Let’s make… DIY Yakult Cars

Last year, Pamela from Tan Family Chronicle shared on her blog how she made this very easy DIY car she fashioned out of empty Yakult bottles and plastic bottle caps. Eh I tell you ah, she is really very precise with the details man! You need to see how she made hers then you will know what I mean. I thought the cars looked really cute and easy to make but I always forget to save my Vitagen bottles.

We were at Pamela’s place recently for a play date and she showed us the cars she made. Eh, very cute leh! Fast too! Xan was immediately hooked! Pamela said she still have some materials left and gave me some to kick start the DIY project. Steady! We barely stepped out of her house when Xan insisted we MUST make the cars that very day. Wah lau, the boy kept yakking about it every other minute throughout the 35 min drive home. *faint* However later that night, I managed to convince him we would do it the next day IF he goes to bed early, without a fuss and wake up early the next morning. With a big wide grin and a loud ORH, he had a very quick shower and plonked into bed rather quickly. MIRACLE #1!

MIRACLE #2! He woke up really early but he waited patiently until I opened my eyes. The minute he saw me stir, he kept whispering “Good morning Mummy! Craft time!” *yawn* Ok lor. Leeeet’s do it!

Materials you need:

1. Empty Yakult bottles (or any plastic bottles you have at home)
2. Plastic bottle caps
3. Straws (I used those that came with the Yakult)
4. Satay sticks/thin bamboo skewers
5. Penknife/cutter
6. Scissors
7. Glue
8. Scrap paper or coloured paper to decorate the bottle with

How to do it:

• Poke 2 holes on each side of the bottle to insert the straw and satay sticks. The straw works like a sleeve so if you can get thicker straws, even better! I had to shave my satay sticks a bit so that the sticks can turn turn more better. You understand me? Aiyah, I dunno how to say lah. You do ler you will understand. (Neh! See picture below.)
• Use the scissors to cut the satay sticks into half. Each should be wider than the width of the bottle
• Poke a hole in the the middle of the bottle cap first so that it will be easier to insert the satay sticks through them. You can either use your penknife or an ice pick if you happen to have one lying around in the house. I don’t know why you will have one at home but ya, it’ll be easier.
• I didn’t chisel the satay stick with an extra groove like Pamela did because I’m lazy. Chin chye as long as the satay stick can go through can ler lah.

Here is how it will look like when you put the wheels on. So cute!

If you look closely at the bottle, you will see extra holes. I made the 1st set of holes so perfect until the wheels couldn’t touch the floor *facepalm*. Never mind. The holes will eventually get covered up in the next step.

• Since I didn’t allow Xan to help me with all the sharp and dangerous tasks, I made him help me tear up some old wrapping paper into small pieces. Instead of gluing scraps of paper, you can choose to use stickers, stick embellishments or whatever that tickles your fancy.

• After that, he used glue to paste the small bits of paper onto the bottle. Xan was so neat until I couldn’t tahan. I had to remind him it was ok to be messy and that art and craft is supposed to be messy.
• You could remove the wheels first before you start pasting the paper it doesn’t really matter.

Here is the finished product! Not bad for a first attempt eh? Thanks Pamela for the inspiration, the bottles and the bottle caps!

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