Cutlery Bird

     I have always admired the amazing items made from old metal cutlery, sadly I have neither the skills nor the tools to make my own. What I do have is a selection of plastic cutlery, a heat tool, a glue gun and the challenge to try it my way.

     I used to play around with my plastic stir stick and hot coffee on the train journey back from college, so if hot liquid and mild force will bend a plastic stick then a heat gun should be just as good, if not better........it is!
     Making sure to use a heat mat, a silicone mat and finger guards I started to go all Uri Geller with my cutlery. There were a few melt downs but it didn't take long to work out just how much heat was too much.
     I confess I used a photograph of a metal bird as a guide, but this one is not exactly the same as the photo, I used whatever plastic items I had to hand.

     Using spoons for the body, forks for the wings and knives for the tail the bird started to take shape. Feet were a bit of an issue for a while, then the penny dropped and I payed a visit to my local discount shop for some hair accessories. Small claw clips turned out to be perfect and while I was there I got some other bits and bobs for future projects.
     I have also bought some coloured plastic cutlery to play with, it will be interesting to see if the core colour takes over when melted. I would suggest making sure the windows are open when melting plastic, or better still try and do it outside.

     As this bird was made with white plastic I wanted to see what I could do to colour it. For this one I used a special grey primer for use on plastic, followed by a copper spray paint. There are some craft paints that may work on plastic but I have yet to try them.
     My collection of small plastic bits and bobs has increased a little so I will try some other birds or animals soon.
     Not Just Cards is the perfect challenge blog for a non papercraft project, so pop over and see what else we have for inspiration this month.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes With A Critter

Crafty Animals - Anything Goes

Love To Craft - Anything Goes

Worldwide Open DT - Anything For A DT Goes

A Bit More Time To Craft - Anything Goes

The Crafter's Cafe - Anything Goes