Plastic Bottle Beads


unikatissima Plastic Bottle Beads

There remained some leftovers from our cut plastic bottle, from which we already made a knitting loom and a plastic box and we can use them to make some beads.
In the instruction on how to make plastic bottle beads they roll up the plastic strip and melt it together with a heat gun.
I don’t have no heat gun and I’m a little afraid of possibly developing fumes, therefore I did it in a different way:

 

unikatissima Plastic Bottle Beads Material I brought water to the boil in my craft pan (which I don’t use for food preparation anymore!).
Then I cut a stripe from the plastic bottle and rolled tightly using some tweezers.
Look out, it always try to uncoil!

 

unikatissima Plastic Bottle Beads I hold the rolled ‘bead’ with my craft wooden pliers (also not used for food preparation anymore) into the simmering water and in seconds the bead was finished.
I don’t know if I could have coloured the bead with permanent markers, I’ve forgotten to test this.
Besides the end doesn’t fuse with the bead, but it doesn’t open neither.

 

unikatissima Plastic Bottle Beads Because it always wanted to uncoil I hold it quite firm with my wooden pliers and the bead became a little flat.
Pressing it in the other direction and dipping into the simmering water again didn’t make the bead round.
But 1. I like the shape and 2. I think it’s only a matter of practice.


Links:
Plastic Bottle Beads

Recycled Plastic Bracelet

youtube Veva Pineiro Recycled Plastic Bracelet

Despite having presented plastic bottle bracelets before, I did not want to hold back the recycled plastic bracelet from you :)

 


Links:
Recycled Plastic Bracelet (PULSERA PLASTICO RECICLADO DIY) (Spanish)
via: PULSERA PLASTICO RECICLADO DIY
via: Bracelet with Recycled Plastic

Here at unikatissima:
Entries containing the words ‘plastic bottle’ and ‘bracelet’

Bracelet with Recycled Plastic Beads

instructables Rhonda Chase Design Bracelet with Recycled Plastic Beads

Do you remember the plastic bottle beads?
The bracelet with recycled plastic beads has been made the same way – and I find it really beautiful!

 


Links:
Bracelet with Recycled Plastic Beads (Recycled Plastic Bead Bracelets)

Here at unikatissima:
Plastic Bottle Beads

Miniature Faux Glass Art

BluKatKraft Miniature Faux Glass Art

The miniature faux glass art has actually been made for a doll house, but I find that it could also greatly been used for jewelry just like the other plastic bottle jewelry ideas :)

 


Links:
Miniature Faux Glass Art (DIY Dollhouse Miniatures: Modern “Glass” Art Tutorial)

Here at unikatissima:
Entries with the tag ‘jewelry’
Entries with the tags ‘plastic’ and ‘jewelry’ containing the word ‘plastic bottle’

Junk Jewelry

flickr abscraft Junk Jewellery

Such a pin from old plastic bottles and the like can look really cute, can’t it?

Now I’m debating with myself on whether I should collect these, too.
;-))

 


Links:
white brooch
via: Jewellery made from recycled stuff – a mini-round-up
via: art for housewives – pin cushions and junk jewellery

PET-Inspirations

Miwa Koizumi PET project

I wrote several entries about crafting with plastic bottles (see links below), this one is more of an inspiration: I’d like to present the PET-project and the wonderful PET jewelry.
Fantastic, aren’t they?


Links:
PET-Project
Flower with sash

Here at unikatissima:
Knitted/Crocheted Bangles
Plastic Bottle Beads
Plastic Bottle Box
Knitting Loom from Plastic Bottle
DIY Shrinky Dinks
Box from woven PET stripes

Entries with the tag ‘plastic’

Knitted/Crocheted Bangles

unikatissima Knitted Bangle
Recently I wanted to make some knitted napkin rings as a gift and looked for a way to 1. keep their shape and 2. make them washable.
And I really found a solution which is also great for making bangles ;-)): use a core of recycled plastic bottle and a knitted or crocheted all over cover.

 

That’s what you do:
unikatissima Knitted Bangle Cut rings in the desired width from a plastic bottle.
I cut here two rings because the circumference of the bottle was too small for a bangle for me.

 

unikatissima Knitted Bangle Where the rings are to be joined you need an overlap of about 2 cm.
I pricked 3 holes with a pointy needle and threaded the yarn I used later for knitting through them to fix both sides. The big advantage is that you don’t see anything of this later.

 

unikatissima Knitted Bangle Then knit the ‘cover’. I worked with quite thick acrylic yarn and began with a stocking stitch part for the inside whereas outside I used a moss stitch pattern.
Depending on the used yarn the inside diameter can get a good deal narrower, in this case make the plastic rings a little bit larger.
When the cover is finished sew the sides together.

 

unikatissima Knitted Bangle That’s how the finished bangle looks.
Originally I wanted to have the seam at the inside of the bangle but I ‘produced’ always a thick bulged seam. Therefore I knitted the ‘folding line’ between both patterns with purls and sew at the rim (which is much easier, too ;-)).
The bulged seam looks similar to the purled row and now I like it.

 

unikatissima Knitted Bangle The plastic ring core has more advantages (besides the fact that it is cost-saving): the bangle keeps its shape but is flexible so that it doesn’t interfere with writing (usually I don’t wear bangles for just this reason).

 

unikatissima Knitted Bangle What is more I can wash it: That’s how my bangle looks after I machine-washed it at 30°C together with dark(!) cloths.
No problem there ;-)
But this depends strongly from the used yarn.

 

I used thick acrylic yarn here and find that it looks like a winter bangle, but it can surely be crocheted as well with fine cotton thread or knitted in stocking stitch with variegated sock yarns or simply be wrapped with fun yarns, possibly even be wrapped with a sewn fabric cover…
If you try something like this I would appreciate if you’d link it in the comments!
Have much fun.
plastic bottle bracelet