02/02/2012 - Bubble Wrap Checkbook Cover

I received two packages today that had silvery bubble wrap in it (that isn't all I received). I really liked the color so continued on the streak of melting plastic. Packing material is always a pain because there are not many recycling markets available for it. Usually you can take it to a shipping store, like UPS, and they will take it back for reuse if you don't have a crafty project in mind for the stuff.

Reclaimed Material: bubble wrap, clip on earring
Other/New Material: none
Tools: scissors, iron, ironing board, parchment paper, ruler, super glue

How I did it: This time I used parchment paper instead of cloth as the barrier between the iron and plastic and it worked out wonderfully. I didn't pop the bubbles in the wrap before because I wanted to see what would happen when I pressed the hot iron on it. When the bubbles melted they made a neat circle pattern in the melted plastic. I folded the piece of bubble wrap in half then melted it completely with the iron. I have found that if you over iron the plastic it gets a curdled look to it. I repeated the process with another sheet of bubble wrap then pressed the two melted pieces together. I then cut the piece down to 6.5"x9" and as you can see by the photo scalloped the edge that was going to be on top. I folded the plastic down to 3.5" with the bottom portion to be used between carbon sheets and the top as the cover. I then took one of the 6.5" long scraps I had trimmed off then folded it in half to about .5" and pressed it with the hot iron. I placed it lengthwise near the top of the middle section of the folded plastic piece melted the ends about .25" in to adhere it to the large plastic piece. This piece is to slide the back of the check book into. I also gently ironed the trimmed edges of the plastic to make sure that the pieces were fully melted together. The plastic was thick and the folds kept coming up so I put the parchment paper between the pieces and gently pressed the iron on the folds to hold them in place.

I removed the earring clip from the back of the earring (I was able to do this by hand by pulling it). I used super glue to press it to the front cover, but also pressed the plastic behind it with the iron to shape the decoration around the plastic.

What I would do differently: After I put the sparkle on the cover of the piece, I decided this might might make a fun clutch purse for another project. I think I am going to experiment sometime with grrrr...packing peanuts too.