If you're someone who loves quick takeaway coffee breaks, you probably have a collection of disposable coffee cups that you'll eventually throw out, or you instantly bin them when you've finished the drink.
But STOP - have you ever thought about upcycling these cups into something new and creative, like a flower vase?
A large or extra-large size takeaway cup is the best size to use.
Here's a simple way to do it:
1. Clean the cup thoroughly with soap and water to remove any leftover coffee or debris. Dry it well.
2. Use a strong glue to attach decorative elements to the outside of the mug. You can use anything from colourful paint, braid, rope, beads, or even wrapping paper; the possibilities are endless.
Set aside to let it dry overnight.
3. Then fill the cup 3/4 full with water. You can also add some small pebbles at the bottom of the mug to stabilize the flower vase.
4. Finally, add your preferred flowers to the water, cut them to size to fit in the cup, and enjoy your new, upcycled vase.
By upcycling your takeaway coffee cup into a vase, you not only give a new life to an everyday disposable item, but you also get to enjoy a personalized flower holder.
Moreover, it's an eco-friendly way to reduce waste while expressing your creativity.
It's also a fantastic and fun school holiday project for the children too.
I chose a much trickier rope weave to decorate my cup vase.
Here's what you need and how I did it:
A roll of thin natural rope twine
One extra large takeaway cup
Sharp scissors
A hot glue gun
Stronger glue is you decorate using stones
A glass to fit inside the cup
Flowers
Clean and dry the cup, measure, mark and then cut 13 strips at 2 centimetre spaces from top to just above the hard base.
You can make the strips wider if you want, but make sure you use an ODD number, as an even number will not work for the weft and weave frame. 
Splay the strips and using hot glue attach the rope to the side of the base.
I used the rope straight off the roll (so I'm actually not sure what the entire measurement was used) for continuity so there would be no joins.
Wind rope around and around until you get the the start of the strips.
Getting the weave started is tricky, but once you get momentum, it becomes easier.
Keep the tension tight.
Push the rope towards the base as you go.
As you work the weave around the strips it pulls the cup together.
This is when you turn it the right way up and continue the weaving process.
Hint: Put the roll of rope twine in a glass to make it easier to weave with it.
When you reach the top lip of the cup cut the rope and glue to secure it.
My cup had a bit of a rope gap at the base so I glued flat oval stones on it to cover it.
Then a central focal point using found beach shells.
Use a stronger glue than hot glue if you use stones on your creation.
As the finished vessel is no longer watertight, I slipped a drinking glass inside it to hold the water for the painted daisy flower arrangement.
Painted Daisy plants grow wild on the sand dunes on the beaches of the East Coast of the North Island in New Zealand.
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