Fused Plastic Chinese Lantern

The continuing exploration of the possibilities of fused plastic led to the merging of an antique Chinese lantern with some 21st century garbage bags. For background on how I originally reconstructed the antique lantern from rubble and photos of an earlier incarnation of the lantern, see Seeing Chinese Lantern.

For this project I realized that while clunkier fused plastic projects like shopping totes, wallets, or raingear may call for six to eight layers of plastic bagging fused together, you want far fewer layers when your focus is on translucent aesthetics. To make the plastic look absolutely beautiful when the light shines through, the question is how few layers you can get away with. The answer seems to be two.

Two to three layers of plastic fused to create panel

Two to three layers of plastic fused for lamp panel

To briefly recap once again how to go about fusing plastic: Place layers of plastic from cut-up plastic bags between two sheets of paper; experiment with correct iron setting to fuse plastic together (suggestions include rayon setting or just past wool setting); work in well-ventilated area. To create artsy, translucent panels, play with placement of various scraps of colored plastic and see what happens.

Work area (static electricity makes finished panels cling to window for temporary storage/display)

Sample panel

The fused plastic panels were then cut to size and glued into the Chinese lantern. While you may not have a Chinese lantern handy, consider placing fused plastic panels into empty picture frames and then propping those frames in windows. Or stay tuned for the next Stuff You Can't Have posting to see some gorgeous fused plastic bunting. Below are photos from the lantern project and the finished lantern.

Replacing lantern panels with fused plastic

Finished lantern

Fused Plastic Chinese Lantern Restoration

Antique lantern with fused plastic panels

Welcome back to what is apparently a lifelong project: creative restoration of an antique Chinese lantern. To see and read more about earlier versions of this lantern, see Chinese Lantern Backstory. To see a range of pieces I've done by ironing recycled plastic bags together, see Fused Plastic.

Originally pieced together from a crate of broken pieces salvaged from an Asian arts store, the lantern is delicate and a bit rickety. This is the third time since I've owned it that I have had to replace all of the panels. The panels from the last rendition, also fused plastic, had faded from vivid colors to a dull milky white.  Below, the repair begins. You can see the old, faded panels still on the lantern.

Under repair

The next series of photos offer a revolving view of the latest restoration and the new fused plastic panels.

Restored - View A

Restored - View B

Restored - View C

Restored - View D

At this point, you may be sated and should feel free to wander away. For those intrigued by what you can do by fusing plastic bags together with a little judiciously applied heat from your iron, stick around. Below are details of each of the panels.

Bottom 1

Bottom 2

Bottom 3

Bottom 4

Bottom 5

And here are some top panel details.

Top panel 1

Top panel 2

Top panel 3

Top panel 4

Add caption

For those who have waded through all of these images, here is a quickie, dead-simple tutorial on making your own fused plastic:

1. Collect colorful, interesting plastic bags, plastic wrappings, plastic whatever. But save the plain plastic too; you'll need it for your bottom layers.

2. You will need a minimum of four layers of plastic for the panel to have any strength. Throw extra decorations on top.

3. Set iron to fairly high, no steam. 

4. Lay out a plain sheet of paper on your work table.  Assemble your plastic panel on that sheet of paper. Lay another plain sheet of paper on top. Iron, pressing firmly. How long? I don't know - hum to yourself for a while.

5. When done, peel away the top and bottom layers of plain paper. Sometimes the plastic sticks to the paper. If so, pat it back down and iron a little more. Sometimes the paper sticks to the plastic and tears away. If so, take the plastic to the sink and use water and your fingers to rub away the paper.

And if I am still around in seven years, you will get to see an entirely new rendition of this lantern.

Fused Plastic Bunting Bombing

Fused plastic bunting

Nothing says, "Yay! It's party time!" quite like colorful bunting. The urge to spread the fun around led to the concept of bunting bombing which, like yarn bombing or seed bombing, is done with a certain amount of stealth and leaves a bit of beauty in its wake.

