Six Months in the Making

Kim, author of Life in Little Red Farmhouse, blogged about making cute soap dispensers in January. I wanted a pretty dispenser for our dish detergent. But, I didn't want to use a mason jar. I wasn't sure just what I wanted, so I began keeping my eye open for a cute container. I kept my eye out for possibilities at thrift shops and gift shops and then, suddenly it hit me. An olive oil bottle would be perfect!

There are lots of olive oil bottles; Fat ones. Skinny ones. Tall ones and short ones.  I picked one that has eight sides and then brought my treasure home. The only problem being that I don't use that much olive oil... so it took months! When I finally emptied my bottle I sprayed it with numerous coats of clear finish, in an effort to keep the label from getting wet and peeling off. I took the pump from a hand soap container and a longer plastic pick up tube from another pump bottle and put them together. I cut the plastic screwtop off of the pump.

I took the plastic out of the cap of my olive oil bottle and cut out the middle, leaving a ring I could put back in the cap, like a gasket for a hose. I tapped a small hole in the center of the cap with a nail, and used various tools in ways they weren't intended to be used, to widen the hole and make it the exact size of the pump housing. The cap of this olive oil was made of aluminum and it was quite easy to widen the hole to the appropriate size. I pushed the pump into the cap and put a small amount of hobby glue around the edges on the inside. If this fails to work, I'll get out the hot glue gun... which is hiding somewhere in our basement. 

And so, ta-daaa, after six months, my project is complete!