Fantastic Recycled Plastic: 30 Clever Creations to Spark Your Imagination

I discovered this book on the Internet after I saw David's Plastiquarium creation (Wildacres Cascader) at Wildacres Retreat Center in Little Switzerland, NC last November of 2009. As soon as I saw this book, I ordered it right away. I found it to be one of the most informative and creative how-to books on creative repurpose and reuse of the plastic bottles and containers. The authors start with David's account on how he started to work with recycled plastic, and a brief history of plastic. W ell-detailed technical information on the packaging resins was provided on their characteristics, properties, and identification codes (1 PET, 2 HDPE, to name a few). With these plastics as medium in mind, explanations were provided on the use of various cutting, forming, and fastening tools in the art or craft projects. The chapter on the basics is very informative and full of details - even the anatomy of the bottle is identified and explained. Basic techniques on deconstruction, fastening, and forming are presented in both text and photos. The rest of the book is focused on projects that were grouped based on the following categories: jewelry, dimensional figures (birds, fishes, insect, sea lives, and reptiles), holiday decorations, lighting and toys. Each project-based chapter has a gallery of other artisans' works that are very fascinating, clever and inspiring. Many years ago, I have done one craft project that involved cutting up a few bottles, but I have never produced anything like the ones in the book. When I first opened the book, I was blown away by what can be done with these plastic bottles, and I am inspired to come up with more creative use or design. Several templates are provided at the end of the book, and also provided is a list of artists/craftspeople who contributed their work for the galleries in the book. However, their e-mail addresses and/or websites were not listed, and I would have to use search engines to find them if I wanted to contact them for purchase of their work. From reading one of the last pages, I discovered that David and Robin developed the proposal for this book during their summer residency at Wildacres Retreat Center. If I had not seen his creation on the wood paneled wall, I would not have known about this wonderful book. Even though you might not be inclined to start any of the projects, I still recommend this book for helping you see these "discarded" bottles in a new light - as an eco-friendly medium for creative reuse projects.

It looks like there are some great projects here. My granddaughter and my niece are looking forward to trying them.

Como trabalho com materiais descartáveis, será de grande utilidade e aprendizado.Já conhecia e pesquisei sobre o artista, valeu demais. Grato

A lovely book filled with good ideas and inspiration, well worth the money, some good artwork in there too. I am very happy to have acquired this book

This book is fabulous. It covers everything from materials and techniques to projects and templates. It also has lovely pictures of work from artists to inspire you.