Go Green at Christmas; Recycle 2-liter Soda Bottles into Tree Ornaments

This article tells you how to recycle 2-liter soda bottles to make plastic icicles for your Christmas tree. These are simple to do and require only a few tools. Once they are hanging on your tree you won't be able to tell the ones that you made from any that are store bought.

Clear 2-liter soda bottles make pretty icicles. Green bottles also produce nice results. The project is for teens and adults. Although one person can do it, when it comes time to warm the plastic it helps to have a second person.

I'm not sure where we heard about this originally. My family has made them for the past few years. After the holidays we toss them into the recycling bin. Making more for the next year is easy and inexpensive.

To recycle your 2-liter soda bottles into tree ornaments you will need the following items:

Sharp scissors
Ribbon
Soda bottle
Hair dryer
*Nail
*Hammer
*Block of wood
(*These items are for creating a hole in the top of the icicle to put the ribbon through.)

Here's how you will 2-liter soda bottles into tree ornaments:

1. Wash the soda bottle and allow the inside to air dry overnight. When dry, peel the label off and remove any residual glue.

2. Use the sharp scissors and carefully remove the neck of the soda bottle. Discard the neck part of the bottle.

3. Cut the soda bottle into long thin triangles by going around the circumference of the bottle. These can be any width but work best if one half inch wide or less at the top. (Some people may find that it's easier to cut a straight piece from the bottle and trim it to a triangle shape afterward. Either way you cut the pieces of your recycled 2-liter bottle will produce a nice tree ornament.)

4. Place the wide end of the triangle on the wood block. Use the nail and hammer to punch a hole in the plastic.

5. Hold the plastic triangle at the wide end and gently warm with the hair dryer. If your dryer has 3 settings try using the middle one first. Gently blow the warm air lengthwise along the plastic triangle from the recycled 2 liter soda bottle.

As you heat the plastic with the hair dryer it will begin to soften and twist. Heating the plastic along the edges will make them duller to the touch. It will also help the plastic to draw up even more.

6. A second person can twist the plastic strip while the other person warms it with the hair dryer. This helps give more dimension to the finished icicle. You have finished creating the icicle when you are happy with the way the plastic strip looks.

7. Tie a ribbon in the hole of the icicle. Hang on a tree to enjoy.

Congratulations. You can now tell others how to go green at Christmas when they recycle 2-liter soda bottles by making tree ornaments.

Source:
Personal Experience