Plastic Soda Bottle Puggy Bank

I wish I had a pet pig or a pet pug. They’re both so cute,  and I’ve heard they both make great pets. Nevertheless, I have neither, although I do have a cat…but this post is about making a puggy bank. No, you didn’t hear it wrong. I said puggy, not piggy. Using the bottom of a plastic soda bottle, which I though would mimic the jowls of a pug dog, I followed Martha Stewart most adorable piggy bank project tutorial. She turned re-purposed plastic soda bottle into a piggy bank which you can see here. In addition, I needed a project for the Hometalk Thrift Benefit for Sheltered Animals Blog Tour, and I thought this project would be perfect.

I’m very excited to be part of this amazing blog tour which will benefit the care of sheltered animals. So I decided to make up a pack of puggy banks to donate to the  local animal shelter where I found my pet Kitty.

To make the puggy banks, I followed most of Martha’s instructions, which you can find here. I made a few changes as well, to turn the plastic  soda bottle from a pig to a pug. Come along, I’ll show you. I’ve included free printable instructions and a puggy bank face template at the bottom of this post, as well.

How to Make a Re-Purposed Soda Bottle Puggy Bank:

Supplies

2 Liter Soda Bottle – cleaned and dried

4 Empty spools of thread

Hot glue gun

Masking tape

Torn newspaper strips (make sure 1/3 of the strips have black writing only)

Flour and water at 1:1 ratio mixture

Craft paint ( I used Martha Stewart’s Multi-Surface Craft Paint in colors: Wedding Cake,  Acorn and Black)

Decoupage ( I used Mod Podge Matte)

Brown paper bags or craft paper

Black and red construction paper

Black felt

Cork – large enough for coins (I purchased mine at the local  hardware store)

Thin tipped craft paint brush (for the face details)

Sanding block

Craft knife

Black marker

Hand held hole punch (optional)

File folder or thin card board (for the puggy ears #8 on template)

Puggy Bank face and ears template (see below)

 

 Steps

1-With a marker draw a line down the center of the bottle, making the top of the puggy head line up with one of the bumps at the bottom of the bottle.

2-Hot glue the empty spools to the bottom of the bottle for legs; and then tape them down to secure.

3-Cut out all of the pieces on the Puggy Bank face template.

4-Using the template piece #8, trace cut out the ears from a file folder or thin card board.

5-Using template pieces #1, 5, 6, and 7 trace and cut out from the black construction paper.

6-Using template pieces #4 and 8 trace and cut out from paper bag or brown craft paper.

7-Fold ear template on dotted line and tape the ears to the bottle.

 

8-Remove the soda bottle cap, scrunch up a piece of newspaper and tape it around the soda bottle nozzle to create the puggy bottom.

 

9-Twist 1-1/2 pieces of news paper together to create a tail that starts thicker and gets thinner; and then tape the thicker portion the the back- top  side of the puggy bottom. Add more tape, making sure to cover the bottle opening.

 

10-Continue to twist the tail and wrap with masking tape until you have a tail shape. Cut off excess.

 

11-Mix up a flour and water mixture until no lumps.

12-Dip newspaper strips into mixture and start applying. Apply one coat and let dry overnight.

13-Apply second coat and let dry again.

14-Apply the third coat using the black print-only newspaper strips. Let dry. To speed up drying I used a hair dryer, but you can also use a fan like Martha suggests.

 

15-Cut out circular hole in bottom of puggy for the cork, making sure hole is smaller than the largest portion of the cork; and cut slit in the top of the puggy for  inserting money.

 

16-Mix paint 2:1 Wedding Cake and Acorn; add 1 part decoupage and a few drops of water and  apply with paint brush, two light coats. Let dry.

17-Apply a coat of decoupage only.

 

18-For the nose (piece#6) fold width-wise and punch a hole using hole punch to make nostrils, or cut out small hole if a hole punch is not available.

 

19-Using decoupage, apply pieces #1 and 2 to face, and then and then #3 and 4, and then #5 and 6. Finally attach pieces #7 to ears. Smooth all pieces down with damp fingers to get good adhesion on the bumpy surface. Let Dry. Apply second coat decoupage, smooth down some more, if needed and let dry.

 

20-Add two white dots for the eyes and black dots as whiskers, let dry. re-coat with decoupage if desired.

21-Dab black craft paint on the bottoms of the paws and around the edges of the paws.

22-Cut out black felt pieces for the bottom of the paws, attach with decoupage – TIP: Trim off a small inside section of felt on inner part of the paws to make the puggy bank more sturdy.

 

 

These guys turned out cuter than I had expected. With a little help from some decoupage, paint and construction paper, the bottom part of a soda bottle ends up looking quite like a pug’s face. Aren’t they cute??

This pack of puggies will be donated to the West Suburban Humane Society for re-sale, which will inevitably help to buy supplies for the care of the animals in the shelter. It feels like a great way to give back to the shelter where I was able to find my much-loved pet Kitty!

Thank you so much for stopping by and please come follow along on the Hometalk Thrift Benefit for Sheltered Animals Blog Tour.

 

Find FREE printable template and directions  right below:

Click to download: Puggy Bank Face Template PDF

Click to download: Re-Purposed Soda Bottle Puggy Bank Directions PDF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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