AIRBRUSHED FLOWERS MADE FROM PLASTIC BOTTLES

The green leaves are made from a plastic peanut butter jar.  The flower is made from a water bottle, top and bottom.
I airbrushed all these flowers with my favorite alcohol inks.

Same flower just a close up view so you can see where I placed the flower.
By the way this one flower is about 7-8 inches in diameter.  It makes a
statement for sure.

Here is another beautiful flower I recently put together. There is a big difference from my first flowers as opposed to these. For one, I am making flowers with multiple layers of two or more. It gives the flower so much more depth. My first flowers had only one layer of plastic. Although they were pretty because of the way I heated them lightly with a candle to give it it's shape. Haha, I am the Captain of this ship.

Back view.  The flowers are so light-weight, they do stay on
the sticks with the hot glue gun.

I say that because I have seen other folks making flowers with just scissors. They are OK, but have no character. Just blah. I have a  hot air gun, and I have seen folks do that too. However, I want the flower to take the shape I have in mind. I have no control with the heat gun. With the candle it is so easy to work with. It takes two hands and a little practice, but it's easy to see which way it's going and you work with it.

Remember, we are not burning the plastic. If you see smoke, it probably touched the fire. There is no need to touch the fire. Carefully a few inches from the fire, put your hand over the candle to find the hot spot. Don't burn yourself. With two hands you hold the flower over that hot spot. Heat and mold each petal forward or backwards, or just curled. Whichever way suits your fancy. Personally, I like to mold them in all directions. But they go in the direction I want.

Another airbrushed flower consisting
of the top of two water bottles.

I ground the rim of the flower so it would sit nicely and not
protrude out too much.  Again, I hot glued this together.
The grinder is my new toy.  Prior to the grinder, I would cut the rim
with tin cutters.  A little hard on the hands, thus the grinder.

The green leaf here is a soda bottle, with the flower being a water bottle.  To get this effect on the flower.  I just stayed a few seconds on each spot.  For the Leaf, I used continuous motion to avoid too many spots.

Airbrushing with alcohol inks is so much easier and less messy. I mean it's more drip less. As with anything, it takes a bit of practice, but I am quickly getting the hang of it. I bartered with a makeup artist here in Hollywood. She needed some gifts, and I had plenty. I also make jewelry:). In return I got a small Dinair Makeup Artists Airbrush set. It is not strong enough for acrylic paints, but works perfectly with my alcohol inks. For one, is has a very low PSI. This makes it so easy and so much safer. I hardly smell those toxic fumes ...no more headaches after a day of painting. Yay!  I do make sure all the windows, fans, and door is open.  I also make sure to wear safety eye wear, and face mask ventilator, specifically for paint, fumes, etc.  It's better to be safe right?

I hope you like this tutorial and try doing this yourself.  Really, it is not hard at all.  And you would literally help make the world a "pretty clean" place one bottle at a time. I will be posting more airbrushed flowers that have a more sutle effect.  Please feel free to share or pin this post.  Visit my other posts to see more beautiful recycled and upcycled items stained with my  favorite Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Inks.  The outcome of my flowers alone inspire me to continue to use these inks.



Well that's it for now with these airbrushed flowers that I upcycled from plastic bottles.  I thank you for stopping by and encourage to visit my other pages regarding upcycling.  Share, or pin it, on Pinterest. Visit my other blogs for that matter.  I also want to thank you for allowing me to be of service.  Sharing is a good thing:) Till then,  many blessings.

Sincerely,

Mary Helen