There are many interesting and attractive things at gift shops, but of course they come at a cost, sometimes at a high cost. You can easily make many of them at home at the fraction of the selling price.

This week we will make something very unique and pretty that anyone who sees it will not help but admire it. We will make a decorative item, which is a sailboat in jar and that too a floating one. The craft will look amazing once you put it on a side table.

Things you need:

1. Two, two-inch piece of Styrofoam

2. Two, toothpicks

3. Four inches of thread or string

4. Two two-inch foamy sheet pieces (different colours)

5. Paper cutter

6. A clear jar (plastic or glass; any size)

7. A handful of pebbles, shells or lime stones (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut the Styrofoam into two pieces, (this basically depends upon the size of your jar). I cut 1.5-inch and the other just half-inch. The bigger will be our boat and the smaller will be the anchor; pictures 2 and 3.

2. Cut the bigger piece into a triangle to give it a boat shape, note that if you don’t give it a shape, the boat will never float properly, picture 4.

3. Insert the toothpick just above the bottom of the sailboat; take the other toothpick and break it into half and insert it in the centre of the anchor, picture 5, 6 and 7; (for the anchor you don’t need the full length of toothpick, it can imbalance the anchor and the sailboat will sink).

4. Tie a tight knot of string to both toothpicks, picture 8.

5. Cut two triangles from the foamy sheet, 1.5-inches and the other half-inch; the larger to use for the sail and the smaller for the anchor; picture 9.

6. Punch two holes in the middle of these foamy triangles, slide toothpicks through these holes, pictures 10 and 11.

7. Take the jar and fill the bottom with stones, limestone, pebble or shells (whatever you have), pictures 12 and 13.

8. Fill half the jar with water and then carefully put the sailboat in.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 28th, 2018