DIY: How to Make a Bee Skep

When I first saw a decorative bee skep, I knew I had to have one! I just didn’t want to pay the price, when I knew I could make one myself. Now that I have, it’s absolutely adorable sitting amongst my plants.

These are purely decorative and perfect for indoor use. However, these would also hold up well enough outside if they were in a sheltered area, such as a covered porch and not exposed to wind and rain. See the last photo for a better view.

DIY: How to Make a Bee Skep

You probably have most of these supplies at home or can find an inexpensive alternative.

For this project, you will need:

• one 2-liter soda bottle (no lid needed)
• scissors
• hot glue gun and glue sticks
• craft glue
• rope (approx. 3/8″ thick and about 15′ long)
• black felt (fabric or paper)
• a few silk flowers
• cardboard or foam board (4″ circle)
• optional: a couple of small decorative bees

The silk flowers and glue sticks were bought at Dollar Tree, and if you are real lucky, you might find the rope there too, which would make this a super cheap craft. I bought my rope at a builder’s supply store, but it was twice as much as what it would have cost me at Walmart. When you buy rope, I highly suggest you buy a 25′ – 50′ spool to insure you have plenty to work with. With the extra, you could then make a few of my Pizza Pan Signs.

The cardboard and felt were used to give this a finished look, but totally not necessary.

Decorative Bee Skep Directions

I used a 2 liter soda bottle for the shape, cutting it in 2 pieces, with the bottom cut at about 3″ tall.

Push the top half over the bottom part.

Using the top half of the soda bottle, trace a circle around the bottom onto a piece of cardboard. Then carefully trim the cardboard so that it fits inside the bottom of the soda bottle.

Using the cardboard circle as a pattern, cut a circle of black felt (or fabric or paper). I used craft glue to glue the two together for a smoother appearance, but you could use hot glue instead.

Glue the circles to the bottom of the inside bottle part with hot glue. Push the bottom bottle piece out a little with a long handled wooden spoon and run a line of glue inside the outer bottle, so that when you push the inside part back in the glue will keep it in place once it’s dry. I set the bottle upright and used a long handled wooden spoon to hold the bottom down while pushing the top part down to insure the bottom set straight on the table surface.

Glue the end of the rope to the bottom edge of the prepared bottles and let it dry. This makes it easier to work the rest of the bottom row. Glue and attach the rope the rest of the way around the bottle and starting the second row. From this point on, I wrapped a couple of rows, then added about a inch long row of glue, then repeated. When I reached the threaded neck (no bottle cap), I glued all of the rope down.

I forgot to take a picture of this step…once the glue was fully dry, I cut a 6″ piece of rope, folded it in half then hot glued the ends inside the neck. I ended up adding more hot glue a couple of times.

Next, find a small jar or bottle (I used a spice bottle) and trace a circle out of the remaining black fabric. Glue it towards the bottom of the front of the skep. Check the first or last photo for placement.

Cut a piece of rope to go completely around the circle and hot glue it in place to cover the edges.

Finally, play around with your flower placement before gluing in place. Two colors and different shapes work together best. I used a long flower spray to hang down each side. The larger flowers were removed from the stems and hot glued into place. I added a silk leaf to give the top flowers definition.

The rope loop on the top is barely visible among the flowers in the bottom photo.