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Pleasant Plastic Projects Bottle Bottoms Apple Container Materials: • 2 bottoms of liter bottles (recommend 1-2 liters) per person • Exacto knife and scissors • Spray paint that adheres to plastic (if desired a red apple, or lighter green than the bottles come). Painters tape • Zippers (2 liter is a 14 inch zipper) (amazon or Jo-Ann Fabric are good sources) • Glue Gun or extra strong double sided tape. • Felt or heavy construction paper (brown and green) for stem and leaf Directions: • First cut the bottoms off the bottles, I used the label to guide a straight line, first cutting with the exacto knife and then finishing with scissors. make sure the bottles are clean and dry before continuing • If looking for a different color than the actual bottle color spray paint the inside of the bottle bottoms (outside could be painted but could also get scratched easier). • If spraying the inside: Make sure you tape the outside of the bottle bottoms with painters’ tape so you don’t get spray paint on the outside surface. Spray lightly to achieve an even coat that doesn’t have drips or pools of wet paint, you’ll need to apply a several coats but you only need to wait a couple minutes between paint coats. • When the paint is dry, remove the blue painters’ tape • Using the hot glue gun or double-sided tape to attach the zipper to the outside rim of the bottles. o Trim off the extra flaps at the ends of the zippers (otherwise this will likely get in your way as it overlaps. o First hot glue one end of the zipper to one of the bottle bottoms, align the actual zipper to the edge of the plastic, make sure it isn’t glued down, let it be just above the rim. o Unzip the zipper almost all the way and glue the other side to the rim of the second bottle bottom. • cut-out a stem and a leaf from the felt or construction paper. Hot glue/tape the stem onto your apple top. If you make the leaf out of construction paper you could use it as a gift label “to and from” Another Container Idea: (don’t forget to get a shorter zipper) This link gives more pictures and some extra details about beautifying your pencil case: http://bushcraftz.blogspot.com/2014/07/diy-recycle- plastic-bottle-pencil-case.html?spref=pi&m=1 Bottle Top Toss and Catch Game Materials: • 2 liter plastic recycled bottles (with cap) • String • Ball object (large wooden beads) • Permanent markers • Awl Directions • Cut off the top of the 2 liter bottle (use the label as a guide for a straight line…or don’t and have a gun wavy line, or create flowery boarder as seen in picture) • Color the cup with permeant markers • Put a hole in middle of bottle cap with awl • Cut string to approximated 3 feet (length of string changes how hard the game is). • Thread string through bottle cap hole, tie knot inside the cap large enough to not allow the string to go back through the hole • Tie the other end around your ball object. • Have fun Recycled Shrinky Dink Doodle Charms https://dabbled.org/the-homemade-shrinky-test-lab-redux/ These charms can be used for earrings, necklaces, or whatever you’d like. They are made out of plastic recycled from a to-go container (#6 plastic). Materials • Plastic: It needs to be marked #6. Many to-go containers seem to work. • Sharpie Markers in a variety of light colors, plus black. Hole punch • Toaster (or regular) oven, preheated to around 250 degrees F • String for necklaces, or earing hooks, or wire to make wine glass charms, etc. Directions: • Cut out two pieces of the flat parts of the plastic container in the size/shape you want. (3 inches x 2 inches makes a good charm size). round off any corners because corners will get sharp when shrunk. • (note: all plastic doesn’t melt the same and keep the same proportions, so cut both pieces running the same way. e.g. if you’re doing 2 rectangles, cut out one large rectangle and cut it in half to ensure your pieces run the same way. If you’re doing circles, be sure to mark the top and put your holes in the same place.) • On each one, use a hole punch to make a hole in the top center before baking. • Draw your doodle outline design on the plastic. Shrinking will hide any little mistakes so don’t worry about perfection. • Randomly color in the design using a variety of light colors. Colors get way more intense when shrunk. The black will smear if you touch another color to it, so be careful. Again, shrinking will hide most issues. • Place your colored piece on a square of parchment paper, on