Redesigning discarded plastics
Plastics are some of the most common materials in need of recycling and a great choice for recycling onto jewellery. It’s enjoyable to do, and it all helps to reduce impact on the environment.
Creative designs ranging from bracelets to necklaces are possible, using pieces of cut plastic. PET plastic bottles have the quality of glass. Some are clear and some tinted with colour, like driftglass from the sea.
Milk containers differs in chemical make-up from PET bottles. HDPE is a type of resin in milky translucent white, which means it looks opaque, while still letting the light go through. That quality makes it look delicate and intricate when magically transformed into beautiful organic forms.
Bubble wrap and plastic bags are great materials when manipulated with heat. The layers fuse together to create a new kind of material that retains very little of its original form and resembles mother-of-pearl.
There are many ways to create eco-friendly piece of jewellery from discarded plastics to end up with one-of-a-kind wearable pieces. They can be formed into repetitive shapes and assembled in all kinds of designs for contemporary-looking jewellery.
Plastic can be combined with other media, like repurposed pieces of vintage jewellery or old broken chain. It’s possible to explore the uses of different types of plastics and the ways in which they can be combined together.
From Cycle Tubes to Statement Necklace
We round off the series of workshops by looking at how to turn cycle tubes into a simple statement necklace.
Moving on to plastic
After a successful start transforming T-shirts, our online classes moved on to plastic, to turn them into jewellery pieces.
The Land and the Sea: costumes in a transformation process
With a physical exhibition now delayed by lockdown to December, we are bringing you a preview online.
T-shirts Transformed
It was quite a change of plans for the project as we had got up to full speed on practical workshops, with excellent feedback from the various sessions and further venues and groups all ready to go.
Online upcycling classes – welcome!
A brief welcome to set the scene for online classes on the way.
Moray Reach Out workshops with trainees
We had two sessions with trainees, to introduce some of the techniques in making use of pre-loved items and everyday materials.
Open Day with drop-in workshops at Moray Reach Out
We prepared a range of activities, with a number of displays as well for inspiration, from upcycled jewellery pieces to items created from yarn from pre-loved T-shirts. We also had one of the specially created costumes with us, with its bright spring green colour.
Upcycled costumes on display
Our costumes made from waste materials are now ready for display. They will appear tomorrow (Monday 17th) late morning in one of the large windows of Moray Reach Out in Church Street, Buckie.
Busy working on upcycled costumes
When constructing an art-wearable piece of garment from pre-loved and discarded materials, the process itself flows and grows organically.
Buckie Christmas Kracker
The annual Christmas Kracker is an event to look forward to, and we were delighted to be there for a creative collaboration with Moray Reach Out at their Yarns and Crafts Centre. There was a keen interest from young people, and sometimes very young, along with their parents, to see what could be done with upcycling t-shirts.
Doodling in 3D with Moray Wellbeing Hub
We tried out 3D-printing pens, using filament recycled from used plastic (from old food packaging and old bottles), to draw the hot thin plastic by hand into simple shapes from nature - feathers, butterflies and dragonflies.
Workshops in the Phoenix Centre, Buckie
We rounded off this series of workshops in the Phoenix Centre with fabric flowers sewn together with the help of scrap fabric, leftover ribbons, old beads and buttons and re-used laces, matching favourite colours for a special day out.
Related Posts
T-Shirts Reimagined
T-shirt fabric has properties that make it an excellent source of upcycling potential. They are made from jersey fabric which is a woven material that frays very little and it’s easy to cut, doesn’t need to be hemmed and stretching it only makes better.
Jewellery Upcycled
All the materials around you could be recycled or upcycled into jewellery and if you want to be original and wear something hand-made, here are few inspirations for you to try.
Giving New Life to Fabric Scraps
There are many projects to upcycle leftover fabric scraps that are super easy and really fun to do.