There are so many beautiful and useful things you can create with stuff you probably already have around your house. One day when I was tossing milk cartons into the recycle bin it occurred to me that could create a beautiful and natural looking vases out of these empty milk cartons. I washed them out and cut them to size. I then painted them and accented them with raffia and beads. I think they look super cute and I don’t think anyone would know what they once were unless you told them. This makes a great Spring decoration!

They are easy to make and here’s how.

Materials

• Empty Milk Cartons (clean and dry)
• Spray Paint
• Raffia
• Decorative Beads
• Glue Gun
• Flowers

Instructions

Step 1: Cut the milk carton to the desired size of the vase.

Step 2: Spray Paint the milk carton and let dry. Repeat with a second coat of paint.

Step 3: Glue glass beads onto the bottom edge of the milk carton.

Step 4: Cut 5 strips of raffia the length to wrap around the top of the vase plus 1/4 inch overlap.

Step 5: Glue each strip of raffia to the top of the carton with craft glue as shown above, overlapping the ends.

Step 6: Braid  raffia and tie around the center of the carton. Tie in a knot and secure with glue.  Trim tails to matching lengths.

Step 7: Glue shell beads to the front of the vase over the raffia and the knotted braid.

Fill vases with fabric flowers or add a container inside the vase for cut flower stems. Since it is a milk carton, it will not get damaged if a little bit of water touches the the inside of the vase.