From a young age, I've always been a fan of recycling. In my house, I make sure that every plastic bottle ends up in the recycle and not in the trash.
But recycling isn't the only way to ensure that old bottles get a second use. There are also plenty of creative upcycling options as well — like this beautiful fairy castle crafted entirely from old plastic.
And now that I've spotted this unbelievable DIY plastic bottle transformation idea, I may never need my recycling bin again.
This project comes from Imgur user Mergs21, who turned dozens of old plastic bottles and plastic bottle caps into a stunning new bowl for his home.
And while this DIY-er shaped his bowl like a true professional, I'm sure I could handle melting some used plastic into a one-of-a-kind bowl myself!
Scroll through below for a look at this brilliant upcycle idea and for the beautiful and colorful results!
This Imgur user collected leftover plastic bottles and bottle caps over the course of several months. He made sure that they were all marked HDPE, which stands for high-density polyethylene.
Milk jugs, soda caps, peanut butter lids, and juice tops were all perfect for his project.
He made sure to collect plastic in a wide variety of colors.
This DIY-er kicked things off by cutting each of the plastic pieces down to a tiny size.
The smaller pieces would make it easier for him to control which color would go where in his bowl.
He separated the pieces by color so that he could layer them in a creative way.
This Imgur user writes, "After having all of the plastic cut up, it was time to fill my mold. I decided it would be best to melt it — and since I wanted to turn a bowl, I used a glass bowl as my mold."
"After everything was layered up, it was time to add heat."
He melted his carefully layered plastic pieces in the oven at 425 °F.
Now for the average person, this would be a great stopping place. Though not perfect, the plastic was a pretty design and had taken the shape of a bowl.
However, this ambitious DIY-er took things one step further.
He decided to shape the bowl using machinery that spun the bowl extremely quickly.
He writes, "I started hollowing out the inside of the bowl."
He also smoothed the edges, as well as any rough patches.
And the final results?
This bottom view of the bowl shows just how colorful and unique his bowl turned out!
The variety of colored plastics came out beautifully, with the bowl capturing light extremely well.
This brilliant DIY-er was quite pleased with his final product. In fact, he writes, "Now I need to start saving up plastic again for round two!"
What do you think of this clever DIY-er's upcycle project? What other creative ways have you upcycled plastic bottles and caps? Let us know in the comments.
Please SHARE this beautiful and creative bowl with DIY-lovers everywhere!
