Have you seen those fantasy faux-glass flowers made from recycled pop bottles?

I mean the delicate fragile-looking twisty looking ones, like those the US-based artist Laura Astor) used to make.

Like this.

(Note: these aren’t the Anthropologie-style of flowers that use the ends of the bottles. But there’s a great tutorial from Sonia at Kosmic Chai, if you’re looking for a how-to on making that type.)

These more delicate PET flowers would make gorgeous Christmas-tree decorations, I think, if you coloured the flowers red like a poinsettia — or put together a whole bunch of the clear plastic flowers would make a fun sun-catcher mobile for your garden or a little girl’s bedroom — or tie them into a good thick evergreen wreath to add a little frosty glitter. The possibilities are endless!

Here, Leanne of Luvlee Scrappin gives a little video tutorial to walk you through how she makes her pop bottle flowers. You’ll find a number of YouTube videos that show a similar how-to techniques, but Leanne’s tutorial has the clearest instructions and best quality sound and pictures of any I’ve looked at.

Instructions for Pop Bottle Flowers

Here’s a quick outline of how Leanne shows how to make pop bottle flowers, just to give you an idea of what’s involved, but do watch the video (it runs about 10 minutes) for full instructions:

From the side of a plastic pop bottle, cut:

• 2 squares, 2.25″ x 2.25″ each
• 1 square, 1.75″ x 1.75″

Cut each square into four petals that are joined together at the middle. Leanne likes to cut curves from corner into the center like a windmill, then turn the plastic piece the other up and cut the other direction to complete the petals.

You can draw out the petals with a Sharpie first, if you like, but just be sure to cut all the pen marks off so they don’t show up on the finished flower. (My suggestion, if you’re not confident of your freehand scissor work: draw out a pattern on paper, lay the plastic down on top of the paper, and follow along the lines with a stylus or pencil point, then cut the plastic along the scored lines.)

If you want a coloured flower, use a coloured plastic pop bottle or colour the petals with Sharpie pens or alcohol (not water-based) inks.

Next, you’re going to want to melt the edges of the petals to get a bit of a natural curve or twist look. For this, Leanne suggests a tea light candle. You could use a heat gun can be used, but Leanne says it doesn’t give the nice ripple effect on the edges that you’re looking for here. I suspect that the heat from a heat gun is spread out evenly over too large an area, not as concentrated as a candle flame and not as unpredictable.

So, light you little candle (keep water or a fire extinguisher nearby, as always when working with an open flame) and grab a pair of metal tweezers you don’t mind using for craft projects.

Gently heat the edges of petal (holding it about inch and a half away from the candle flame, Leanne suggests) until the edge of plastic starts to melt and curl. This will happen quite fast, so be careful not to melt it too much! Then give the petal a twist with your tweezers. Try to keep the centre as flat as possible as this is where you’ll glue the layers together to form your flower.

Repeat with other petals.

Cut a couple of leaves from a green pop bottle (or cut from a clear bottle, if that’s all you have, and colour it with a Sharpie or alcohol inks). Use the same heat-and-shape technique to give a little ripple to the leaves.

Assemble — very carefully! — using a hot glue gun, positioning the petals and leaves in whatever way looks good to you. Add a bead, pearl, or other embellishment of your choice to make the centre of the flower.

And there you have it, a faux glass flower made from an old pop bottle!

Visit www.zibbet.com/LuvLeeScrappin and luvleescrappin.blogspot.com to enjoy more of Leanne’s crafty creations.

Want to keep the summer memories alive, but your fav souvenir T-shirt is past its “best before” date? With just a few basic sewing or crochet skills, you can “upcycle” that tee into a cool new purse or handbag, grocery bag, big soft tote… the possibilities are endless…

Repurposed T-Shirt Market Bags

Great for beginners, Deborah Schlegel’s market tote (shown above) is an eco-friendly alternative to nasty plastic grocery bags. The tote has a boxy bottom and sturdy straps long enough to go over your shoulder for easily carrying.

Deborah uses selected cool tees from the Goodwill store to sew her market totes. Adult size makes a big roomy tote, but you can just as easily downsize the bag by using a child’s size shirt to make your own. [tutorial]

T-Shirt Hobo Tote Bag

Inspired by YakPak, this is a nice curvy tote bag with a softly gathered bottom and a neat edging at the top that curves to become the purse straps.

Sew a small pocket inside for important incidentals (you could make the interior pocket the right size to fit your phone, for example, so no need to go fishing around in the bottom of the bag when you get an unexpected text!). Smart sewing tip: use the hem of the T-shirt for the straps for the bag! [tutorial]

Upcycled T-Shirt Bag with Braided Handles

Who would have thought a recycled T-shirt handbag could be so elegant?

