Plastic Soda Bottle Trash Art Flowers
This article “Plastic Bottle Trash Art Flowers” was previously Published April 22, 2012 By Diana Romaxx. Click Here For Article
As we described in the previous article (in link above), we left our flowers outside throughout the entire 2012 winter and because they were very sturdy and held up so well, we left them out again throughout the 2013 summer and winter. We’ve had a very long, cold and snowy winter, yet these beautiful recycled plastic bottle flowers have again provided us with a beautiful colorful garden all winter long.
All the beautiful flowers retained their vibrant color, were beautiful to look at against the white snow all winter long. Not only is recycling great for our environment, but it is also a fun way to craft with family and friends. These were just some of the reasons that we decided to re-post this again, and also because of the warmth and cheerfulness these flowers provided us with over this long Chicago winter, which is not yet over.
Plaster Art Dresses
These dresses are all made of reclaimed cardboard, recycled paper, and then covered with wall plaster. I start by picking out a reclaimed cardboard base and cutting it into a square or rectangular shape (approximately 4″ x 5″). I then crumple many pieces of recycled paper into small different sized shapes. Next, the paper shapes need to be glued down onto the cardboard base and it’s at this point that I try forming the dress shape by gluing the pieces onto the cardboard base. The paper shapes should not have too many gaps in between because the wall plaster is what will give the dress texture. Once the glued paper shapes are completely dry, I start spreading a thin coat of wall plaster over all of the glued paper pieces and background. I usually let the plaster coating completely dry overnight. I chose to give these pieces an abstract look (using a small plastic knife to spread the plaster), but it’s at this point that you could add as much or as little detail over the entire piece.
Because many of the steps involved in making these pieces is time consuming, I try to make many pieces at one time. Another fun part of the process that I enjoy is painting the dresses. I try to imagine the colors and details on these dresses and many times the outcome of the dress will change my mind to a different color I didn’t even think of before I started.
Other times, I’ll pick out colors and not know what patterns I’ll end up painting on these dresses. I enjoy the process very much and have a lot of fun. So the sky is the limit as to the themes you can make – be it flowers, animals or dresses. Just have fun creating your own designs and enjoy!
Other Examples Could also be Seen Here
Reclaimed Fabric Mini Doll Dresses
I was going through my fabric remnant box and found some very pretty small swatches that would make very pretty doll clothing. The black fabric had a nice draping quality to make a doll size little black dress. The bright pink satin fabric swatch was a bit larger so it lent itself for making a doll size fancy ball gown. Both fabric swatches were from old dresses of mine that I thought I’d one day use to make a scarf or other accessory.
I had a very pretty old doll and I thought it would be nice to make two new dresses for the doll. I held the fabric against the doll and determined that there was enough fabric to make both dresses. I used some scrap paper, traced and measured the doll’s current dress and added a 1/8″ seam allowance. I cut out the pattern, making adjustments and pinned the pattern to the fabrics. After cutting out both fabrics, I machine sewed the main segments, and preferred to hand sew the rest of the smaller pieces together.
In a small box of my remnant trims, I found a pretty cream colored pearl trim that was small enough in scale to trim the black dress. I hand sewed the pearl trim around the waist and neckline of the little black dress. I had a bit of the black fabric left over so I sewed a little black purse by folding the fabric onto itself and hand sewing the edges. I then hand sewed a tiny little piece of pearl trim in the center of the purse.
Later, I found a small skein of silky cream colored yarn that matched the shade of the trim on the dress, so I decided to crochet a little shawl for the little black dress.
The pink dress was totally different in style but also fit the doll nicely. I also crocheted a small shawl for this dress using black embroidery floss, and although it took quite some time, I added a fringe to this tiny shawl using the same embroidery floss. So from time to time, take a look through your remnants and leftovers because they may surprise you and inspire a new creation.
Pears On Branch Paper Relief
This whimsical relief of pears on a branch is made of scrap paper, recycled cardboard and plaster. About ten years ago, I had bought a similar relief of pears on a branch in solid plaster that I keep on display in my kitchen and which was the inspiration for this project.
I started out by useing a recycled heavy piece of cardboard as a base. To make the pear shapes, I crumbled paper scraps into tight pear-shape balls and glued them to the cardboard shape. I then rolled more paper scraps into long narrow shapes to form the branches and glued them around the pear shapes.
Once all of the paper shapes were glued in place, I used a plastic knife to apply a thin coat of plaster over all of the paper shapes and the cardboard base. Once the first plaster layer dried, I smoothed out a few rough spots with sandpaper, then applied another layer of plaster. Once the plaster completely dried, I started painting the relief with acrylic paints.
Last but not least, I cut leaf shapes from thin cardboard and applied a thin coat of plaster over each leaf. Once the light coat of plaster completely dried, I painted each leaf using the same acrylic paints.
I used a wood frame for the relief that we made from scrap wood pieces that we cut and mitered to the size of the Pears On Branch Paper Relief. And although I used pears as a subject on this relief one could make one out of your favorite fruits or vegetables. So just have fun and create your very own piece of art.
Reclaimed Grill Top Planter
This reclaimed grill top planter was the second part to another grill project. The grill top was from another grill project. In that project we used the bottom of the grill
We first cleaned the grill top inside and out with a steel brush. Then we drilled four drain holes directly into the bottom for drainage. We drilled two holes on the higher part of the lid to mount onto the wood post using two galvanized screws (before the grill top was mounted, we painted the outside of it with a purple paint). Glass embellishments were glued around the front and sides of the grill. Our favorite sun design was painted on the front of the grill top using a stencil. The large wood base was a piece reclaimed from an old wood fence. The nylon roping around the wood post was reclaimed from a construction project done on our local street. We added some rocks to the bottom for easier drainage, then added two bags of organic potting soil. We then planted a Roma tomato plant that we purchased this year, and we’ll use some of these tomato seeds to plant next year. So always have fun recycling and reclaiming things that you can use to create whimsical and functional pieces for your yard.
The plastic soda bottle flower on top is made from a previous project Found Here The little green glass square vase used was chipped, but worked perfectly for this project as it has a sun face design on all four sides. We decided to place this cement horse underneath the planter to complete the piece. The cement horse had a broken head that we repaired many years ago and is still holding up perfectly.