Make a Bracelet from a Plastic Bottle

Before: Plastic bottle

Yesterday we made a cuff bracelet from a used shampoo bottle taken from our recycling can. The bottle was one of those tank sized bottles purchased at Costco so it was easy to make a cuff bracelet.

After: Boxed bracelet by GeltDesigns.com

Today we are used another plastic bottle taken from the recycling can and used the plastic to make diamond shaped charms for a bracelet. Same technique. Different look.

Materials
Plastic bottle
Jump rings
Clasp

Tools
Scissors
Xacto knife
Center punch or automatic center punch
Flex shaft, Dremel or drill press
Micro-drill bit set (#61-80)
Pyrex measuring cup
Mandrel (optional)

Step 1
Select the bottle. We used a bright green bottle. Remove all stickers and clean the bottle.

Step 2
Cut the plastic using a craft knife or scissors. We cut our diamonds about 1-1/4 inch square, but you can make the plastic charms any size you want.

Step 3
Mark the plastic where you want holes with a center punch or automatic center punch. Drill holes in the marked spots.

Step 4
Flatten and form the plastic. Dip the plastic in hot (but not boiling) water to shape the plastic charms and soften the edges of the plastic. We used a mandrel to get a slight bend in the plastic charms so the bracelet would fit better when worn but many household items (including a stainless steel coffee cup) can be used to form the plastic charms.

Add jump rings to create chain

Step 5
Feed a jump ring through each drilled hole. Connect the charms with additional jump rings to make a chain. We used gold filled jump rings and findings (because we liked the color contrast and that is what we had) but you can use any size or metal findings you like for your design.

After: Upcycled Bracelet by GeltDesigns.com

Step 6
Add the clasp. We used a spring clasp, but you can use any clasp you like.


Related Tutorials
How to Determine Bracelet Sizes
Make a Cuff Bracelet from a Plastic Bottle
How to Make a Soda Bottle  Bracelet
How to Make a Knitting Needle Bracelet
How to Make a Record Cuff Bracelet
How to Make a Pop Top Bracelet

Further Reading
"500 Bracelets: An Inspiring Collection of Extraordinary Designs (500 Series)"; Lark; 2005.
"500 Plastic Jewelry Designs: A Groundbreaking Survey of A Modern Material (500 Series)"; Lark; 2009.
"The Art of Jewelry: Plastic & Resin: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration"; Debra Adelson; 2008.

Day 68.  Month 3. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: plastic bottle
New Jewelry a Day.

Make a Cuff Bracelet from a Plastic Bottle

Before: Plastic Bottle

Plastic bottles from your recycling bin are great sources of raw materials for jewelry making. Plastic bottles can be cut up into beads for stringing into pendant, bracelets, necklaces and earrings. Plastic can also be easily shaped and molded with heat. In this project we turned an old, empty, rather large shampoo bottle purchased at Costco into a cuff bracelet.

After: Cuff Bracelet by GeltDesigns.com

Materials
Plastic bottle

Tools
Scissors
Xacto knife
Pyrex measuring cup
Mandrel

Step 1
Wash out the bottle. Remove all labels. Rinse away residue from glue.

Step 2
Cut the plastic using a craft knife or scissors. The side of our bottle had an interesting texture designed to give the bottle a better grip. We centered the textures grip when cutting so it would be prominent when we formed the bracelet.

Put plastic in hot water

Step 3
Heat water in a Pyrex dish to just below boiling. Place the plastic into the hot water so it becomes soft and pliable. Do not overheat the plastic to the point of melting.

Step 4

Form the plastic into a cuff bracelet

Remove the plastic from the hot water and form the plastic around a mandrel. You can use a bracelet mandrel or another household item. In this photo, we used the base of a stainless steel coffee cup as a mandrel.

Related Tutorials
How to Make a Soda Bottle  Bracelet
How to Make a Knitting Needle Bracelet
How to Make a Record Cuff Bracelet
How to Make a Pop Top Bracelet

Further Reading
"500 Plastic Jewelry Designs: A Groundbreaking Survey of A Modern Material (500 Series)"; Lark; 2009.
"The Art of Jewelry: Plastic & Resin: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration"; Debra Adelson; 2008.
"Shrink Art Jewelry (Klutz)"; Karen Phillips; 2007.

Day 67.  Month 3. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: plastic bottle
New Jewelry a Day.

Make Earrings from Paper

After: Pink Paper Earrings by GeltDesigns.com

These earrings are not a new design. We've made earrings using paper rescued from the recycling bin, scrap rubber and scrap copper since my art school days when I was given an assignment demanding that I create jewelry using nothing but trash and scraps.

Later variations and versions of these earrings were included in 500 Earrings, Making Designer Mixed-Media and Memory Jewelry and 1,000 Jewelry Inspirations.

Colorful paper comes to our house almost daily in the fall in the form of catalogs. Scrap copper is easily found in the metal scrap bin of our studio beside the bench shear used for cutting sheet metal.

Copper wire

Materials
Pink paper
Rubber
24-gauge,  22-gauge or
20-gauge copper sheet
19-gauge copper wire

Tools
Wet/dry sandpaper
Disc cutter

Doming block
Flex shaft, Dremel or drill press
Micro-drill bit set (#61-80)
Half round file
Needle files 
18-gauge cup burr or wire rounder

Disc cutter

Step 1
Select the copper sheet metal. Clean the metal. Sand away any scratches or damage.


Step 2
Cut the metal into four identical sized disks.

Use a gauge to pick bit

Step 3
Drill a hole in the center of each disk. Use a doming block to dome the disk. Sand and file the disk until it is jewelry smooth.

 Step 4
Cut up pieces of paper. Stack the paper and rubber. Use the same drill bit to drill a hole through the center of the stack.

Step 5

After: Paper earring by GeltDesigns.com

Assemble the earring. Make a loop at the end of the wire. Feed the wire through a copper domed disk, the rubber, the paper, a second piece of rubber and then a second domed disk. Bend the wire at a right angle. Measure 2-3/4 inches and bend the wire in an arc. Cut the wire at about 1/4 inch below the initial loop. Bend the loop so it is slightly open and acts as a catch for the ear wire.

Step 6

Repeat to create a second earring.

Related Tutorials
How to Select a Cup Burr
How to Measure Wire
How to Measure Drill Bits
How to Make Jump Rings
How to Use a Disc Cutter 
How to Dome Metal 
How to Smooth Sharp Wire Ends

Blog Index
NJAD Index by Topic
NJAD Index by Type of Jewelry 


References 
"500 Earrings: New Directions in Contemporary Jewelry (500 Series)"; Lark; 2007.
"Making Designer Mixed-Media and Memory Jewelry: Fun and Experimental Techniques and Materials for the Home Studio"; Tammy Powley; 2007.
"1,000 Jewelry Inspirations: Beads, Baubles, Dangles, and Chains (1000 Series)"; Sandra Salamony; 2008.

Further Reading
"The Art of Jewelry: Paper Jewelry: 35 Creative Projects (Lark Jewelry Books)"; Marthe Le Van; 2006.
"Altered Paper Jewelry: Artful Adornments from Beautiful Papers"; Jenn Mason; 2008.

Other
Grobet Jewelry Making Kit


Day 61.  Month 3. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: scrap copper, rubber, paper
New Jewelry a Day.