Giving my pasta sauce bottles a new home in a Diwali hamper filled with homemade goodies. Make use of this concept for any holiday gifts.
Because I was repurposing glass bottles, a waste-free and environmentally friendly hamper theme seemed like a natural fit.
Step 1: Clean up glass bottles
Soak glass bottles for 2-4 hours in lukewarm water. This will make removing old labels from bottles much easier. Any stubborn adhesive residue can be easily removed by spraying it with rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol.
Once all labels and glue have been removed, the glass bottles should be washed and sterilized. Allow it to completely air dry before using it for other purposes.
Step 2: Apply jute tape to the lid
I wrapped the bottle lids in jute to convey a sense of naturalness. I adore how jute instantly gives off an organic vibe.
Tape the sides of the lid with jute tape. Make slits in the jute tape that hangs over the edge and fold each cut portion onto the lid with an overlap. This will cover the lid's sides and top.
Step 3: Place label on the top
For a rustic feel, I embellished the lids with labels and tags manufactured from recycled paper.
Step 4: Fill the bottles with handmade goodies
Once the packing idea is sorted, it's time to fill bottles with home-cooked delicacies. For Diwali this year, I decided to give my usual unique spin by making small versions of the most popular Diwali snacks. I made Small Spinach Sev, Mini Mathri folds, Gujiya bites, and Tiny Baked Shakkar paare. The addition of these little guys certainly raised the overall cuteness quotient of the repurpose glass bottles.
Step 5: Package the bottles in a paper box
My recycling thinking didn't just end there, I repurposed packaging materials that I had preserved from my other parcels to give body to the hamper and to keep the bottles from shifting and breaking.
Diwali Hamper
Finally, the eco-friendly Diwali hamper was completed by including mitti diyas (clay diyas) in a paper box made from recycled paper with a see-through lid.
Christmas is just around the corner. Why not give your family and friends a taste of India in a gift basket.