Bunting strung across window

The first step, however, is the fusing. Fusing plastic for art is different from the technique used to create sturdy, utilitarian objects like tote bags. To see how-to instructions for creating thinly layered, artfully composed fused plastic suitable for bunting, see Fused Plastic Chinese Lantern. When fusing plastic for bunting, you will want to be quite deliberate in placing colorful bits and pieces of plastic in an arrangement that will work well when the piece is cut up into bunting panels. Samples are offered below.

Sample of fused plastic bagging to be cut into bunting panels

Another sample

Once you've finished fusing, you'll want to cut the fused plastic into bunting panels. For the bunting shown in the photos above, two sizes were created based on a 2-inch by 3-inch pattern, or on a 3-inch by 5-inch pattern (the size of a standard index card). Decide on the size of your bunting and create a cardboard template for each of the three bunting shapes.

Cut patterns out of card stock (or start with standard index card as your rectangle)

Place your bunting templates, arranging them over the most colorful areas of the fused plastic. Trace around them with a pencil and cut out your bunting panels. Fold the bunting panels over at the top, pressing firmly to create a crease. Reopen the crease, smear with glue using a glue stick, and fold the panel over a piece of string, pressing at crease line to secure panel to the string. Alternate shapes. Leave plenty of empty string at either end to allow flexibility in hanging and securing your bunting.

Now you're ready to bunting bomb. Below is the copy from a bunting bombing brochure I distributed over Christmas to a gang of bombers, along with strings of fused plastic bunting.

Fused Plastic: The Betty Apron

Meet Betty: back view

This is what I am calling a "fused plastic soft sculpture." The apron theme was inspired by the wonderful apron-making ladies of San Miguel del Valle. This piece was intended to go entirely another way, but I discovered fused plastic has a mind of its own. The fusing of old plastic bags created an assortment of new plastic textile pieces. I then fused or stitched those pieces together to create the sculpture.

Fused plastic textile detail

Detail

The Betty: front view

Close-up: sampling of plastic textiles

Plastic fused textile; sewn-on plastic circles

Delicate frill: scraps of colored plastic fused between thin produce bags

Fused plastic textile

Eco Barbie - Experiments in Fused Plastic

The stimulus: a garbage can by Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, overflowing with plastic bags.

Note, as we come in for a close-up, an illuminated message glowing on a discarded coffee cup inside the bin, created by: a) letters cut out of the metal container; b) sunlight; and c) the fact that someone put a paper cup in the can section of the bin, creating a perfect screen for the illuminated letters.

Whatever mishaps contributed to this transmission, it is clearly a message from on-high. In fact, it is so very cool that we move in for an even closer shot.

Message received, we move into action, collecting assorted colorful plastic bags and ironing them together to create 8-ply sheets of fused plastic, suitable for sewing into just about anything (if you can put up with the stiff texture and multiple needle pricks). There are many good instructions for how to fuse plastic bags on the Web. Try this one from Etsy on YouTube.

Now we have any number of beautiful sheets of fused plastic material at our disposal. What to make, what to make?

The decision was easy—a recycled, fused plastic raincoat, hat, and boots for Barbie, who is herself entirely made of plastic and will be here long after we are gone, maybe even longer than the Venus of Willendorf. There is no better spokesperson for the uber-plastic world we have created.

Eco Barbie, decked out in fused plastic rain gear amidst a plastic landscape.

Eco Barbie tries to run from the problem but she can't run away from herself.

Eco Barbie realizes that before she can solve the problem, she must come to terms with the fact that, being plastic herself, she is the problem.

Note that all art pieces I have ever made using a Barbie doll (such as the Wonder Barbies) always recycle the same Barbie doll. Because there is no good way to throw her away, I will keep her until I am dead and will then will her to my oldest grandniece and so on through the generations until the end of time.