This simple rectangular bag from Leanne Garrity on the Chichidee label is distinguished by smart t-shirt/fabric choice that gives an art-piece look, and by its braided handles, also made of t-shirt fabric. [tutorial]

p.s. If you want one of these bags quite desperately but aren’t in the mood to sew your own, you can pick up a Chichidee tee bag for £22.00 at Folksy.

T-Shirt Sling Bag

You know how much gear kids always need to take along on an adventure? Here’s the solution! This sturdy little drawstring bag by Brassy Apple is made from double layers of a repurposed t-shirt (child size), with a diagonal strap to sling it over the shoulder for hands-free carrying – think “soft backpack” here! [tutorial]

Crochet a Recycled Tee-Shirt Bag

Cut your old shirt in a continuous strip to make soft “yarn” for this clever crochet project. Cindy used two tees to make this sample, with extra for contrasting stripes and a decorative flower. Crocheting with t-shirt material makes the bag soft and durable – and it’s easy to clean. Just toss it into the washing machine! [pattern]

Trashion T-shirt Hobo Bag

OutsaPop’s choice of a pirate-themed black t-shirt makes this bag a sure-fire hit with the teens we know. I like the sophisticated touch of the fabric-wrapped handles. This particular bag design makes great use of the full t-shirt, too – almost nothing leftover to go to waste. Big and slouchy, just like a tee (bag) is meant to be! [tutorial]

Your turn!

Hey, if you decide to go for any of these great upcycling projects, please leave a comment below to inspire us all with your crafty goodness! Or maybe you’ve got a T-shirt bag design of your own to share? I’d love to see your ideas!

Finding creative things to do with old blue jeans is a bit of a passion of mine. Think about all you’ve been through together, those great-fitting friendly old jeans and you — who can bear to just trash them, when they get beyond wearing?

A recycled-denim quilt is, to my mind, the perfect solution.

Years ago I had a cosy and durable quilt made simply from diamond-shaped pieces of heavy flannel, plaid wool fabric, and recycled denim from old blue jeans. (Kind of like Dorothy Ainsworth’s quilt o’ Levi’s from Backwoods Home, but much smaller.) It went everywhere, and just got softer and more comforting with age… until age eventually caught up with it, and the fabric began to wear thin enough that the batting showed through in places…

Well, yesterday I came across a pattern — a quilt tutorial really, by the multi-talented Doreen Baros — for a Circle Blue Jeans Quilt that looks like a keeper.

The pattern is a little bit Cathedral Windows and a little bit Rob Peter to Pay Paul, and you can really get creative with the choice of lighter-weight fabric to show in the denim “windows” on the quilt.

Finish the edges of the circles with machine zig-zag or satin stitch, handsewn blanket stitch, or a neat-but-fiddley narrow hem, according to your taste and patience; or just sew it down and leave the unfinished denim edges to fray artistically in authentic blue-jeans style, like the sunshine-y summer-of-love-ish Circle Blue Jeans Quilt that Jessica Levitt made a few years back, following Doreen’s instructions.

Working with a material as heavy as denim, I’d definitely skip the batting on this one and also work it in squares of maybe three circles by three, depending on the size of the circles you decide to go with.

Wouldn’t this quilt be an interesting project to make with teeny-tiny miniature circles/squares? I wonder how small you could go and still handle the pieces… Hey, let me know if you decide to take on that challenge!

Our evironmentalist blogger with an eye for beauty, Pelf Nyok, has dropped by to introduce her latest find — an American artist who creates huge mandala wall pieces with other people’s throwaway plastic bags. The works are both colourful and green! ~ Jen

Plastic Artworks

A lot of things are being said about China’s recent announcement to ban the manufacture, sale, and use of plastic bags under 0.025 mm thick and to prohibit supermarkets and shops nationwide from handing out the sacks for free from June 1st.

And, apparently, Australia’s government also said recently that it hoped to phase out the use of plastic bags from the nation’s shopping centres by the end of the year.

With all the hoo-haas around the excessive use of plastic bags, it is heartening to learn that there are people who turn these plastic bags into beautiful art pieces!

Virginia Fleck began making artwork when she was a child and she eventually studied at Portland School of Art and The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She has been the recipient of numerous grants and residencies including a fellowship for a residency and exhibition in Havana, Cuba.

My wall-sized mandalas, created from sections of used plastic shopping bags, analyze the activity of consumerism as a spiritual encounter. This visual experience of repetitive designs, indicative of meditative objects and advertising graphics, stimulates the viewer to yearn for more… Our hunger is insatiable; our fervor can be witnessed… Nirvana / paradise is easily obtained and owned…

- Virginia Fleck

Her work has been exhibited at Art Forum Berlin, Pulse Miami, Pulse New York, and Arte Fiera in Bologna, Italy. And she recently completed The Spin Cycle for Whole Foods World Headquarters and Mandala Constellation for the Dell Children’s Hospital. Her work appears in many prestigious collections including the Marino Golinelli collection in Bologna, Italy. In 2007, she was nominated for the Texas Prize, and won the juror’s award for the 2007 Texas Biennial.

