Melted bowls - dinos, Army men and bugs!

Oh, how I love to melt stuff! Grin

I used a round cake pan, lined it with foil, laid out all my dinos and "sprinkled" the empty spots with beads as filler. I baked it (I have no idea the temperature or time) - I usually start at 300 & get impatient and crank it up. Just melt until you're satisfied with the consistency. I removed it from the oven, immediately lifted the piece up by the foil and molded it over an inverted metal mixing bowl. I let it cool and then I peeled off the foil.

The army men are hard plastic, but the dino toys are made with some sort of rubbery material. The bowl would flex slightly, so I'm sure the beads (since they are hard plastic) would pop off over time. I sealed it with 3 layers of acrylic sealant just to be sure they wouldn't.

This bowl is fairly small - a few cups, I would imagine.

My fiance thinks the little guys melted down to look like the Michelin tire man. Cheesy

This one is quite a bit bigger. It's like a big chip bowl.

Edit:
I got some PMs asking for photos of the bug bowl, so here it is (and another dino bowl). Cheesy

These are muccch smaller. They are more saucer than bowl. I put my keychain in one of them for size reference.

Under side...

The bugs kind of irk me a little. Cockroaches, caterpillars, ants, num... Cheesy

I used beads as filler and they kind of remind me of little pods or eggs. Lips sealed

Edited to add! This *wonderful* Craftster contacted her vet about melting fumes and our critters! I thought it would be great to share the information here:

Quote from: flutegeek104 on August 02, 2007 01:41:58 PM

Update for those of you with critters-

I called my vet (who still needs to get an account on craftster...) and she told me melted plastic is definantly toxic to birds, and probably harmful if not toxic to other animals (cats, dogs) in large amounts. She's made some of the melted bead bowls, and she uses her grill. I have one just like it, it has a temperature gage on it, 3 burner, you get the just. She says she puts foil down, arranges her beads, put a round cake pan over it to get the shape right, pulls off the pan, and turns on the grill to a medium temperature. She leaves the grill open, watches until they get to the right stage, then does the flipping over a bowl outside. You want to have doors and windows shut on you house so the fumes don't enter your house, but she said its not near as bad as far as the smell goes since its totally ventilated.