Thanks goes to ATP member Woodspirit for sharing this idea:

http://garden.org/thread/view_...

Enlarge the last photo here to see the cute little Garden Hedgehogs: http://garden.org/thread/view_...

I loved these hedgehogs so much that I decided to make one! I was at the grocery store earlier in the week and bought a 1.5 liter size of diet coke which I drank the remainder of yesterday. I removed the label, washed the bottle and placed it on the corner of the kitchen counter. This morning I was staring at the empty bottle and knew if I didn't make my little hedgehog now, the bottle would end up in the recycle bin ... so, I painted the cap (nose) with a black permanent marker. I had 9 buttons that I'd recently removed from a denim jacket (lost the other 3 while on vacation this summer) and figured the size and shape would be perfect for the eyes on this size bottle. They are fat, round buttons with a little raised piece on back for sewing the thread. I cut little slits in the plastic bottle where I wanted the eyes, dabbed a tiny bit of super glue on and stuck the raised part of the button into the holes and then painted them with the black permanent marker. I still need to cut out the top for placing the soil & plants and I want to drill a couple of drainage holes in the bottom too but this is what it looks like so far:



Now to find some spiky type plants and get it finished! I think I might make a hedgehog family; this one will be mama, a 2 liter size bottle will be perfect for papa and a couple of small water bottles for the children/babies.

Many Thanks again to member Woodspirit for sharing this cute and crafty idea!

I love it!!

It would be a fun project for kids (with adult supervision of course.) Cutting out part of the top of the plastic bottle for planting ends up leaving a raw edge but I'm thinking something could be figured out to cover the edge so it wouldn't be so sharp. I'm not very creative and I thought about just using a thick bead of hot glue all along the edge but got lazy and ended up leaving it ragged.. I did wear gloves when planting though because I'm the worlds worse klutz and would have cut my hand on that jagged plastic for sure.

I looked around for something to plant in the top ... don't have any cactus but found a pot of Haworthia on a plant stand so I took some of them to plant in the top. I prefer the look with the cactus as Woodspirit showed in her photo ... a much more spiky hedgehog look so I might change the plants out if I ever get a chance to go shopping for some spiky cacti. Here's a couple of views of the finished product; "Mrs. Hedgehog":