Set Fire to the Spoon

I'm sure that was an early version of the song... "But I set fire, to the spoon, Watched it melt as I touched the flame. Let it burn while I cry, 'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name." Ok, maybe not. 

Marquette here...sniffles, bad jokes, and all. Good thing germs don't pass through the monitor, this is nasty gunk I've got. Thanks to Em for doing my post yesterday, I was dead. 

We've got a fun Pinstrosity for you today...melting plastic spoons over a candle to make a necklace. The idea is awesome. 

The Original Pin

As far as I can tell, the pictures originated from this website:  http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/plastic-spoon-rose. 

Again, the idea is awesome. The logistics of it though aren't quite as easy as the picture suggests (isn't that always that case?), just as Emily and Hannah found out. Here's what they ended up with:

The Pinstrosity

Poor girls. Poor spoons. I laugh, but only because I've been there...fire crafts usually end up in me just burning whatever I was trying to make, and then I go around the house looking for more things I can burn and melt. But at least I have fun, right? With all those failures and mini-bonfires though I have learned a few things that might help out when you're doing this project, and I found a more detailed tutorial than just the picture from above. 

My tips:

• With each candle there is that ideal height above the flame for doing melting projects like this. While there's probably better ways to find it, this is how I do it: 
• I place my hand flat, palm down, high high above the candle, and then I move it down towards the flame (just at a medium-slow pace). There is always that spot where it goes from "nicely warm" to "holy-cow that's hot". You want to hold your spoons just above that "holy-cow that's hot" spot, not at that spot or below or your items will burn, rather than melt. It looks to me like Emily and Hannah held their spoons a little too close to the flame. I know there is the urge to do that to speed the process up, but you will end up with blackening and over melting. 
• Definitely use pliers or some form of holding device (NOT your fingers) to hold the items above the flame. 
• It may take longer than you think for the item to heat up enough to start melting. Be patient...it's worth it. 

The original tutorial for this project can be found here: http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/plastic-spoon-rose. This crafter starts with the outer petals of the flower and builds inward. 

Another tutorial I found, which can be found at http://www.cantstopmakingthings.com/2010/04/rose-is-rose.html starts at the center of the flower (which honestly makes more sense to me, but I know it makes more sense to others to start on the outside first). 

If you're wanting to try this project out, definitely look at both tutorials, they have great tips and instructions. But definitely read the instructions and don't just go off the picture montage someone put together (like in the "Original Pin").