Saturday, January 18, 2014

DIY Recycled Plastic Bottle Crafts, Kid's Crafts

DIY Christmas ornaments


Make flowers or sea creatures out of plastic bottles! Use them to decorate; make a mobile, chandelier or hanging curtain. I made sea anemone ornaments for my ocean themed Christmas tree! You can use them for "bows" on a pretty gift packages or even make jewelry! A fun craft project for kids with adult supervision and maybe a little help.

*** I guess in today's age we must also include basic common sense warnings like open a window,  use a fan, have a bowl of water in case things get hot and candles cause fire! If you are afraid of the chemicals you probably shouldn't have the plastic bottles in the first place! You probably shouldn't have Sharpies or glue either! Sorry, this is for the alarmists out there!


Tools and materials:

clear or colored plastic bottles
buttons, beads, bottle caps
scissors
Sharpies
paper punch
candle
string to hang them with
E6000 glue


First,  cut the bottom out of the bottle; I use a serrated kitchen knife but scissors work just as well. Trim the bottom part so it look more like a flower then with a good metal paper punch (the cheap plastic ones may beak!) punch a hole out for hanging:


plastic bottle crafts




With Sharpies, draw your patterns, this is where the kid's can have fun:

kid's crafts



Then carefully melt over a flame, about 1 1/2" over the flame
works well: 

plastic bottle flower


recycled crafts



recycled plastic



They look great like this or kids can glue in a colorful  bottle caps, buttons and beads but first add the cord with a slip knot:


DIY  ornaments



 You can make stamens  by cutting a strip of plastic about 6" long by  1.5 to 2" wide: 


DIY crafts



Carefully melt the tips first; try to get them to curl out in one direction. This can be tricky!  You can also make individual ones then glue them with blob of glue in the center of the flower.


recycling plastic crafts


With the stamens pointing outward, start coiling and melting:


plastic bottle flower


Hopefully, it will look like this:

recycled bottle crafts



You can then glue it directly to your flower or I glue it to a bottle cap then the flower:


plastic bottle ornaments



recycled plastic ornaments




These are my recycled plastic ecochic necklaces on Etsy that are made the same way:


ecochic necklace



recycled plastic necklace






Here are more inspirational ideas from Michelle Brand who is an environmental designer   internationally known for her designs with plastic bottles:


Michelle Brand



See my other popular upcycling blog posts:

"DIY Dollhouse Miniatures: Modern "Glass" Art Tutorial" for Chuhuly style miniatures made out of recycled plastic containers:

 

 

See how to make my  bottle cap art mosaic:


bottle cap art



I would love to see how you recycle or upcycle, feel free to post a link to your project, website, blog, or page! 

 

 

20 comments:

  1. This is amazing and I love those colours! You are so talented! Thank you for sharing this!

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  2. Thats great keep up the great work

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  3. Thank-you so much Kelly, and thanks for the idea to do this tutorial :)

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  4. Ooooh these are so creative. Such vibrant colours. I also upcycle bags, accessories and recycle shoe boxes. You can check out my blog www.theonlywayisghana.com and YouTube videos http://t.co/SNMO1xo1uY
    Thanks and keep up the great work.

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    1. Thanks Akua, I have been wanting to do fabric jewelry next; I really like your fabric wrapped loop earrings. Thanks for sharing :)

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  5. Thanks and no problem. I cant wait to see how you do your fabric jewellery.

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  6. These "Chuhuli" style recycled pieces are awesome. Thanks for sharing your wonderful, creative ideas.
    Hugs, Drora

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  7. They are very simple and highly useful projects that will make your life easier and contribute to save the planet at same time. It is always important to remember that a Plastic Bottles takes 700 years to start the decomposition process and more than a century to fully disappear in the environment.

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  8. Beautiful!! Now I know what to do with my empty bottles! ��������☺️ thank you!! For sharing!

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  9. Heather, would you like that we post your photos to the Sharpie fanpage in México? Can you give an email or send me an email to adriana.regino@newellco.com thanks you, we're interesting on your creation

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    1. Thanks Adri, what is the link to the Sharpie fanpage so I can check it out, you can post my photos there!

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  11. They are so pretty, do you color on the inside or back of the flower.

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  12. They are pretty, do you color the flowers on the inside or the back?

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    1. I did it on the inside but it works on the back too, thanks Joan :)

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  13. Love this. Your instructions are so easy to follow. Thank you!! I am making some poppies to decorate a children's table at our poppy festival next week.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! Good luck with your poppy festival!

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