Fabulous Five! Plastic Bottle Edition

Friday is here again folks! Another week another dollar and now we get to have some fun! And to help you through until that quitting time whistle blows here is this week's Fabulous Five!

So, a couple weeks ago I came across this gorgeous bit of melted plastic at Aunt Peaches (One of my new favourite blogs) she calls it "Swiss Candy Jewlery" and I think it is quite aptly named. It is made out of plastic juice glasses. Visit her blog for the full tutorial. Go for the crafts, stay for the back stories. You'll understand when you visit if you haven't already.

Which got me to wondering, how many other fabulous recycled plastic projects are out there? Let me tell you, it was not hard to find at least five but it sure was hard to narrow it down to five!

When I typed in "recycled plastic bottle crafts" to Google and clicked on images, one of the first images to grab my attention was a photo of recycled plastic bottle beads. It took some searching for a tutorial because the original photo was for a dead link. I did manage to find a couple great tutorials though. This one from Dis.Ar.Ray @ Cut Out & Keep seems easy to follow. And for anyone who is deterred by the need for a heat embossing gun I read in a few comment sections that lighters/candles and stove burners work well too. This is my new motivation to buy the rainbow pack of Sharpies I have been eying for a year. Bonus points for those of you that know what PLUR means! :)

Okay, jewlery is nice but how about this absolutely stunning chandelier made from what looks like a metal hoop, some seventy billion clear bottle bottoms and a heck of a lot of patience. Made by Michelle Brand it just screams pretty doesn't it? The bottle bottoms remind me of flowers and the transparency lends to a more expensive acrylic don't you think?

And if you think the chandelier was a labour of love, how about this recycled bottle greenhouse?! The plans are located here (in PDF form)and are made available from REAP, an organization in Scotland that works for sustainable development. via New World Geek. (The blog is on a haitus but the archived posts seem to be worth checking out)I think this would be a brilliant project for a family, or local community garden or school etc. Maybe even me next spring!

Speaking of gardens, how about this uber-downscaled version! Hanging bottles for an upside down garden on your balcony or fire-escape. These ones are made by Mike Lieberman AKA The Urban Organic Gardener. His website is full of super posts about gardening on your city balcony in particular was this tutorial on how to create a hanging garden from 2 litre plastic bottles. YOu can dress them up with paint or coloured tape or leave them with their labels to accentuate your green living!

I know that technically that is five but we are counting Aunt Peaches Swiss candy as the inspiration for the post and so we get to showcase one more groovy project.

Super simple, super sweet and for the kiddos is this project for Discovery Bottles from Disney's Family Fun site. I love the look of these as well as the simplicity. The only thing I would recommend is to use a silicone based sealant instead of hot glue (Between the bottle and cap) and maybe a drop or three of tea tree oil to keep the water fresher longer? Seriously though water and sparkles, does it get any better? You could totally turn this into an I Spy game with a card attached to the bottle with pictures (for pre-readers) or words (for school agers) with a list of things to find.

Phew! All done, but I think the new feature is true to it's title yes? Those were some pretty fabulous ways to re-use plastic bottles yes? I think so too. I also think that Fabulous five will be a bi-weekly series. This gives me lots of time to sit down for one of these marathon linking posts!

And with that, I bid you adieu. ♥