FUSED PLASTIC PROJECT NUMBER ONE......Saving Albatrosses One Plastic Bag at a Time!

FUSED PLASTIC BAGS

Created after Beach Cleanups with

Bags, Plastic Film, Bottle Caps, Recycled Phone Wire, Found Objects

I photographed these on one of the beaches where I pick up plastic.

If you look closely, you will notice that one of the closures

(Middle Bag I call "Move over Gucci")

is a Monopoly Hotel found on this beach.

The red plastic is a mix of bags and film from a local grocery store.

It is thin. It would otherwise be tossed in the trash

and was originally used to wrap pallets of frozen food in shipment.

Bag used in far right piece is combo of this and an empty Sunflower Seed Package.

THE COOLEST PART

If you are familiar with fused plastic........

sort out some bottle caps, selecting soft ones, not those

with a rigid feel to them........

You can fuse the bottle cap between layers of plastic bags!

(The Green Blotch on the middle bag is a former bottle cap

that melted nicely, fusing elegantly into the red plastic)

THE RECIPE 

I just started doing this for a project with kids in a couple weeks,

so I am having a lot of fun learning on their behalf.

The basic steps I've followed:

1) Sandwich about four or five layers of plastic bag

between PARCHMENT PAPER that is placed on a hard, flat surface.

Make sure the plastic is inside the parchment 'sandwich", especially if using

your only iron. I've been reusing the same piece of parchment paper

that is about three feet long and folded in half.

2) Press down hard with a hot dry iron, using a bit of circular motion

to heat the plastic uniformly. Again, make sure the plastic is tucked in between the

layers of parchment paper.

3) As the plastic fuses it simply flattens out and you can easily flip the

parchment sandwich to fuse both sides. 

4) Continue pressing as if ironing a shirt, tucking edges over as you see the

now fused sheet form into a more rigid piece. It stiffens quite a bit.

5) You can now cool the sheet and form as you wish or simply use to cut out fish, trees, flowers,

or other shapes.........All suitable for outdoor uses!

The above pieces were single sheets. I folded them over, then fused at edges to form pouches.

No additional work was required to fold the flap. The sheets from this batch

were pliable enough to simply fold. I then punched holes in the sheets where I wanted

to attach the bottle cap buttons and "sewed" them on with recycled phone wire.

I'm now experimenting with bottles, frisbees, toy soldiers, and other found

plastic trash I collect pretty much everyday at the beach........

Thanks to Michelle Kaskovich for the Inspiration!

NOTE:

The bag on the far left incorporates plastic mesh that fused

nicely with the red sheeting. Sharon Buda and I picked 

the mesh from a beach the other day after she and I had

presented at the NAEA Convention in Seattle.

You will be seeing a lot more use from this type of mesh bag,

one of the most common beach finds in recent months. Like

Bottle Caps

It comes in many bright colors and is a type of plastic that easily fuses!

Have Fun and Malama i ke Kai