Making Plastic Flowers

Making Plastic Flowers from Recycled Plastic Bottles

Lesson 1-2: Learn about international artist Dale Chihuly. Watch how to transform a plastic bottle to a flower. Make the plastic flowers. Save the remaining bottle as a vase. Each artist to make 1 flower to bring home and 2-3 flowers to be contributed for a school installation. Use recycled fruit mesh styrofoam to fill in for textured flower centres.

Lesson 3-4: Learn about colours and acrylic paints. Learn basic painting techniques. Paint the flower petals and centre. Paint the inside of the bottle to make a vase for one flower.

Lesson 5: Install the flowers on garden stakes with wire or on a baseboard to hang on wall.

Step-by-Step:

1. Find the pre-cut slit on the plastic bottle. Use a pair of scissors to cut around the bottle.

2. Follow the template provided to mark out the distance between each petal. This ensures the petals will be similar in size after cutting.

3. Cut straight down towards the bottle cap to create the petals. Plan the shape of your petals. Trim the corners of each petal to shape it according to your design. Trim off as little as possible so that your flower doesn't become too small.

4. Paint the petals on the top side or bottom side. Paint the top side if you intend to add patterns or different colours on top of the base colour.