Pelf Nyok, the author of The Giving Hands, is a grad-student who is trying to save the turtles, the environment and humankind. Charity, conservation and volunteerism are things that are very close to her heart.
pelf-ism is contagious!

You know how sometimes you just get a mad urge to make something?

Every time I go near a craft store (or even a dollar store, for that matter), the sheer variety of bits and bobs, papers and stamps and scrapbooking stamps, papers, stickers and other embellishments — it’s almost overwhelming!

My fingers just itch to play with them, to make something new and useful.

Not to mention all the craft supplies I’ve got stashed away, like those papier mache beads from the 1970s, those Mexican milagros, scraps of leather and felt and lace, vintage buttons…

Here’s one project I’ve had my eye on, but didn’t quite get to in time to start off the new year — a new way to upcycle an old metal cookie sheet that’s otherwise just headed for the garbage:

You know that slightly tired looking cookie sheet (baking tin) you’ve got in your kitchen? Well look out! It’s about to start a brand new life as a calendar -– it’s got years of use ahead –- that’s right, more than one — and it’s taking a few other survivors from your household along with it: game pieces, papers, embellishments you’ve been hoarding forever -– can you believe it, they’re all actually useful!

Sue McGettigan of Buzz and Bloom gives the instructions to turn that old cookie sheet into what could well be the world’s funkiest kitchen calendar. January 2012 update: the Buzz and Bloom website is no longer in existence, since this article was written in 2008, but you can still visit Sue McGettigan’s blog and learn more about her calendar here.

The month names and numbers are all mounted on magnets, so you can just swap them around as the year rolls on. Hang it with the inside of the tin to the wall to safely store all the extra bits inside.

Sue suggests trying a calendar in a flowery garden motif — nice!

If that’s not your style, just think of all the possibilities! You could really personalize this calendar with a theme of your favourite places, people, hobbies,or whatever, and use a variety of photographs and small mementoes for the numerals to mark the dates. For example, I could see a whole lot of big-brown-eyes dog faces showing up on my calendar… What about you?

This chubby little “Pretty in Pink Princess” is one of a whole family of ultra-cute snowmen and snow girls made by painting and embellishing a recycled lightbulb. Hat and scarf are from scraps of felt, and the hanger was created from floral wire and vintage buttons.

$5.00 each, Snowbulbs by Dinner Time Chimes on Etsy.

[via Pampering Beki]

You may know by now that I’m a big SIGG fan on a daily basis, but I have to confess that I am not without sin.

The hard truth is, in the real world, every so often you just end up having to buy some beverage that comes in a plastic bottle. (Big family-sized pop bottles for a birthday party, for example, or a bottle of water when you’re stuck in an airport queue for hours on end.)

And the beverage bottle issue comes up again, just now, with yet another news story about the growing waste problem caused by the North American passion for bottled water. Some municipalities are talking of a ban on bottled water, it’s that big an issue! (But what about other bottled beverages, I do wonder…?)

I don’t get many of these bottles, true, but it’s good to try to reuse the ones that do come into my hands.

Okay, then —

• Refill the empties with other beverages?

• Freeze water in them to act as a cold-pack in a picnic basket?

But then, what?

Bird feeding station

I’ve got a little gadget that converts a 2-litre bottle to a bird feeder, and that’s better than nothing — although it’s very far from being squirrel-proof, and it tends to spray birdseed around if caught in a good brisk wind.

Slow-release watering system

A more practical gadget is a spike with holes in it that screws onto the top of a soft drink bottle filled with water. You poke it into the garden or planter, and it’ll release the water down at the plant’s root zone, to keep everything green and happy when you abandon your garden for a few days away. (My mother has a half-dozen of those, for her big pots of geraniums on the sunny deck. The plants are big and bushy enough to hide a 750ml or 1-litre bottle, just fine.)

Instant watering can

Now here’s another interesting bottle conversion: Twist & Spout comes in two versions, for kitchen and garden (the difference is in the size of the spout.)

In the kitchen, the twist-on handle and spout makes a big fat beverage bottle a bit easier to handle and pour, especially for little people with small hands. In the garden (or among the house plants, for that matter) the attachment turns an old bottle into an instant watering can.

Twist & Spout fits “virtually any soda or water bottle with a screw-on cap” and goes for $5.99 at Perpetual Kid.

I’m in two minds about this kind of product, to be honest —

Should we buy another piece of plastic just to make it easier to reuse the first one? But if it kept you from buying a plastic watering can, would that balance out the plastic-consumption equation? Oh, but hey! Is the Twist & Spout made of recycled post-consumer plastic, by any chance? They don’t say on the sales page… but if it was, that would make a difference, wouldn’t it?

Sheesh.
As the frog said, “It’s not easy being green.”

[via The Green Head, who also prefers a stylish reusable aluminum bottle.]