the bottom or top. We use those as a base line for measuring, depending on how tall we want our container to be.  Mark your container circle into four equal parts. Then mark it where you will be folding it at.

These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Fold straight down to your marked area on each “corner” area. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Once you fold one side you can easily fold the other straight across from it. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

When you are finished you will have a perfect square on the top. The bottom of the container is the bottom of the bottle. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Cut each corner down to where you marked it. This will be how “high” the container will be.  My bottle is still too high so I’ll end of trimming the petal flaps even more. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Keep in mind that the points where you cut are VERY SHARP. They will poke and draw blood. You’ll be fixing those in a minute. But be careful in the meantime. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Fold the flaps over to the inside and crease the edges sharply using a bone folder tool or the handle of a metal butter knife to press them down.

These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!      You will now pop the flaps back out and trim them down, curving the edges. The flaps will most likely be too long. Keep trimming them evenly until they fall halfway to the middle of the container. They can barely overlap each other or almost touch.  Make a nice curved shape on the edges so they won’t poke anyone. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

This shows a completed curved edge.These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

You can overlap the flaps one at a time to close them.These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift! They should stay closed on their own. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

You can also punch a hole in two of the flaps for tying them together. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

The container can be held together this way also. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

 I used ours for a 3 ingredient  Chocolate Fudge Recipe you can get here. This is a perfect holiday neighbor gift. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

To make it even more special, I happened upon these ornament cards from Shutterfly and fell in love with them.  They are 50% off and typically stay that way during the holidays. There are many choices and you get to customize both sides and even add a photo if desired, which I did. Attach one to your gift and it doubles as a card/tag for neighbors and friends.  (I love it when companies make me look good for a low cost.)These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Hey, who’s that good looking dude I’m with?  This is the back side of the Shutterfly card /tag. Their online system lets you design it up very easily. You can add all kinds of text in a huge variety of styles.  (FYI, the tag I used is called “Merry Chalkboard Berries”.  Again, it’s one of their Ornament Cards.  Brilliant idea. christmas-gift-wrapping-ideas-using-soda-bottles-44blank630x20

Style 2: Small Petal Box

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I used a tall slim 32oz bottle for this one though any size will work. (Walmart has a wonderful slim tall 33oz size in their own brand that I use for quite a few crafts for 88 cents each.) Mark the bottle as high as you want it and cut around. In this case I cut off quite a bit as I wanted a fairly short gift container. The flaps themselves will only be 1.5″ or so long. The rest  will be the height you wish the bottle to be.

These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

For the petals you need six flaps, so measure around and divide the bottle into six even sections and mark accordingly. (Finally… that math you took in school comes in handy!)  In all honesty it does NOT have to be exactly even. I eyeballed it to tell you the truth. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Remember, because we are making a short bottle we used the line that was already at the base of the bottle as our guide line  to cut down to. Had that not been there we would have measured and marked around it with a dry erase marker. If you wanted the container taller you would just need to measure up from that line and cut higher.

Cut down to your base line. Also remember that those edges are sharp until you curve them! The petals will need to fold over about half way into the middle of the bottle. Trim them if they are too long. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Bend over each of the six flaps to the inside and press firmly with a bone folder, as you see me using, or a butter knife handle to get a nice clean edge. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Pull the flaps back out and trim around the sharp pointed edges making rounded petal shapes. You can draw on with a dry erase marker first if you’d like a pattern to follow. Remember, dry erase marker wipes right off when you’re done!These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

After your petals are trimmed and creased you can fold them one at a time, overlapping each, and they will close over the top. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

This is the finished container.

These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

It can hold not only treats but small gifts. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Since we made this at Christmas time, the more we looked at this one the more we thought it resembled the bottom of Santa’s pants. So we added a black ribbon belt. We toyed with the idea of a big red pom pom or a white bow. The bow won out.

These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

We  painted black on the four bumps to signify the boot parts and added a paper buckle. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!blank630x20christmas-gift-wrapping-ideas-using-soda-bottles-38

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Style 3: Square Box

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This next container was made from another tall 32 oz bottle though you’d never know it!  Measure and cut off both ends of your bottle making it the size you want. Then measure around making four even marks using a dry erase marker and crease each one as shown on above bottles. Make sure to get a nice sharp crease. I love using my bone folder for that but anything hard will work.

These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

This shows two of the the nice creases. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift! Now you’ve got a complete square. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

For the bottom flaps you need to measure up on each corner. For my small container I measured up about 1.5″  then cut.These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Fold them over like the top part and crease. Again, remember the points are very sharp. Overlap them to close and seal. The bottom could actually be glued if desired to keep it together. Round the very tips of the pointy parts for safety. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Curve the four top flaps either on just the edges or you can also make petal shapes if desired. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Overlap them to close the top. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

  We added a bit of gold Washi tape around the middle. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

Two small holes were punched  in two of the flaps to tie on a matching gold ribbon and bell. These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!blank630x20These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!These upcycled plastic soda bottles make unique Christmas gift wrapping ideas and are perfect for our healthy chocolate fudge recipe as a neighbor gift!

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12 Comments

  1. Charmaine

    My niece showed me a sweet container made from plastic bottles…and this is what I am planning on doing for Christmas gifts this year….Wonderful idea!!

    Reply
  2. Bacon Bit

    Totally amazing! It’s people like you that truly keep the world going round! I started trying to reuse everything and hate throwing anything away which really becomes a nuisance in relationship to space, but I’m also starting to make the planet a healthier place because of awesome people like you! Thank you so much for sharing all of this information and thank you for helping us keep this world a livable for our children and grandchildren. You are awesome!

    Reply
    1. Nancy Author

      Well thank you so much. What a kind thing to say. Luckily I married a guy who loves the planet and though we are not perfect we do view it as something we need to take care of. Ü Thanks so much for visiting and for the lovely comment. It made my day. Ü

      Reply
  3. Anna McClung

    Genius, pure genius! Thank you for taking the time to create this post. I just got home from the Dollar Store where I bought a tanker-load of soda! All your posts using bottles are going to come in handy.

    Reply

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