How To Make Bobbing-Head Turtle from Plastic Bottle Wastes.
Just imagine a turtle with a wiggling head. It wiggles to you when it's shaken or when breezes blow it, what an amusing view.
Tools and materials needed for this project :
If you're interested in making it yourself, here are some things that you need to prepare.
Tools and material you need for this project :
1. A clean used plastic bottle.
2. A scissors
3. A cutter.
4. White thin paper.
5. PVC glue
6. Sellotape
7.some thread
The Procedures
How to prepare the body :
Cut the lower and the upper parts of the bottle around 5 cm from respective tips.
1. Cut the plastic bottle into three parts . Cut the lower and the upper parts of the bottle around 5 cm and 3 cm respectively. You'll use the middle part to be made the body of the turtle (picture 2).
2. Press the lower part and cut its edges to make it round like a turtle's bottom part. Then glue that part to preserve its shape (picture 3).
3. Cut and make from the plastic remains 4 pieces of legs then stick them to the body like picture you see on picture 4 and 5.
4. Now you need to cover it with white thin paper. This covering will make the more sturdy like a turtle carapace and attractive when you color it. To do this part you only need to stick some layers of white thin paper with diluted pvc glue and let it dry.
After the paper dried don't forget to make two small holes on top, near the head cavity where you'll hang the head (Picture 6).
You can also draw some patterns for the color on the body/carapace but the coloring should be done later after you install the head in the cavity.
How to make the wiggling head :
Fold some paper and make it like a finger with approximate size of 1/2 cm in diameter and 6 cm in length. Cover it with some layers of white thin paper glued with diluted pvc glue.
After it's dried, apply the color you like, put two eyes on both sides of the head and add a mouth on the facial part.
You need to put a hanging thread at a certain place on the neck so that it's in a balanced position. To determine the middle point of the balance in a simple way, you can put it on your forefinger and move it back or forward until you find the balance ( picture 7).
After you find the middle point of the head balance, you can tie a 10 cm-long thread at that location (picture 8).
Now the head is ready to be hung in the cavity.
To hang the head in the cavity you only need to insert the thread through the holes that you've made on the carapace and make a knot there. Before you make the knot, be sure that the head is already in good position by making some adjustments on the level so that the head hangs in the cavity properly and looks nice when it wiggles.
After you set the head and already hung in the cavity you can hide the knot b covering it with another layer of thin paper.
The final step is apply some colors and ornaments on the carapace to make your turtle attractive and more eyecatching.
Can we commercialize bobbing-head turtles ?
We often have questions in our minds: besides as educative as well as conservation activities, can we sell the crafts we have made from waste ?. I can answer it confidently Yes, we can !.
I have seen it myself bobbing-head turtles, cats and dogs are sold in many counters selling handy crafts in my cities. They offer unique and entertaining view and very enjoyable for everyone.
So, why don't we try this multi-benefit activity; making handy crafts from plastic wastes.
