Upcycled High Holidays Honey Dish

When talking about the holiday of Rosh Hashanah with young children, the custom of eating apples dipped in honey is often at the forefront. Some ideas we share in our family include our hope to have a sweet year, that an apple represents health (an apple a day, right?!), and that we have a connection to Israel, a land flowing with milk and honey. We tend to eat apples and/or challah with honey throughout the fall holidays, so having a fun honey dish that can be covered and reused is definitely useful. This cute, easy and environmentally friendly craft upcycles plastic bottles into an apple-shaped honey dish for your family’s holiday enjoyment—and beyond.

Materials:

  • Two plastic bottles, matching in size
  • Goo Gone
  • X-Acto knife
  • Scissors
  • Peel-and-stick foam letters/shapes or Sharpie markers
  • Pipe cleaners, googly eyes or other decorative craft items
  • Glue

Directions:

  • Use Goo Gone to remove the labels and sticky residue from the bottles.
  • Have an adult use an X-Acto knife to puncture and cut each bottle about an inch-and-a-half above the bottom seam (depending on the bottle, this might be about three inches up from the bottom). Once cut, use scissors to trim and even the edges to a height that is apple appropriate. The “cover” of the dish can be cut to the seam and should fit snugly over the other.
  • Once the “apple” shape is formed, invite your child to decorate the outside in any way he or she chooses. All decorations should go on the outside of the bottle only to ensure the inside remains food-safe for honey.
  • Decoration ideas include using foam letters (add a dab of glue to ensure adhesion) to spell “Shana Tova” or “[Name]’s Honey”; creating a worm out of pipe cleaners and googly eyes, or a stem and leaves from pipe cleaners and foam; or using Sharpie markers to color the dish.
  • Fill with honey, and keep covered when not in use.
  • Share your project with us! Email your photos to editor@jewishboston.com and we’ll post them on our Facebook page.

Special thanks to my project testers, Ilan Sperber and Emmy Wilensky, pictured below!

Upcycled High Holidays Honey Dish