Craft Time: Super Soda Bottle Beads
Super Soda Bottle Beads
Recycle your empty plastic soda and water bottles to create a wearable work of art!
Americans throw away 2.5 million single-use plastic bottles every hour – about 42,000 per minute, or about 695 per second. We want to do our part to reduce this staggering statistic. In 2019, Cave of the Mounds eliminated all single-use plastic water and beverage bottles from our business. We are reducing single-use plastic bottles while encouraging new Earth-friendly habits!
You will need: clean dry 16.9 to 20-oz plastic bottles (use a variety of clear and green bottles, made of smooth plastic, flexibility), scissors, permanent marker and/or acrylic paint, plain cotton string (like kitchen twine), aluminum foil and a rimmed baking sheet.
- Cut the top and bottom off a plastic bottle; cut the resulting cylinder into a rectangle. Remove and discard any parts with glue residue.
- Following the curve of the bottle, cut rectangle into strips about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch wide.
- On the inside curve, decorate the strips with permanent marker and paints.
- Roll each strip around a pencil and tie with a piece of string to prevent the strip from unraveling. (You may need an extra set of hands for this step)
- Place the wrapped bead on the foil-lined tray and bake at 300 degrees for 2 – 5 minutes or until the edges start to soften. Beads are done when they stay rolled in a cylinder.
- Once cool, slip string off the beads and make your own fantastic recycled jewelry!
Be Green!
75% of America’s waste is recyclable, but Americans only actually recycle around 30% of it. Improving our rate of recycling is very important to us! In 2019, Cave of the Mounds put interpretative signage on all of our trash and recycling bins to help our guests learn what items CAN be recycled.