a tray in your toaster oven. Watch the magic happen! Don’t worry… it will curl up. and curl up again. then finally settle down to the smallest size. • If it’s not quite flat at the end, you can press it down flat immediately. Other Plastic Craft Ideas Flower Lights Materials: • Bottle tops • Fairy lights or single votive like lights • Permeant markers • (green paper if want to add leaves as seen in picture) • Electrical tape & wire Directions: • Cut off top of bottle • Color to choice • Cut edge into desired petal designs • Use wire and electrical tape to attach your flower to your light source Windchimes Materials: • 3-4 plastic water bottles per person • permanent markers in various colors • scissors • Stick or dowel rod to hang from • String to hang your stick/dowel rod from Directions: • Remove the lids and labels from your bottles and give them a quick wash if needed. • Once the bottles are dry, color them using permanent markers (Washable ink will not adhere to the plastic). o It doesn’t matter what direction you color, just be sure it is covered from top to bottom. • Create the spirals: With your scissors, remove the flat bottom of the bottle and discard (or save for a future craft project!). • Starting at the cut edge, snip around and around, from the bottom of the bottle to the top, to create a spiral, about ½ inch wide cuts. Stop cutting when you get to the smooth, rounded “shoulders” of the bottle. • When all your spirals have been cut, Slide the neck of the bottles onto your stick or dowel and nest the bottle tops together by tucking each one into the one before it. • Stand back and watch your colorful wind spirals bounce and dance in the breeze. Fuse Plastic Bags Materials ▪ 1 plastic shopping bag ▪ 1 pair scissors ▪ parchment paper ▪ 1 clothes iron ▪ 1 towel, ironing board Directions: Create Fuse Plastic: • First, cut off the bottom seam of a bag. • Now cut off the handles. • Flatten out the bag. • If you’re using a towel, lay it out on your work surface. I prefer using towels, because I find it easier to fuse sheets of plastic on a larger surface. • If the plastic bag has printed graphics, turn the bag inside out. This prevents the bag’s ink from transferring onto your waxed paper or iron and smudging everywhere. • Lay a protective sheet of parchment paper underneath the bag. • Place a second sheet of parchment paper on top. • Set the iron on polyester or rayon and turn off the steam. • Iron the plastic bag, running the hot iron from the center outwards. This prevents air from getting trapped in the bag and forming bubbles. If you do find bubbles you can pop them with a pin and iron over them. Always keep the iron moving, running over the entire surface two to three times. The plastic bag will shrink but smooth out. Be careful to run the iron over the parchment paper only and not directly on the plastic bag, otherwise you may melt the bag onto your work surface and your iron. • Turn the plastic bag over while keeping it sandwiched between the parchment paper • Iron the second side of the plastic bag. • Allow the fused plastic to cool. • Once it’s cool to the touch carefully peel off the parchment paper. If the plastic isn’t fused completely sandwich it again and iron a little more. • Now you have a two-ply sheet of fused plastic. You can make it thicker by ironing another plastic bag onto it. Remember to sandwich the plastic between protective paper before ironing! Useful tips • Keep the scraps from the bottom and handles. You can place them on top and fuse them with the main part of the plastic bag too, so there's no need to throw anything in the trash. (makes each piece thicker) • Ironing your plastic, a little longer will cause it to melt and form holes. This can make for an interesting texture but be careful not to burn it! • You can fuse multiple bags together to make an even thicker and durable plastic sheet. Fuse additional plastic bags by stacking one on top and fusing it completely before stacking on another. If you try ironing together a stack that's too thick, the iron may not be able to fuse the bags in the center of the stack • Cut out shapes or colors from different colored bags and fuse it on fused plastic sheet for like an appliqué effect. • There will be minimal fumes, so keep the door to your work room open or crack open a window. Create a bag/pouch by either sewing, or fusing: • Sewing plastic is like sewing regular fabric but can be a little more slippery.

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