Brainwaves weekly: milk bottle crafts

When I've tried to grow tomatoes in the past, my plants have been damaged by rot. To stop this from happening, I fished an old milk bottle from the recycling, cut off the bottom half, then used the top half as a funnel. I put it into the plant pot, burying the bottle neck in the soil. Now, I water it through that and it goes directly to the roots. Gill Mather

I had a very small watering can, which didn't hold much water. So, I made myself a bigger one out of a plastic milk bottle. I rinsed it out, then pierced a few holes in the lid. Finally, I filled it with water and used it to give my plants a much-needed drink. Lin Tsang, Coventry, W Mids

When I was decorating, I needed somewhere to store my paintbrushes. I rinsed out a few milk bottles I'd saved from the recycling. Then I cut off the tops, just above the handle, and a good chunk of the fronts. The bottles made perfect paintbrush containers and stopped me getting paint everywhere. Jac Wilkins, Frome, Somerset

My daughter Fleur, four, loves Elmer the Elephant, so we decided to make our own. We cut the bottom half off an empty milk bottle, then cut semi-circles from each side to make Elmer's legs. We used two of the semi-circles to create ears, then added eyes either side of the handle, or trunk! Finally, we decorated it with colourful tissue paper stuck on with PVA glue. We had so much fun making Elmer, we made his cousin Wilbur and Grandpa Eldo too! Donna Gray, Billingham, Co Durham

I decided to create some quirky lanterns for my garden. I saved up some plastic milk bottles then, after cutting the tops off them, I drew on eyes and a mouth on the front. Finally, I popped an LED tea light inside and put them in the garden. When it got dark, they looked really brilliant dotted along the front path. Sarah Bamforth, Stanley, Perth