Kitschy Record Serving Bowl (how to make one)
What is Kitsch?
Lets take a nostaligic look at the good old days of crafting. Lowbrow craft items, that at one time may have been considered tacky have become chic, highly sought after and prized. Fashion and tastes always come back around to a new generation. When i think of Kitsch, i think about the overlooked lowbrow crafts of the 50s, 60s and 70s, but now Kitsch is chic, hot, trendy, fab and retro. Kitsch was a term once used to put down lowbrow art, but now it is used to refer to any decoration such as knickknacks, souvenirs etc
If you have any old records that you were planning on throwing away. Why not recycle them and create your very own kitsch, retro style, record serving bowl. This is very simple and makes a great centre piece for your table. If you have friends or guests coming round to your home, why not put snacks in the them, such as nuts or crisps. They have a very retro feel to them and are certainly a talking piece. These were popular with hostesses in the fifties and sixties. Be thrifty and pop down to your local thrift/ charity store and pick up a bargain price record, you can buy them for pence. (please don't end up melting a record that is worth a fortune or using your dads rare, golden oldie, only copy ever made, beatles Lp. It probably won't go down very well) So once you have selected a cheap record small or large size you are ready to transform it into a record serving bowl.
Materials you will need:
* A vinyl record
* Oven Mitts
* Oven safe bowls x 2
* Oven
* Adhesive backed plastic film
* Timer
Instructions:
1) Preheat the oven to 225 F
2) Turn over a bowl, so it is bottom up. Place the bowl on a cookie sheet. Lay the record on top of the bowl, making sure the record is centered.
3) Place the bowl with the record on in the oven. Stay close by and watch as the record heats up and begins to mold into the shape of the bowl ( This will only take a matter of seconds) You may want to help shape the bowl with your hands ( use the oven mitts to prevent burns)
4) Remove bowl and record from the oven. With covered hands, immediately remove record and place inside the second bowl. This will help to keep the shape of the bowl as it cools
5) When the bowl is cool, seal the inner label with adhesive backed plastic film to prevent lifting
6) You could even create your own label for the centre. Place it over the original label and laminate it
Have fun with your newly transformed record bowl and don't forget to use the oven mitts :-)
Why not try giving some other retro crafts ago such as Tie-Dye