Craft a plastic bottle cat vase

What can we use if we don't have googly eyes, a foam nose, acrylic paint, or a small jar for the water liner?

If you can't find googly eyes or a foam nose, cut eyes and a nose from paper or felt and glue them on in the step that adds the face, use washable tempera or craft markers instead of acrylic paint for step 5, and substitute a small plastic cup or recycled medicine bottle as the water liner for step 11.

The bottle cracked while cutting and the edges are jagged—how can we fix that and keep it safe?

If the bottle cracks or edges are sharp after step 4, have an adult recut slowly with a sharp craft knife along the masking tape guide and then cover all cut rims and ears thoroughly with extra masking tape as described in step 5 to make them smooth and safe.

How can we adapt this project for younger kids or make it more challenging for older children?

For toddlers, skip step 4 and have an adult pre-cut the ears so the child can focus on step 5 painting and step 8 sticking on face features, while older kids can use paint markers in step 5, add decoupage or a clear varnish, or create more detailed whiskers and collar designs in step 9.

What are some fun ways to personalize or upgrade our finished cat vase?

To enhance your cat vase after step 6, add patterned washi tape or decoupage over the paint, replace the small jar in step 11 with a battery tea light to make a lantern version, or glue sequins and a custom name tag to the yarn ribbon collar from step 9.