Very often, after gatherings in nature, children's parties or work events, a lot of used disposable tableware remains. Naturally, she finds her place in the bin, but do not rush to part with this, as it might seem at first glance, garbage. Forks, plates, plastic bottles - an indispensable and affordable material to make different crafts with your own hands. Many beautiful things can be made from disposable cups, and now you will see this.
Christmas snowman
Winter holidays are one of the most beloved in every family, and preparing for them is enjoyable for both adults and children. To surprise your guests, we suggest you make this wonderful New Year's craft - a snowman from disposable cups. The cash costs for its manufacture are minimal, and the process itself will bring a lot of joy and good mood. For a snowman we need:
- Plastic cups in white.
- Black and orange plasticine.
- Glue gun or stapler.
Working process
To give stability to the snowman, it is necessary to make the first row a hemisphere, and not an even circle. So, we lay out our plastic dishes and fasten it together with a stapler or glue. On the first row of this craft from disposable cups, their number was approximately 25 pieces. For the second row of the snowman, the same number of glasses is taken, they are similarly fixed on the top of the lower row. The next rows will consist of fewer cups, due to their conical shape. Do not be afraid that you will not succeed, the most important thing here is to start work, everything will become clear in the manufacturing process.
The upper lump of the snowman is made round and smaller in size than the already made torso. For the head you will need 18 plastic cups, which we also lay out around and repeat the process already familiar to us. Then we turn the ball upside down and make more rows, you do not need to do it to the end. The head should also remain unfinished.
Making three lumps, like a snowman made of snow, is not necessary. With them, he will not be sustainable. Now set the small ball on the big bottom, if everything is in order, we begin to decorate the New Year's surprise. The nose can be made from real carrots or molded from orange plasticine. We put a bucket or hat on our heads, make eyes. That's it, our snowman from disposable cups is ready! By the way, it will make an original night lamp, if you put a multi-colored garland in the torso.
Unusual bouquet
After the holiday for kids, multicolored plastic cups in huge quantities become garbage, and the economical housewife’s hand does not rise to throw them out. After all, you can give them a second life and make various crafts from disposable cups. For example, flowers that will delight with their colors at any time of the year. For this we need: plastic cups of different colors, scissors and chopsticks (you can take wooden chopsticks for Japanese food).
Work process
The first stage of manufacturing the “Flower” - crafts from disposable cups - is the preparation of all the necessary materials. The glasses for our bouquet must be colored, the stick will serve as a stalk, if there are no sticks, then you can use a regular twig or wire instead.
The second stage - we take three disposable cups and in each of them we make a hole in the middle of the bottom, the size of the hole depends on the thickness of our stem. He must hold tight so that our flowers from disposable cups do not slide down to their base.
Next, cut the sides of the cups into thin strips and place them on the stem. We press them tightly against each other, the base of the flower should be holistic.
The final step is to cut the glass in the middle of our flower with scissors so that it takes the form of short petals in the middle of the flower. The second plastic cup is smaller, to get more petals, and the third is not cut at all. Now bend the petals made and give shape to our craft. A beautiful flower is ready, having made several such delightful creations, you will get a beautiful bouquet of waste material.
How did disposable cups come about?
As you can see from the article, plastic cups are not only convenient dishes that do not require washing after use, but also a wonderful material for creativity. And what is their story? Who came up with the idea of disposable tableware? So, at the beginning of the last century, a student at the American University of Hugh Everett Moore, drew attention to the fact that then a common use mug was attached to the tanks with drinking water standing at the stations, schools, etc. They did not wash it often and, accordingly, there was no question of hygiene. He wrote a note about this in a local newspaper and proposed an alternative - a safe mug of thick paper. This proposal interested a businessman from Chicago, Lawrence Luellen, who at that time had water vending machines, and whose business did not go because of the common use tanks with free water. Over time, Lawrence and Hugh became the founders of Individual Drinking Cups. As you can see, in the modern world their business is booming: plastic, paper, transparent, colored, with and without a lid. And all this diversity thanks to one indifferent student.