Make a water bottle carrier for those hot summer days when taking a walk or a hike can really leave you parched! Personalize your water bottle holder with foam stickers, or change up the color to blue or brown!
By: Amanda Formaro
What You Need:
- 1 large sheet craft foam
- Lanyard
- Child safe sewing needle
- White craft glue
- Pen or pencil
- Scissors
What You Do:
Because water bottles can differ in size, instead of providing a pattern or precise measurement, we’ll show you how to use your bottle as a guide for creating your holder.
Begin by rolling the water bottle up in the craft foam. Wrap enough foam around the bottle to cover the bottle and overlap by about an inch. Mark with a pen or pencil.
Next, to measure the height, with your water bottle rolled up in the craft foam, leave the top section of the bottle exposed. Draw a mark about an inch below the bottom of the bottle. Cut out your rectangle, using the markings as your guide.
From the remaining foam, trace a circle around the bottom of the water bottle. When you cut the circle out, leave a ½ inch border all the way around.
You will need to cut slits in the bottom of the foam, the end that meets the bottom of your water bottle. Cut the slits about an inch apart all the way across the bottom.
Thread a long piece of lanyard onto a child safe sewing needle. Sew the round piece of foam to the rectangular piece of foam, using the slits to work around the circle.
Once the bottom is sewn on, hold the sides of the holder together and start sewing together. Sew all the way up, holding as you go. When you get to the top, continue sewing around the opening of your bottle holder until you get all the way around. Use a piece of strong tape to secure the end of the lanyard inside the bottle holder.
Cut 3 pieces of lanyard in the colors of your choice, as long as you would like your handle to be. Holding them all together, tie one end into a knot, about 3-4” in so that there’s so tail left over. Thread the open ends into a child safe sewing needle and poke through the side of the bottle holder, starting from the inside, about an inch from the top. Pull the lanyard through gently until the knot stops it. Using the long strands and the strands at the end of the knot, tie together, make about 3 knots to make it secure.
Braid the three long strands of lanyard, leaving about 3-4” unbraided at the end. Thread the open end into the child safe sewing needle and carefully poke through the other side of the bottle holder, again, about an inch from the top. Remove the needle and tie the handle into a knot, re-knot two more times.
If any of your holes from sewing look strained, go ahead and add some white craft glue to reinforce them, let the glue dry completely.
Optional: Lanyard and craft foam come in a variety of colors to suit both boys and girls. Craft foam stickers are also available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Boys make like frogs and snakes while girls will be more partial to flowers and hearts. Alternatively, the bottle holder can be left blank or decorated with markers before sewing together.
