Invitation in a bottle
Send out a distress call to your favorite friends, with a message in a bottle. The message is the invitation to a desert island birthday party. Start the fun with the message bottle invites, which you can make at home with recycled material. The bottle and the invitation will be a treasured keepsake of the party. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Remove label and wash out bottle. Rub or peel any underlying glue off the bottle. Place the bottle upside down and let it dry out completely. Wash and dry the plastic bottle cap as well.
2. Brew some tea or coffee and let it cool. Pour the liquid into a bowl. Place some paper towels on a table or desk, where the paper will dry.
3. Tear the edges off the paper so it is less wide than the pencil. The pencil will have to stick out of both ends of the scroll invitation, once it's rolled. Crumple the paper into a ball. Open the ball of paper. Dip it into the bowl with the cooled tea or coffee. Coat both sides and all areas of the paper. Without tearing it, gently remove the paper from bowl. Rest paper flat on the toweling and let dry. Tear the edges off the paper, to make it look old and worn. The edges should look rough and imperfect.
4. Run two lines of glue at the top of the paper and roll the paper around an unsharpened pencil, until the pencil is covered by rolled paper. The pencil will make the paper look like a scroll and make it easier to get the invitation out of the bottle.
5. Pick a colored permanent marker and print out the the party invitation information on the paper. Don't forget to include the date and time. Write something pertaining to the deserted island theme of the party such as: "[Insert name of birthday boy or girl] will be lost without you," or "SOS!" Include the address and a phone number or email the guests can use to RSVP. Roll up the scroll and tie it will a piece of green raffia, which will look like seaweed.
6. Place some beach sand and a few shells into the bottle. These can be purchased at a discount store or at an arts-and-crafts store. You also could seashells you already have. Tear up some small pieces of green raffia or black ribbon to add to the mix. Slide the rolled invitation into the bottle. Twist the plastic cap back on the bottle. Hand out one invitation per person.
Tags: edges paper, green raffia, into bottle, into bowl, look like, message bottle, paper into