Skip to main content

How to upcycle a plastic bottle into a hedgehog planter




Recycle and grow at the same time with this cress hedgehog!

Tools:
  • A small plastic drinking bottle
  • Scissors (ADULT SUPERVISION)
  • Sellotape
  • Googly eyes, buttons or you could use a sharpie pen
  • Kitchen paper or soil/compost if you have any
  • Seeds- cress is easy and quick to grow
  • Water

Step 1:
·       Lay the plastic bottle on its side and remove label 


     Step 2:
    Cut out the top side of it. Keep the plastic near the front of the bottle opening intact.



    Step 3:
    Tape over the edges with sellotape to make smooth


     Step 4:
·   Apply PVA glue to neck of the bottle and wrap wound string to make the head. If you don't have any string, you could paint or colour in. Leave to dry.





Step 5:
·   Stick some googly eyes on near the bottle opening. You could use buttons or draw on the hedgehog's eyes with a pen.

    



    Step 6:
·   If using kitchen paper, take a piece and place them on top of one another. Fold the paper in half and then half again. Run the paper under running water quickly and on both sides. It should be wet but not dripping. Place the wet kitchen paper inside the bottle.




    If using soil or compost sprinkle in to half fill your bottle.

    Step 7:
·   Sprinkle a thin layer of seeds over the wet paper or soil – make sure they are evenly spread.




    Step 8
·  Put the Hedgehog on a sunny windowsill and watch your hedgehog grow its spines!



     Top Tip:
·   If you only have a round bottle, steady it by putting four pieces of blue tack/plasticine/playdough at the bottom. These can be made to look like feet.










Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lockdown Litter Pick Challenge

T he University of Birmingham is taking part in the Hog-Friendly lockdown litter pick challenge! From 2nd November until 18th December 2020, the Hedgehog Friendly Campus campaign are holding a UK-wide competition to find out which university can collect the most litter in and around the local community.  The winning university receives a free Hedgehog House complete with a bag of hedgehog food for their campus! All participants (whether from the winning team or not) will also receive a digital certificate from us in recognition of their efforts. Why is litter bad for hedgehogs? The RSPCA receives over 5000 calls a year regarding litter  That’s an average of roughly 14 calls every day!   Everyday objects that seem perfectly safe, can sadly become hazardous when found accidentally by animals. By disposing our rubbish safely instead of littering, we are making choices that could save many lives . Hedgehogs are covered in thousands of spines which makes them vulnerable to bec...

How to make a hedgehog hoopla

Here's a great hedgehog craft that you and the kids can make together! Adult supervision is required, but it's ideal for older kids and younger children will love to help paint. You can make use of any old cardboard boxes you have, and the colour scheme is up to you! I just used whatever paint colours I had in the shed. Tools: Cardboard-  you want it to be quite sturdy so that your hog doesn't flop over! Paint- choose any colours you have available Scissors- ADULT SUPERVISION REQUIRED Hoops/Pipe cleaners/florist wire/twine Step 1: Draw a rough outline of your hedgehog onto the card. Mine was approximately two ft by two ft. Step 2: Once you are happy with your hog's shape, cut out the body and feet. This can be a bit tricky, especially around the spikes, so you may want to ask an adult for help. Step 3: Cut out slots in the middle of both feet and at the bottom of the body. The slots are approximately two and a half inches long- you ...

Hedgehog Friendly Campus is go!

The Hedgehog Friendly Campus project is now at the University of Birmingham! It's funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and open to all university staff members and students who want our campus to be a place where hedgehogs can thrive! The number of hedgehogs in the countryside has plummeted by around 50% and in urban gardens by 30% since the year 2000. There are perhaps just a million left, representing a 97% fall from the 30 million estimated to have roamed in the 1950s. This recent decline has been attributed to loss of hedgerows, greater usage of pesticides, litter, impermeable garden fencing and walls, and busy roads causing mortalities. So what does a ‘Hedgehog Friendly Campus’ look like and what can we do to help hedgehogs on campus? Staff and students join together to ensure: campus is litter free  plenty of joined up habitats for hedgehogs to roam  opportunity for hedgehogs to eat and drink  hedgehog houses are available to keep them safe a...